Marquette training facility helping NFL hopefuls reach their full potential
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – Not everyone is cut out to become a professional football player.
“You’re talking about the one-percenters of the one-percenters,” said Dustin Brancheau, the owner and Lead Trainer at AdvantEdge Sports Training. “This is the NFL. So, it’s very hard to get to that level.”
According to NFL College Advisory Committee, ‘Only 1.6% of all NCAA football players ever make it to the professional level.’
One player to defy those odds, is former Northern Michigan Offensive lineman, Jake Witt.
Thanks to an impressive Pro Day last March, Witt worked his way from a relatively unknown prospect to hearing his named called during day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Witt credits his time training at AdvantEdge Sports Training in Marquette as a big reason for his eye popping testing numbers, which led him to be selected in the 7th round by the Indianapolis Colts.
“Jake, he put the work in,” said Brancheau. “He’s the one that went and jumped 37 inches. A 10’3″ broad jump and he ran the fastest 40 (yard dash) of a 4.89. You know, he just had some freakish numbers. Combining that with his frame of 6’7″ and 380 lbs. He’s one of the most athletic offensive linemen I’ve ever seen come through the doors.”
Thanks to Witt’s backing, AdvantEdge is slowing becoming a destination for NFL hopefuls.
“We kind of liked being the ‘hole in the wall’ type gym where people come in and they’re not being bothered by a ton of people,” said Brancheau. “They come here for hard work. I always tell the agents that this is just like ‘Rocky 4,’ when he’s going out to Russia. They come up here and there’s nothing but snow, they’re away from their families, they have no distractions. It’s not like they’re going to Miami or South Beach or something like that and going to the beach every day. They come up here it’s 30 degrees and below, a lot of snow, and they come here and they work. That’s what we’re predicated on.”
For the past few months, a new group of prospects have been training at the facility looking to follow a similar path as Witt.
“Obviously, with Jake having the number that he did last year, his agent was able to sign six more guys this year that he wanted to send up this way,” said Brancheau. “So, the class he sent to me, he had a kid from UMass, Marcellus Anderson. John O’Brian, he’s from South Dakota State. Another kid Cole Spencer, he’s from Texas Tech. Tavion McCarthy from Mercer. You know, John McMullen from West Florida. And then Michael Bertoia, who came from University of Wisconsin Lacrosse. Those guys came to me with three or more guys from Northern. Bo Bell, Tyquan Cox. Then we had another kid out of Valparaiso, you know, Tyler Geiman. So, we had a pretty big group of guys that came from all over the all over the country, to be honest with you. I credit a lot to, you know, Jake Witt’s testing from last year because now you’re going to start getting a lot of guys that, you know, are from all over the country.”
While individual training may look a bit different for each player, the ultimate goal is to have everyone at their peak performance during testing day.
“For the most part, you know, each one of these guys is going to follow a similar program that’s predicated off of building up their weak points,” said Brancheau. “So we’re going to really try to master all those tests, the 40, the vertical, the broad jump, the 225lb bench test, the ‘L’ Drill, and the pro agility. So we really focus on those things on top of doing, you know, position work, you know, I mean so you know, the biggest thing for us is we got to make sure these guys go and they test out the water. They got to test unbelievable because if they don’t test very well, it doesn’t really matter how they look on film. They have to have both. They have to have the testing and they have to have the film to match it.”
Training is just one portion of their preparation for the pro’s.
“Are you sleeping right?,” said Brancheau.” “Are you eating right? Are you are you getting recovered? All right. So, you know, everything that we have in here now, we have the meals, meal service. We have, you know, the recovery, you know, the cold tub, the hot tub, the infrared sauna. You know, we had yoga coming in here. We had, you know, you know, massage therapists coming in here.”
And there is little room for mistakes for these prospects.
“When you’re working with guys that are bubble guys or borderline next level type of guys, there numbers are really going to be what sets them off,” said Brancheau. “You’re talking about tenths of seconds being the difference between making millions of dollars or not playing at all for the rest or their career. This is one of those pressure things that I love.”
Brancheau spent most of the month of March attending Pro Day’s in support of the AdvantEdge athletes.
One player that has created a similar buzz as Witt during the draft process is former NMU & Mercer defensive back Tavion McCarthy.
His workout during the Mercer Football Pro Day on March 27th went viral on social media, getting featured on the official NFL account, ESPN, and Bleacher Report, putting the league on notice.
“With Tavion, we saw him jump onto a 72 inch box jump here like 3-4 weeks prior to it,” said Brancheau. “That video also go about 10 million views. So, he kind of went viral before he even went to his Pro Day. It’s kind of funny because you’ll see a bunch of people say that that’s not accurate and that he’s maybe a 40 inch vert or whatever, right? We just kind of kept that in our back pocket. We knew that when he went there he was going to hit minimum, 42 inches. He was hitting that in testing, so we knew he was going to hit at least 42 inches and could get to 44 depending on how we peaked him, right? Sure enough, he goes there and the video is kind crazy becuause they had it set up and you can here me in the video saying, ‘he’s going to clear it, he’s going to clear it.’ I said it twice. Next thing you know he cleared the whole stack. So, the whole entire weight room went nuts and it was an unreal moment.”
Another client that took advantedge of his opportunity is Texas Tech lineman, Cole Spencer.
During his Pro Day on March 30th, Spencer had an impressive workout which was headlined by his 40 yard dash time.
Spencer clocked a 4.89 and a 4.90 during his two attempts. Not only was it the fastest 40 among offensive lineman at the Big 12 Pro Day, it was also faster than any offensive lineman that tested at this year’s NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis.
“I really don’t think people understand the significance of having two guys, back to back years, running the fastes 40’s in the entire NFL draft process with Jake Witt and Cole Spencer,” said Brancheau. “He ran a 4.89 40 at the Big 12 Combine at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. He went from being a relatively unknown guy, obviously he played in the Power Five, but after he ran that, next thing you know, all the scouts are talking about, ‘he just tested himself into the NFL.'”
While it’s unlikely all of the prospects will get their named called during the NFL Draft, the hope is that they’ve done enough to get the opportunity to show they can play at the next level.
“I mean, a lot of our guys are going to be ready for it,” said Brancheau. “I think this is going to be the biggest year with guys getting a chance in the league. I wouldn’t be shocked if six guys got a chance to put on an NFL jersey come rookie minicamp. That’s the type of thing where once they get their shot and they have their foot in the door, that’s the biggest thing, right? Now they can show that they can play football at a very high level. They went through the proccess of doing the testing and doing all the things that they had to do. Once they get an opportunity, it doesn’t matter if you’re a first round pick or if you’re a high priority free agent. If you make the 53 man roster, you’re getting paid regardless.”
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