Todd Wright’s odd path to Texas
Scan through the pages of “Basketball for Dummies,” and you might come across a familiar name in the strength and conditioning chapter.
Todd Wright, Texas basketball’s strength and conditioning coach, wrote a chapter for the book just a year after he began coaching.
But despite what you might think, Wright hasn’t always been one of the nation’s top basketball training gurus.
Wright’s road to Austin has been as unconventional as his training style. After graduating from Springfield College in Massachusetts, Wright became a bartender in his native state and enjoyed the early years of his life.
“I loved to party, but I was a pretty intense dude,” Wright said. “I loved training, but I loved having a good time, I was all over the place.”
After three years of mixing drinks and living a party, Wright received an unexpected nudge. Wright and the woman who owned the bar had several conversations about what he wanted to do with his life, and the woman pushed him to apply to various colleges for a job as a strength and conditioning coach.But Wright brushed her suggestions off, not expecting to find success. He then received an unexpected surprise.
“The next night when I came in, someone was actually behind the bar working my shift,” Wright said. “When I went upstairs to talk to her, she said ‘You’re not working another shift until you write a letter to college coaches.’”
The woman helped Wright send out 10 letters to colleges around the country, and Wright received three replies within the first three weeks. When the decision came down to Tennessee and Clemson, Wright chose to work with the Clemson football team. He packed just one duffel bag, leaving a whole life behind, and made his way to South Carolina.
Wright’s involvement in the Clemson basketball program didn’t take too long to develop. When Clemson’s then-head coach Rick Barnes suddenly lost his strength and conditioning coach, Wright was asked to work with the basketball team - something he did not look forward to.
“At that time, I hated the basketball team, so I was ready to kill ‘em,” Wright said. “And I did. I did a really good job, and I just smoked those guys, got them into great shape and got rid of all the bad apples.”
After his first season, Wright worked with Barnes as a graduate assistant - going unpaid but being provided with all the equipment and services that he needed.
“I didn’t need any money, because I loved what I did,” Wright said. “I loved being in the gym, around the guys.”
After Wright became engaged, Barnes was forced to hire Wright full-time, and the two coaches have been together ever since.
In the last nine years at Texas, Wright has become one of the greatest attractions for new recruits - making drastic physical changes to players like Chris Mihm, T.J. Ford and LaMarcus Aldridge.
But what he has done this year with Dexter Pittman is probably the biggest accomplishment of his career. Having helped Pittman lose 95 pounds in the last nine months, Wright realizes that improving the lives and educating the athletes is an even bigger perk than just making them better basketball players. Wright cherishes the relationships he builds with his players.
“I would do anything for [Pittman], and he knows it,” Wright said. “And he would probably do anything for me.”
The current players, despite most having been at Texas for less than a year, trust Wright with their futures.
“I trust coach Wright,” Pittman said. “He’s helped me lose all this weight. He believes in me and the other guys.”
Wright isn’t the typical weight room coach - the type that yells at his athletes to get a point across. Instead, he takes a much more laid-back, mental approach.
“They’re a different breed of athlete,” Wright said. “You’ve got to come at them differently. If they cross the line, I’m usually pretty good to let them know. But I don’t usually jump on them.”
Having made a 180-degree turn in his lifestyle and using an effective yet uncommon mental approach to training, Wright still carries the same mantra he carried back in his bartending days.
“At the time, I said it would be nice to be part of something where you could learn how to win,” Wright said.
So far, he’s done a pretty good job.