The evolution of speed training is on display at the Combine
Clay Petry looks into the increase in 40 times over the years and speed coaches behind it
By Clay Petry
When Chris Johnson blazed a 4.24-second 40-yard dash in 2008, it sent shockwaves through the football world. At the time it was a rare display of speed that turned heads and proved just how game-changing raw athleticism could be. These days at the NFL Combine we are seeing Johnson-like numbers every year. In 2010, only 14 players clocked a 40-yard dash under 4.45 seconds. By 2024, that number ballooned to 40 and the 2025 group through Day 2 of the events looks like it’s pushing the speed limits even further.
On Friday 14 defensive backs have run under 4.45 seconds, with standout Maxwell Hairston from Kentucky leading the way. He posted an impressive 4.28-second time, reaching a top speed of 24.25 mph—currently the 5th fastest recorded since mph tracking began in 2023. Receiver Isaiah Bond is looking to challenge that mark, saying at the podium that he he can beat Xavier Worthy’s 4.21 record from last year.
Here's a comparison of the average 40-yard dash times for each position in 2003 versus 2024:
Defensive Line
2003: 4.91 | 2024: 4.84Linebackers
2003: 4.74 | 2024: 4.62Defensive Backs
2003: 4.51 | 2024: 4.49Offensive Line
2003: 5.28 | 2024: 5.16Quarterbacks
2003: 4.82 | 2024: 4.78Running Backs
2003: 4.59 | 2024: 4.52Wide Receivers
2003: 4.56 | 2024: 4.44Tight Ends
2003: 4.80 | 2024: 4.64
We can attribute this rise in speed to athletes always getting bigger, faster, and stronger. Evolution certainly plays a part, but is a 14-year gap really long enough to explain such a significant shift? What’s fueling this acceleration in speed? The answer, in part, lies in the evolution of speed training itself.
To better understand this shift, I spoke with coaches Brett Swain and Haneef Shaheed, both of whom have had a significant impact on the development of speed training in football.
Shaheed is the father of New Orleans Saints wide receiver and return specialist Rashid Shaheed, whose blazing speed on the field is a testament to his father’s coaching. Shaheed is widely regarded as one of the top track and speed coaches on the West Coast. A 200m CIF champion in high school, he went on to coach his son, as well as athletes like Keenan Christian, one of San Diego’s most accomplished athletes. Christian is a state champion sprinter and a dominant running back who excelled both on the track and the football field.
Swain was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers (and also Kevin O’Connell’s roommate in college). He was known for his own quickness as a player and now trains athletes at all levels, including notable NFL players like Micah Hyde and Chris Olave.
Speed training as a focus has only come to the forefront in the last two decades. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that it began to gain widespread traction within football circles. Swain recalls: “Unless you're in the track and field environment, you had speed trainers everywhere. But in football, you kind of had the idea of we're going to work really hard in the weight room, and then when it came down to speed training, you know, everybody kind of went their own way”
Swain first encountered a dedicated speed trainer when he met Doug Hix, a Florida-based coach who came out of the Tom Shaw pipeline and became his high school speed trainer. Shaw, the founder of Tom Shaw Performance, is a renowned NFL trainer known for preparing athletes for the NFL Combine, focusing on speed, strength, and agility. Swain was introduced to Hix by former UCLA players, who were determined to improve their 40-yard dash times. They understood that shaving time off their 40-yard dash could drastically boost their draft stock and, ultimately, their earning potential.
Shaheed began his coaching career at San Diego High School, coaching track athletes and gaining respect in his area. After 12 years, he moved to Madison High School, where he first started training football players.
“When I first got to Madison, I really didn't have any football guys strictly that I was coaching,” Shaheed said. “That kind of morphed into something else after a while, once people saw that, hey, these track guys are also good football players. They associated that with me. That's where it started to get all football players.”
In the early 2000s when Swain was trying to improve his quickness to make the NFL and Shaheed was just getting involved in coaching, speed training was often synonymous with improving a player’s 40-yard dash time, a metric that holds significant weight in NFL scouting. Players focused intensely on perfecting their starts, posture, and sprinting mechanics.
As the 2010s rolled around, speed training became extremely popular within the football community. The more players adopted it, the more it became clear that simply improving the 40-yard dash wasn’t enough for players to maximize their potential. What was once a narrow focus on a single drill evolved into a holistic approach to speed development, addressing acceleration, deceleration, lateral movement, and overall agility.
“What I notice is that, and this is just what I see through social media, people are really focused on the 40-yard dash and how to teach kids how to start in this weird starting stance,” Swain said. “And I believe that that really has nothing to do with your ability to play sports”.
Coaches and trainers began recognizing that speed in football isn’t just about a straight-line sprint—it’s about explosive power and the ability to change direction rapidly. This evolution led to the massive rise of specialized speed programs emphasizing sport-specific training that accounted for football's unique demands.
“I say it's a necessity,” Shaheed said. “If you're a football player, the game, as you know, is more and more about speed. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a track star, but as a receiver, you've got to be able to outrun the defense… you have to threaten them with speed.”
Swain shared a similar perspective, saying: “I feel like now it's kind of a requirement, like, if you're going to do sports, if you're going to do any type of sport, it's almost a requirement for you to understand how to move. To a certain extent, if you don't know how to move at all, then you're really kind of behind the eight ball at a younger age. Now, because the training is so available, there's a guy that understands speed in every community now. So the access to it is so much more than it was.”
With access to speed training now more widespread, how can athletes set themselves apart? What are players at this week’s NFL Combine doing to get an edge?
“My philosophy from teaching kids how to run really well has changed to now teaching kids how to have balance in their training, not only to do speed training and understand these concepts but also understand the concepts of change of direction, understand the concepts of your biomechanics and how your body works and how you need to manipulate your body versus trying to do it how everybody else is doing it,” Swain explained.
Coaches like Swain and Shaheed now design training regimens that include speed, strength, change of direction, and even mental conditioning.
What do these training sessions look like specifically? Shaheed pointed to his popular “wicket drill.” He explained that, “the wicket drill primarily focuses on top-end speed mechanics. As a coach, you have the opportunity to see step by step any insufficient movement. This drill can be used to lengthen stride or to shorten stride pattern. A by-product of the drill is speed endurance when used as part of a workout.”
Drills like these are only possible due to the technological advancements. As the world of speed training has evolved, speed trainers around the world have embraced the latest technology to enhance their athletes' training regimens. These coaches have used wearable devices, such as GPS trackers and motion sensors, to collect real-time data on athletes' movements, allowing for a more precise analysis of their speed and mechanics. By tracking these metrics, coaches are able to identify specific areas where their athletes can improve, enabling more targeted interventions that lead to faster times.
The rise of social media has even played a role in this evolution. Shaheed said, “there's so much valuable information out there that makes it easy for me to learn from some of the best in the world. I'm always continuing to try to learn because things are changing.”
Additionally, electronic timing systems and laser gates can ensure that every performance is measured accurately, providing athletes with instant feedback on their progress. With the help of these tools, coaches have been able to push their athletes' limits by tracking progress over time and adjusting their training programs based on data-driven insights, ensuring that their athletes remain at the forefront of speed development.
Not only has technology advanced to help athletes train, but it has also significantly improved recovery methods. Technologies like cryotherapy, which involves exposing the body to extremely cold temperatures to reduce inflammation and muscle soreness, have become common in recovery routines.
Similarly, pneumatic compression devices, such as the Normatec system, use air pressure to massage the limbs and promote circulation, helping to flush out metabolic waste and accelerate muscle repair. There are also electrical stimulation units are used to activate muscles and stimulate blood flow, promoting recovery without physical strain. Wearable devices also play a crucial role in tracking recovery progress, monitoring sleep patterns, heart rate variability, and muscle fatigue. By analyzing this data, athletes and coaches can tailor recovery protocols more precisely, ensuring that players are not only pushing their limits during training but also recovering at an optimal rate to prevent burnout and injury.
Swain expanded on how important recovery is to speed.
“Most of my goal is keeping guys healthy,” Swain said. I like to see guys healthy, and that's kind of where I think the speed training has kind of come now, is that you want to see guys be able to maintain speed and run all season long, and that's a real hard thing to do when the seasons are almost 18 to 20 weeks now, and you got to manage these guys bodies in the off-season and get them prepared to have this heavy workload.”
This integration of technology into speed training has transformed how coaches like Shaheed and Swain can approach the development of football players' speed but no matter how advanced the technology or how many speed trainers there are, both coaches emphasized the importance of having the right mindset.
“When I first started working with kids, I started at the high school level, and immediately started learning that a lot of a lot of this stuff comes down to mindset, just having a goal set in mind,” Swain said. “You can come and do speed training, but if you don't have the appropriate mindset, then you're not really going to get what you want out of the training.”
The evolution of speed training in football is a direct reflection of the changing demands of the game. Coaches like Shaheed and Swain have played a significant role in shaping this shift, pushing players to develop not only their sprinting abilities, but also their overall athleticism. The rise of speed training is not just a trend, but a revolution that has redefined how athletes prepare for the game and perform on the field.
You will really see it in action when the receivers hit the field at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday.
Clay Petry is Purple Insider’s intern. He goes to Penn and played football. He claims to be fast.
Just went back and watched the linked clip of the wicket drill. I would be so worried about tripping over those things at full speed, lol.
Great article Thanks