Exclusive look into what makes Bryce Young special: 'He just comes in and puts in the work'
Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young was the assumed No. 1 overall selection, but it wasn't a guarantee. Few things are in the NFL. So, he did what any high-skilled player would do leading up to the biggest night of his career — he worked out. Specifically, he got in a strength and conditioning session […]
Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young was the assumed No. 1 overall selection, but it wasn't a guarantee.
Few things are in the NFL.
So, he did what any high-skilled player would do leading up to the biggest night of his career — he worked out. Specifically, he got in a strength and conditioning session with Augustine Ume-Ezeoke, a Dallas-raised California-based fitness coach who has his roots in playing football, enjoying a short — but sweet — stint with the New York Jets before heading overseas.
Though Ume-Ezeoke's time with Young was relatively short, the quarterback's demeanor and approach to the workout left an indelible mark on the mind of the fitness coach, who has also worked with several high-profile football players, boxers, and basketball players. And since their first workout together, Young has worked with Ume-Ezeoke a second time.
"He's able to deal with adversity," Ume-Ezeoke said in an exclusive interview with A to Z Sports. "He listens. He applies really, really well. And he doesn't let a lot of things get in his way."
A mindset that, for the Panthers, an organization banking on Young being the franchise quarterback, is encouraging.
The 5-foot-10 signal-caller has often been doubted for his size. And at the NFL level, that isn't going to change. Drew Brees, at 6-foot, forced the New Orleans Saints to reorient how they built their offensive line and style of play.
With Young, the Panthers will have to do a little of the same.
The team's head coach, Frank Reich, is a known quarterback whisperer. However, Reich has also never worked with a quarterback as small as Young. In Reich's 17 years as a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator, or head coach, all but six games were started by quarterbacks 6-foot-4 and taller.
It will be a challenge. But that is also why Reich recently explained to Sports Illustrated that it may be time for the NFL world to pump the breaks on Young's expectations. Though, he is the No. 1 overall pick. And though he has unparalleled skill, success won't come overnight — even for the quarterback whisperer and his star pupil.
“Patrick Mahomes sat on the bench his rookie year. Peyton Manning was 3–13. Troy Aikman was 1–15,” Reich stated of developing around the star rookie. “The list goes on and on. So this is a two-to-four-year project. It’s a two-to-four-year project with every sense of urgency to win every game and make the most of every day. Those things can both be true. Hey, they don’t really care about winning now. … No, that’s garbage. We’re fighting and scratching to win every game, to win our division, to win playoff games. But it’s a two-to-four-year project.”
And those two-to-four years will be ones in which Young — who has impressed seemingly everyone he has come across — approaches his workouts with the same vigor and intensity as he did during his time with Ume-Ezeoke.
"He's always just showed up and put in the work," Ume-Ezeoke said. "He doesn't have a lot of ego and pride. He just comes in and puts in the work. And that is kind of what it is… Kudos to his parents. You can definitely tell he got a lot of skill set from them, especially this early."
There is a reason why drafting Young indicated a changing of the guard. His maturity as a rookie may change the direction of the Panthers franchise. And it is a maturity that everyone who works with him notices right away.
And heading into training camp, the Panthers are better for having Young as the defacto starter. In a roundabout way, though the Panthers may have just drafted Young, the franchise appears to finally have an adult signal caller in the room.
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Feature image via Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports.
