1st and 10: Torrian Wilson

An Under Armour All-American who became UCF's starting left tackle, then played on Sundays. Nineteen draft picks trained in the last three years. A program built for the big athletes nobody else builds for.

Q1Take us back to the moment you knew coaching was what you wanted to do. What was it?

It goes back to after my playing career. I went on to be an assistant over at FIU, helping with the offensive line, and that's where it all started.

The training world happened on its own. Guys just started approaching me, wanting to train, wanting to get better. That sparked the idea of getting into training and helping players develop.

Q2If you had to sum up your coaching philosophy in one sentence, what's that sentence?

"Get better every day."

Q3Who's had the biggest impact on how you've approached your role as a coach?

Allen Mogridge. He's the offensive line coach at Georgia Tech now.

He's the one that gave me my first opportunity after I got done playing, and he was also one of our coaches at UCF when I was playing there. He was the first one to give me an opportunity to get into coaching.

Q4What's the win, season, or single moment that still gives you chills when you think about it?

Can I say two wins?

The first one is 2013. We're down at Louisville, when I was at UCF. Louisville was the favorite, ranked eighth in the country at the time, Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. We're down by 21, and we end up rallying back and winning that game. That had to be one of the greatest moments.

The second is that same year. We beat Baylor, who was ranked sixth in the country at that time, in the Fiesta Bowl.

Q5What's a mistake from early in your career that shaped your approach?

I don't know if it's a mistake, but one of the things that allows me to be a really good coach and trainer and mentor is what I went through myself.

The thing I tell guys I wish I had done, and I probably would have had a way longer career, is taking care of my body. Doing all the tedious and boring things you want to overlook. Stretching. Eating properly, constantly. All the little things with rehab and prehab. You have to do those things. That's the biggest thing that allows me to teach these players how to be successful with it.

Q6How do you build a locker room that players don't want to leave?

For one, you have to be a great leader. Someone people want to follow. Whether it's an NFL locker room with grown men, a college locker room with young men, or a high school locker room with young adults, you have to have that leadership in you.

Then you have to make the plan clear, and you have to have the correct principles. You have to be a person of integrity. All of those things make people want to be around you.

And once you do that, it builds itself, because you have to start creating leaders around you. If you're a coach, you find the leaders on the team and make sure those guys understand the plan, because everybody rallies behind those guys. So many times when I was playing, a coach would say something, and obviously it meant something. But when my brother, who was on the team going through what I'm going through, said something, it just meant a little more. A lot of them already have it in them. You just have to bring it out and allow them to lead the team.

Q7What's a tradition, drill, or pre-game ritual of yours that's non-negotiable?

I have to pray. Before every game. That's not even a question, that's a non-negotiable.

I have to make sure I'm in the right space to get ready for war.

Q8Beyond Xs and Os, what do you most want your players carrying with them when they leave you?

I want them to understand that it was more than just football. Football was a small piece of what we had going on.

Depending on what age they are, I want them to feel like I was that uncle they could talk to, or that brother, or just that mentor they could talk to about life. Because football only lasts so long. That's a small piece of our life. Life happens after football.

So I want these players to know it's bigger than football, and that I was always in their corner. I'm always in their corner. Right, wrong, or indifferent, I'm going to have their back.

Q9What's a key part of coaching that nobody sees?

The hours that go into it.

People think you just show up on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, or in the training world, that sessions are just showing up and doing drills. No. It's the countless hours. It's the nonstop. It's being tired. It's the multitasking. It's having to balance a family. There's a lot that goes into it beyond showing up that particular day.

Q10What advice would you give a coach who just landed their first coaching job?

Stay true to who you are.

So many times guys go into it trying to be something they're not, or trying to do something they're not. Just be true to who you are, and never stop learning. Continue to grow. Never stop learning.