I'm a big believer in Steve Spurrier's philosophy that you either have to do something better the competition, or find a way to do it differently.
That's a big reason why the opening in Iowa State's video highlighting their player development program caught my attention.
"How can we set these kids up for success? Every one in the country lifts weights, they run sprints, they do conditioning, and they have 15 spring practices in their preseason," Iowa State's director of player development Aaron Hillman starts by explaining. "Who does the little things better?"
"Who eats better? Who sleeps better? Who rests better? Who thinks better? Who has a better culture? Who is doing a better job developing their leadership on their team. To me, especially at this level, that's where the difference is."
Hillman then goes on to explain how they're using science to be better coaches who are more in tune with the needs of their players.
"Coaching is a balance of art and science. Science allows us to get information that we otherwise would not have through our own observations - whether that is on sleep, or what is happening at practice, or with what's happening with their hydration level - all those things help us."
Cameras then take you inside the Cyclones nutrition program before illustrating what Hillman and head coach Matt Campbell are doing to develop the leaders on their roster.
Check out the full clip below to see how Iowa State is doing things differently to maximize the talent they have on their roster.
CyLife Episode 3: A look inside the player development side of Cyclone Football #RaiseTheStandardpic.twitter.com/8bzloAJLgF
— Cyclone Football (@CycloneFB) March 24, 2017