Colfax football is taking a different approach to strength and conditioning this season.
The Falcons have brought in professional fighter Ozzie Alvarez to work with the team, using MMA-inspired workouts to build physical toughness while teaching players the mindset he developed through more than two decades of competition.
Alvarez has competed professionally for 26 years, including 15 years in MMA. He is a former UFC Fight Pass champion and has spent the past year competing in bare-knuckle boxing. Now, he is bringing his experience from the cage to the football field.
“I’ve taught them, put them through workouts and conditioning things to try to get them to that breaking point, so they can mentally push through and realize that they always have more,” Alvarez said. “Even when they think that they’re done, there’s always a little bit more.”
The relationship between Alvarez and Colfax football coach Jason Stowers developed naturally through the local youth sports community.
Alvarez moved to the area with his wife and family in 2018 and began coaching his own children in youth sports. His children crossed paths with the children of several Colfax coaches, giving Stowers an opportunity to see Alvarez’s coaching style firsthand.
But Alvarez’s connection to the Falcons became more direct through former Colfax player Wyatt Powell. After Powell’s junior season, his family reached out to Alvarez about offseason training. Alvarez quickly saw potential in Powell beyond the position he had played.
“I was like, ‘What position do you play? Are you a tight end, D-end, linebacker?’” Alvarez said. “He’s like, ‘Actually, I’m a lineman.’ I’m like, ‘Lineman? You’re not a lineman.’”
Alvarez began working with Powell on conditioning, footwork and developing more of a skill-position skill set. He encouraged Powell to make the Colfax coaching staff aware of what he could do.
The opportunity eventually came during the season, when Colfax lost its middle linebacker to a knee injury. Powell stepped in and made an immediate impact, leading the team in tackles in his first game at the position. Later, after the team lost its running back, Powell volunteered to take on that role as well and rushed for more than 100 yards.
Powell credited Alvarez with helping prepare him for those opportunities and gave him a prominent shoutout during his senior-night speech.
That relationship helped open the door for Alvarez to join the Colfax football program Now, Alvarez is focused on developing the entire team and his approach goes beyond lifting weights.
“There are two people who really deserve credit for that,” Stowers said. “One is Coach Oz Alvarez, who does a lot of our strength and conditioning in the offseason. The other is Ben Brown. They’ve both dedicated themselves to being here year-round, so they’ve formed really strong relationships with our players, and those relationships allow them to really push them.”
The work has already produced noticeable physical changes for the Falcons.
“Because of Ben and Coach Alvarez’s work, each kid here has put on 30 pounds in the offseason,” Stowers said. “We’ve changed our mindset where we’re not trying to train football players; we’re trying to train fighters for how we attack a game.”
For Alvarez, MMA and football may be different sports, but the mental demands are remarkably similar.
“Sports are all fundamentals. They’re very similar. They all complement each other,” Alvarez said. “The one thing that all sports have in common is mindset.”
That mindset is what Alvarez believes can help Colfax compete against teams with more natural talent. The Falcons may not always have the biggest or most talented roster, but Alvarez believes they can make up the difference through preparation, effort and toughness.
“They’ll run through a wall for you,” Alvarez said of the Falcons. “They might not be the most talented, so it’s like, OK, how do you beat the more talented schools? You outwork them.”
That mentality has become a central part of Alvarez’s message to the team. His philosophy is simple: Players cannot always control their size, athletic ability or the talent on the opposing sideline. They can control their attitude and effort.
“There’s no excuse. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be the hardest worker in the room,” Alvarez said. “Those are your controllables. Attitude and effort. Your effort should always be maxed out.”
The MMA workouts are designed to reinforce that philosophy. Alvarez pushes players physically until they reach the point where they believe they cannot continue, then challenges them to find another gear.
The goal isn't simply to make the players stronger. It is to teach them what they are capable of when fatigue sets in and their bodies are telling them to stop.
“Train the mind, the body can follow,” Alvarez said. “But to train the mind, you’ve got to go through the body.”
For junior quarterback Adam Amatangelo, that mentality has become part of the daily routine.
“We’ve been pushing every single day, like hours each day,” Amatangelo said. “He gives us these MMA-type workouts where we’re pushing 100 percent, and he has the best words of advice for mindset. He always talks about our mindset and makes us set our minds.”
Before each practice, the Falcons gather in a circle to mentally prepare for the work ahead.
“Before each practice, we get in a big circle, we set our minds and think about what we’re going to be doing on the day and how hard we’re going to work,” Amatangelo said. “And I think that helps us a ton.”
Senior Brady Stowers has felt the difference in the program’s approach firsthand.
“We’re putting in a lot more work, intensity is definitely harder, and we’re going harder now with his mentality,” Stowers said. “It’s a lot more running, a lot more getting in shape and we’ll be ready for week one.”
The Falcons finish their workouts with 30 minutes of conditioning, another piece of Alvarez’s push to make the team comfortable playing through fatigue.
For Colfax, the approach has become more than just an offseason workout. It is becoming part of the Falcons’ identity as a team that believes discipline, effort and mental toughness can help close the gap against more talented opponents.