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LEHI — While BYU players were celebrating what is arguably the defining victory of the Bronco Mendenhall era following a 14-13 win over Oklahoma in 2009, Jordan Pendleton was in agony.
What he didn’t know is that he had torn a labrum in his shoulder, an undiagnosed injury he’d play through his entire sophomore season.
It was just the beginning in a long string of physical setbacks that likely caused him to ultimately fall short of his original dream to play in the NFL.
“I wish I was still playing,” he said. “Not only I wish, but I know I could still be playing had my body held up for me. I had seven surgeries in about a three-year span, and my body just gave up on me.”
Pendleton gritted out his junior campaign with a torn labrum in his other shoulder, before a knee injury devastated his shot at a future playing career.
But now he’s found another way to stay involved with the game he loves. He was hired by Aces Athletics five weeks ago to offer sports- performance training to football players and other athletes alike at the company’s previously volleyball-centric complex in Lehi.
“I still think about playing everyday, so this is kind of my escape,” Pendleton said as he observed a football camp drill Wednesday. “I live through these guys.”
For the individuals he mentors, he’s found an opportunity to pass along knowledge he wishes he had had when he was younger.
“When you grow up, you do so much stupid stuff as an athlete,” he said. “Whatever your coach tells you to do, you just do it. A lot of the time there’s really nothing behind it that makes sense, but you look up to that coach, so you just do it.”
This week, Pendleton is running a football camp with ex-teammates Kyle Van Noy, Ziggy Ansah, Vic So’oto and Spencer Hadley. He trains with most of them in the offseason.
“Being able to watch them succeed, that makes me happy,” Pendleton said of his fellow BYU teammates' professional careers. “That’s about as close to that feeling as I’m going to get now.”
Parents often approach Pendleton with the thought that he’ll make their children better at their respective sports, but that isn’t all he’s attempting to instill.
“You want to obviously give them good work, and you want them to get strength gains, and you want them to be more explosive and faster, but if they can’t stay healthy, then what good is it?” Pendleton said. “I was the fastest kid on BYU playing linebacker, but I couldn’t stay healthy. So what does it matter? If you can’t keep your athletes healthy then their career is over.”
Now I look back at some of the stuff I was doing and I say, 'that could've played a part in why I did this or why I injured this.'
–Jordan Pendleton
He added that in retrospect, he notices mistakes he made in his personal workouts.
“Now I look back at some of the stuff I was doing and I say, ‘that could’ve played a part in why I did this or why I injured this,’” Pendleton said.
Having undergone years of physical rehabilitation in an effort to revitalize his NFL hopes, in addition to his exercise science degree from BYU, the South Jordan native called the offseason grind his passion.
Now, he primarily schools athletes that play on the gridiron in strength and conditioning, resistance training, speed work, plyometrics and other areas, but said that those lessons also apply to basketball, volleyball and most every sport.
Pendleton has spent time coaching 10 NFL players, high school athletes and various clients simply looking to get in better shape and live healthy since he joined Aces Athletics.
One father at Wednesday’s football camp said Pendleton has acted like a big brother to his son, who’s dramatically improved his strength and speed under the tutelage of the former Cougar linebacker.
“A lot of the time it’s not even that (young players) aren’t good at football, it’s that they don’t have the neuromuscular control or that awareness of body movements and stuff,” Pendleton said.
“Developing that will make them better on the field. That’s what I’m trying to instill in a lot of parents — that athletes need to get in and start developing as an entire athlete, not just going and catching balls or playing football.”
Remaining on the field despite the excruciating pain in his shoulders was a testament to his physical toughness, but Pendleton said he wants the athletes he mentors to be mentally strong as well.
He’ll keep in touch with them outside of workouts, optimistically expecting they’ll someday accomplish the dream he couldn’t.
