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Coffman Earns Opportunity He’s Been Preparing for Since Middle School
A new high school football season is upon us, bringing excitement to communities all over the area.
Like every year, there are teams with players and coaching staff returning with high expectations, as well as new faces in new places hoping to change the fortunes of a program.
East Kentwood has the latter with Ty Spencer coming in as the school’s new head coach after leading Detroit King to 4 state championships the last 8 seasons.
The Falcons also have a new quarterback this fall in longtime PowerStrength Disciple, Kayd Coffman.
When opportunity knocks it’s too late to prepare – opportunity is knocking now for Kayd and he has been preparing for it since he was making the 40-minute drive, one-way, from Plainwell in middle school.
“I wanted to get better,” Kayd said about why he started coming to PowerStrength. “I started taking football more seriously right around then. My dad just said ‘Found a spot’, and I started working out.”
STARTING EARLY
PowerStrength’s ‘Little Beast’ program is designed for 5th-8th graders to learn the fundamentals of training and lay a foundation for hard work, self-discipline, and coachability. Kayd looks back on his experience and sees the value it continues to provide.
“I loved it! I think foundationally,” Kayd said about the importance of training at PSTS in middle school. “I don’t think I’d be where I’m at right now if I didn’t foundationally learn how to squat, how to move, really. And I’m still adapting that to how I’ve grown too, which is a whole other process.”
Kayd and his family moved north, to Grand Rapids when he was in the 8th grade making those trips to PowerStrength a little more convenient.
LEVELING UP
Kayd graduated to the High School Athlete program at PowerStrength and has elevated his game. Attending South Christian High School, a powerhouse football program, he was the starting quarterback on junior varsity as a freshman.
“I just wanted to get better,” Kayd said.”I remember the growth I had when I was younger. I was talking with my family about it and I wanted to take that next step and I’ve done that.”
Kayd continued to level up by joining Premier, PowerStrength’s most advanced training program. Being around other elite athletes who are serious about getting better helped him reach a new level, especially when it came to quickness and speed.
“Explosiveness this session from winter to now has all been explosiveness and moving faster and I’ve definitely felt that in my lifts and then also speed on the field and how much faster I’ve gotten,” Kayd said.
As a sophomore, Kayd was on varsity as the Sailors went all the way to the Division 4 state championship game at Ford Field. He noticed a serious difference in the way he was able to play the game.
“Looking at myself, watching film, I just look bigger that helps a lot on the football field,” he said. “From freshman to sophomore year and I just felt faster on the field, quicker, and then I was able to move a little bit which I wasn’t able to do freshman year. I was slow as molasses freshman year, I was able to move a little bit and then I’m able to move a lot more now just in the workouts on the field with my team just being able to move in the drills.”
GETTING BIG
Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, Kayd has the stature to play quarterback, but adding weight has been a goal of his. His freshman year he weighed just 135 lbs, less than 2 years later he is at 190 lbs as he enters his junior campaign.
PowerStrength’s coaches are experts at training as well as nutrition and recovery, all of which are paramount for reaching peak performance.
“I always thought gaining weight was just gonna happen, but I realized how much I have to actually eat,” Kayd said. “I’m eating five meals, that’s what they preach here is eating, eating, eating, and I’ve gained like 14 pounds (in 2 months). It’s definitely been a process eating-wise and eating clean too. When I first came here, it was eat cheeseburgers and fried food. I had to kind of reign back and eat some clean food and I’m putting on good weight now.”
DIVISION 1 OFFERS
Kayd isn’t the only one taking notice of the upgrade in his on-field play. He received Division 1 scholarship offers during the off-season from Western Michigan and Central Michigan, but he knows that it is only the beginning because better never stops.
“It’s still life, I thought it was gonna be a lot different after my first offer I, thought my life was going to change. It’s really just getting more followers on social media, then people started joking more about it at school and stuff but nothing changed from a grind standpoint, I just stay after the grind just a little more known now.”
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
This fall Kayd will be suiting up for East Kentwood after transferring from South Christian. He says the transition to a new school and team has gone very well.
“I thought it was gonna be a lot more difficult, switching from South to East Kentwood,” he said, “but they’ve all accepted me really well, I’m one of the guys, I’m able to mess around, joke with them. I’ve also been grinding so they trust me and respect me in that light too.”
The new coaching staff has brought a lot of excitement to the program, which has been displayed in the lead-up to the season.
“They are switching the culture there so it’s really big on how we do stuff,” Kayd said. “Everyone’s doing workouts. It’s how we do it, how we attack it, what we’re doing off the field and making the right decision in the classroom and stuff. So the coaches have preached on that too.”
Kayd has always had that ‘Complacency Kills’ mindset that PowerStrength preaches. He understands that everything has to be earned when it comes to playing time, even if he has a pair of D1 offers.
“I have to go out and earn it,” he said. “Coach made that very clear to the team, there were no starting spots. It’s a new staff, there’s nothing’s given.”
The Falcons season kicks off on Thursday at home against Hartland, before they travel to play at Byron Center on Friday, September 6th.
GET STARTED AT POWERSTRENGTH
5th-12th grade athletes of all sports and abilities can sign up at PowerStrength at any time while spots remain. Choose the PowerStrength location most convenient for you – Alpine, Kentwood, Jenison, and Plainfield – with a 5th facility in Holland coming in late fall 2024!
Visit https://powerstrengthpro.com/athlete/contact/ to learn more or click below to schedule your assessment and get started.
