2012-GameRelease-Divisional

The Art of Coaching
By Taylor Price, 49ers.com
Coach Feature Story
It’s no coincidence the 49ers lined up one of the most physical offensive and defensive fronts in the
National Football League last season. Thanks to the guidance of head strength and conditioning coach
Mark Uyeyama, the 49ers continued their strong play throughout the year on their way to a NFC title
game appearance. The passionate coach draws from his playing experiences and supreme knowledge of
his profession to get the most from his players. Click here to watch Uyeyama's interview.
OOH-EE. That’s the way to pronounce San Francisco 49ers head strength and conditioning coach Mark
Uyeyama’s most uttered moniker. “Uey” is well-known around team headquarters, however, his ascent in
becoming one of the best strength coaches in the league has not been discussed as it should. Before
every game you can find Uyeyama on the field working closely with 49ers players, getting them ready for
60 minutes of football. Uyeyama’s approach is well respected by his players, who enjoy the strength
program installed prior to the 2011 season.
Promoted to his position after serving as the team’s assistant strength coach for three previous seasons,
Uyeyama had already built close relationships with players on the team. Once he became in charge of
the team’s strength and conditioning in 2011, Uyeyama altered the training regimen. Most notably,
Uyeyama added to the team’s bag of tricks by having an outdoor weight lifting tent placed adjacent to the
team’s practice fields.
In Uyeyama’s mind, his role is to help the players improve their strength and conditioning levels so they
can become the best football players they possibly can. Uyeyama’s mission is to see his players become
stronger and better conditioned on the field. “I think there’s a misnomer that guys at this level can’t
improve in those areas,” Uyeyama said. “I believe they can. That’s kind of the art of coaching. You’ve got
to really specifically look at every individual as an individual and go from there. Guys make big
improvements even at this level.”
SINCE THE age of 5, when he started a 16-year run of playing the sport, Uyeyama has had a passion for
the game of football. “I was a decent football player,” Uyeyama said, downplaying his experiences that
include college stints at Butte Community College and Northern State University.
What helped Uyeyama get to those places was his passion for working out. “I started at probably 12
years old when my uncle took me into a weight room with a broomstick,” Uyeyama said. “From then on
out, every summer I was training for football… I did it because I had such a passion for it.”
Uyeyama had tremendous respect for players from his high school who went on to play collegiately.
Seeing their dedication to training and how it helped them earn college scholarships furthered his quest to
succeed in football. Uyeyama pushed himself at a young age to train with “the older guys.”
“They would come back in the summers and I would link up with those guys,” Uyeyama said, recalling
their times running apartment staircases or neighboring hillsides. “Basically my whole life I was training.”
Truth be told, Uyeyama had an early sense about his true passion within the sport. It was for training,
finding ways to become a better player, more than the game itself. “I really took pride in the training
process of it. That’s what kind of led me to strength and conditioning,” Uyeyama added. “It was a big part
on how I was able to be successful.”
WITH HIS playing days coming to an end, Uyeyama decided to finish his degree at the University of Utah
and graduated in May of 2000 while serving as a student assistant strength coach for two years. There,
the 49ers strength coach was mentored by Joe Kenn, the current head strength coach of the Carolina
Panthers. “I was fortunate enough to get an interview,” Uyeyama recalled. “I was able to intern and the
rest was history from there.”