When Process Kills Performance: What Steve Jobs Could Teach the NFL
“All change is not growth; as all movement is not forward.”
- Ellen Glasgow
Steve Jobs once said, “Process is not the product. Content is.” It was a warning to companies that got so wrapped up in systems and procedures that they forgot what mattered most—the end result. He wasn’t talking about football. But he could’ve been.
Because in the NFL today, the game is losing ground to the process that was meant to protect it.
It started with good intentions: Protect the player. Extend careers. Embrace innovation. And for a time, it worked. As a strength coach who once helped lead teams to back-to-back Super Bowls, I know firsthand how much evolution can matter. I built my reputation on movement-based training. The goal wasn’t just muscle; it was movement integrity. We wanted athletes who could move, recover, and survive the high-impact chaos of Sunday.
But somewhere along the line, the process became the product. And when that happened, performance paid the price.
The Illusion of Safety
Today, we’re watching a league handcuffed by spreadsheets and protocols. Sports scientists—many without a day of football experience—now overrule seasoned coaches. GPS numbers dictate reps. “Recovery protocols” sideline players who are finally ready to break through. The tough stuff—the necessary grind that builds readiness—has been outsourced or outright banned.
You don’t need a medical study to see it. Turn on an NBA game, the place where sports science recovery protocols run rampant, and you can be witness to 30+ point blowouts … in conference finals games. Why? Because readiness isn’t built in a vacuum. You can’t substitute real strain with simulated prep. And if you try, the cracks will show when it counts.
Now, consider the impact on the NFL since the sports science protocols have been put into effect. The numbers don’t lie.
· Soft tissue injuries are up, despite less strain in training.
· Missed tackles are higher than ever because live reps have vanished.
· ACL tears, Achilles ruptures, and hamstring pulls are now a weekly headline.
· Week 1 looks more like preseason than primetime.
· Star players are dropping in droves—and the next man up isn’t ready.
· Quarterback injuries have skyrocketed because of poor offensive line play.
And nobody stops to ask: “Are these changes making the game better?”
Gutting the Grind
I still remember the meeting. We’d just returned from our second straight Super Bowl, and I was told: “The game has changed. You need to be open to the changes that are coming.”
Translation: the front office had bought the snake oil—less is more. Shorter practices. No contact in OTAs. Fewer padded practices. Less strain. Less sweat. In the name of “player safety.”
Let’s be clear: I’m all for safety. But not the illusion of it.
Nobody asked me if it was smart to eliminate contact during OTA’s (Organized Team Activities) —where linemen learn to pass-block under real pressure and defensive players are taught how to tackle correctly. Nobody asked if I thought replacing a preseason game with another regular-season collision-fest was wise. Or if flying halfway around the world for a game in Europe or South America during the middle of the season made sense. Or to play a Sunday Night Football game in Foxborough and then fly back to Seattle to get ready for a Thursday Night Football game that week was a “player safety” scheduling decision.
They didn’t ask, because they’d already decided. The process mattered more than the performance. Player safety was not a priority when it came to making money.
Disrupted Development
Let’s look at what’s really happening.
Quarterbacks—the most protected and highest-paid position in the game—are getting hit more than ever. Are offensive line coaches suddenly worse? No. Are defenders faster, stronger, and more relentless? No. So what changed?
Simple: when you take away contact during OTAs and reduce padded practices during the season, you gut the foundation of offensive line development. Pass protection isn’t built on film study. It’s built through time-on-task. Through hands-on, full-tempo reps. Through pressure.
I support the idea that running backs don’t need to get tackled in practice. That’s smart safety. But linemen? Defensive players? They need controlled contact to master leverage, footwork, and hand placement. Otherwise, the first time that they feel real contact is in a game, and then it’s too late.
Fundamentals require friction. And friction has been removed.
From Coaches to Coordinators of Caution
The role of the strength coach, once the final line of accountability in preparation, has shifted. The job used to be about grit. Repetition. Readiness. Communication. Trust. Now? It’s become passive. Many strength coaches are just happy to be along for the ride. They let the players decide when and how they will train. They defer to sports science staffers with resumes built in rugby, soccer, or personal training—disciplines that don’t prepare them to comprehend the position-specific training modalities that football requires.
They’ve replaced “ready” with “rested.” They’ve traded resilience for planned recovery days. And they’ve done it under the banner of progress.
But here’s the problem: you don’t win games with heart rate monitors. You win games with fundamentals. With time under tension. With preparation built under pressure.
Preparation vs. Protection
We’ve gotten so good at monitoring that we’ve forgotten how to prepare.
Injury prevention isn’t about avoiding strain. It’s about being strong enough to survive it. Flexibility, mobility, and stability matter—but only if they’re tested under real conditions. Without those reps, the body forgets how to absorb contact. The mind forgets how to trust it. And the game? The game gets worse.
It’s not just the NFL. The same softness is creeping into all sports. We’ve replaced preparation with policy. Load management with load readiness.
Let Process Serve Performance—Not Replace It
Steve Jobs wasn’t watching film or drawing up blitzes when he said it, but he nailed it: “Process is not the product. Content is.” If the NFL wants better outcomes, it needs better input. And that means getting back to real preparation, not the illusion of it. Load management won’t save you if you’re not “load-ready”.
We don’t need more rules. We need more readiness. We don’t need more process. We need more “content”. Stop letting the process drive the game. Let it support the game. Make sports science a tool, not the decision-making engine it has become. Prepare the athlete to the level that the game demands. A body that isn’t prepared for pressure breaks when pressure is applied.
You don’t become game-ready by avoiding the preparation for the game. When the lights come on and the chaos begins, no chart, app, or sensor will win the game.
Only readiness will.
