Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Strength and conditioning is becoming an increasingly important part of winning football games. This summer players are hard at work preparing for the season and it's the weight room coaches that are overseeing the process, while time with on-field coaches is limited by the NCAA.

So who are the guys entrusted to keep tabs on SEC programs between now and the start of two-a-days?

ESPN's Chris Low takes a look at each strength and conditioning coach in the SEC. Included on that list is Arkansas' Jason Veltkamp, a guy I believe might be the most underrated member of Bobby Petrino's coaching staff.

Here's a portion of what Low has to say about Veltkamp:

He was with Bobby Petrino at Louisville for three seasons and helped coordinate the development of 21 future NFL draft selections. Veltkamp was also the head strength and conditioning coach at Utah and was there with Florida coach Urban Meyer for a season in 2003.

That sort of impact on player development - 21 NFL players, think about that for a second - and the overall importance of strength coaches across the country makes it even easier to understand why Arkansas gave Veltkamp a hefty raise this year. His salary was bumped $30,000 in February, pushing him to $175,000 annually.

Low has a little more on Veltkamp and other coaches on his blog. And if you want to know more about

Veltkamp from our perspctive, check out a few items from the ArkansasSports360.com archives:

•Arkansas saw explosive strides made in its post-spring practice speed and strength testing. Veltkamp provided us with the Top 10 bench press and 40 times on the team.

•Coaches will shake up off-season workouts a bit this year to improve the Razorbacks' competitive nature. Veltkamp has some ideas on how to do that, but isn't sharing them.

•Players weren't sure what to think when they got their first taste of workouts under Petrino in 2008. A trip down memory lane.

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And speaking of strength and conditioning...

I recently caught up with the Razorbacks strength and conditioning coordinator for basketball, Kelly Lambert. Here's a Best Seat in the House Q&A that ran in the recent issue of Arkansas Business.