Longhorns in hands of "Mad Dog"

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Long before the Texas Longhorns run out of the tunnel on gameday.  Even before they put their pads on for the first time.  The football players meet with "Mad Dog".

"This is a very intense time," said Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden.  "I'm very fortunate that Coach [Mack] Brown lets me run this football team, take care of his football team, in the off-season."

According to the NCAA, Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden and his training staff are the only ones able to work with the team during this off-season time.  Their goal is to, not only monitor, but maximize the players' physical fitness.

"I look for guys that are tough, guys that love football, guys that want to work as hard as they possibly can," explains Madden.  "I get them ready and conditioned so the coaches can teach them all the X's and O's of how to beat people on the football field."

In May of 2009, Madden was elected president of the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.  His workout programs have earned him national recognition.  They involve rigourous routines and state-of-the-art equipment. 

"What's happened is strength and conditioning keeps evolving all the time," adds Madden.  There's more and more science that pertains to strength and conditioning, so we're going to be on the cutting edge of everything, and try to make our team the best."

Cutting edge means crack of dawn.  The players voluntarily wake up early, four days a week, so "Mad Dog" can push them to the limit.

"We're going to make sure our guys are ready for the 4th quarter," said Madden.  "So, what I do is take them through very tough situations during the summer time that they can't normally take themselves through, and we find a way to find through."

Consequently, he leads the team onto the field each week.

The Longhorns have released their practice schedule for summer practice.  They start Sunday, August 8.  Wednesday and Thursday, August 11 and 12, practices are open to the public.  Both go from 7PM to 9PM at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.