This weight room consisted of three squat racks, two benches and only one functioning barbell. Before loading up grimy 45-pound plates, they\u2019d need to roll the bar to make sure this was the one that was actually straight. You know, so it wouldn\u2019t fall off their back mid-squat. All equipment was from the 80s.
Sieler glows at this memory more than any other. Back when he was half of himself. Long before Sieler was this fully-bearded, 6-foot-6, 300-pound colossus in the middle of the Miami Dolphins\u2019 defense, he was a beanpole. He headed to Division-II Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich., at barely north of 200 pounds. Ferris State let Sieler walk onto the team simply because he was tall and could give them scout-team looks. So, this was his gameday. He\u2019d lift at 4 a.m., before 6:30/7 a.m. meetings. Practice would last 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., then he\u2019d head to class and lift again at 6:30 p.m.
This glorious \u201Cdungeon\u201D was the exact opposite of what his pro contemporaries enjoyed in the SEC and Big Ten. Right down to the lack of a cushion on that one barbell for squats. Each set, he\u2019d scrape up his neck. Ferris State didn\u2019t only lack equipment, hell, they didn\u2019t have a strength coach back then. Sieler was forced to do his own research, piecing together workouts from MusclePharm and Bodybuilding.com. Once, he and buddies tried Rich Piana\u2019s legendary \u201CEight-Hour Arms.\u201D An insane workout that features 16 mini workouts every half-hour over an eight-hour period. (Piana promised to add a full inch to your arms in one day.)
With anvils for biceps, he\u2019d sure make the deceased Piana proud. Now, Zach Sieler is everything this high-voltage roster needs. The endless reels of 70-yard touchdowns and backflips and selfies and choreographed celebrations from \u201CRemember the Titans\u201D are fun as hell. There\u2019s no better viewing experience in the NFL than the schematic symphony conducted by the hilariously self-deprecating Mike McDaniel. Football now has four levels of speed: high school, college, NFL, and Dolphins. Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert and De\u2019Von Achane have accounted for the five fastest plays in the league.
Yet as every electrifying offense in the history of the sport has learned \u2014 the \u201998 Vikings, \u201999 Rams, \u201907 Patriots, etc. \u2014 games in January are\u2026 different. Games can darken into street fights. Whether these Dolphins are equipped to win that type of game will justifiably become a hot topic of debate as this 2023 season wears on. The Buffalo Bills did smash its AFC East rival. In Sieler, they\u2019ve got more than a puncher\u2019s chance to win future brawls because he\u2019s different than all the headliners. All the star power on this roster.
\u201CThere\u2019s guys on every team that, obviously, they\u2019re not the big-name guys, but they\u2019re the guys that just keep it together,\u201D Sieler says. \u201CGlue guys, locker room guys, that make just as many plays. Your name\u2019s not out there, which to me I love that. That's why it\u2019s a game like no other game. It takes 11 players. You might have a Tyreek that\u2019s crazy fast and you might have a tall receiver that\u2019s able to go up and get it. Everyone\u2019s got a different attribute.\u201D
He grew up with all of 2,400 residents in Pinckney, Mich. Fifteen kids played on the JV team; 25 on Varsity. A few grads had previously gone on to play Division III ball, but little else. College coaches were not flocking to his games and the lack of interest, he admits, was \u201Cdisheartening.\u201D But looking back, it was understandable. Sieler was oddly shaped for a defensive lineman at 6-4, 205. Cutting weight to wrestle ending up hurting him as a football recruit.
His senior year, he got back up to \u201C205\u2019ish\u201D and wrestled at 215. Sieler loved football but admits wrestling was \u201Cit.\u201D A lifestyle here in the Midwest. Thus, he has no regrets. His father was a backup on the Olympic team. Sieler was still able to get nearly all four years of college at Ferris State paid for thanks to a slew of scholarships and good grades. The school\u2019s engineering program was also enticing.
Blissful ignorance helped. All along, the NFL was the goal. (\u201CWhat kid doesn\u2019t want to go play in the NFL?\u201D) In reality, Ferris State\u2019s coaches didn\u2019t view Sieler as anything more than a practice body. This wasn\u2019t a Cody Mauch situation. No grandiose master plan. When Mauch stepped onto the North Dakota State campus at 220, the school had a long-term vision. As he detailed to Go Long, Mauch fully maximized his unlimited meal plan. And facilities. This was an FCS power that had beefed up linemen before. Mauch put on 85 pounds and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round.
\u201CThe coaches didn\u2019t care about me that much,\u201D Sieler says. \u201CThat is all they ever saw me as. Never really expected me to get on the field. There was some, \u2018Hey, we got a kid from Florida. We got a kid that just transferred from Navy. I don\u2019t know if you're ever going to see the field here, but we\u2019d love to keep you on as a scout team guy.\u2019\u201D
Together, Sieler, Derek Ash, Jon Metz and a few others turned that \u201Cdungeon\u201D into a sanctuary. Maybe they\u2019d never see the field. Maybe Ferris State didn\u2019t have a strength coach or a nutritionist. Screw it. They could eat and lift and eat some more. A whole new world to Sieler, who was only accustomed to losing pounds to make weight on the mat. He meticulously researched how to make meals on a tight budget and \u2014 since there wasn\u2019t an Aldi \u2014 visited Save-a-Lot all the time. His go-to move? Buying steaks that expired in one day. Those always sold on the cheap. For dinner, he\u2019d cook those up with some rice. For breakfast, he drink a cup of dry oatmeal with water.
Anything to pack on the poundage. \u201CCheap poundage,\u201D he clarifies. Of course, anybody can eat. And eat. Sieler knew he needed to transform this into muscle. So whenever he wasn\u2019t doing construction, landscaping or mowing each offseason, Sieler trained. His crew would literally need every 45-pound plate available to squat 550, 600, 650 pounds.
This all launched Ash\u2019s own career. He nerded out on the science of weightlifting, researching workouts on YouTube the night before their sessions. Today, Ash is the strength and conditioning coach at Cedar Springs Public Schools, about 45 minutes north of Ferris. Even when their college finally did hire a strength coach their last year, the two would still make a point to do their own thing. One would screenshot a MusclePharm workout from Instagram, text it to the other and they\u2019d go balls to the wall the next morning.
In a year and half, Sieler added 45 pounds. His second year, he tweaked his finger \u2014 knew he wasn\u2019t going to play \u2014 and kept throwing weight around. By Year 3, Sieler was 270 pounds and finally played when a teammate suffered an injury. In limited action, he had 6.5 sacks. This got him on scholarship, and Sieler\u2019s collegiate career took off. He had 19 \u00BD sacks in Year 4, and another seven his final year. By the time he left Ferris State, he was 290 pounds. NFL dreams became real. One Ferris State alum, Jason Vander Laan, bounced around the league. Another, Justin Zimmer, played on the Buffalo Bills\u2019 defensive line. Ferris State also played Grand Valley State, the school that produced one of the best edge rushers in the sport: New England\u2019s Matthew Judon.
Heading into his final season at Ferris, he interned 70 to 80 hours per week at the Sterling Stamping Chrysler plan in Detroit. The drive ate up so much time \u2014 he was getting up at 3 a.m. \u2014 that Sieler decided to crash at a buddy\u2019s studio apartment in the city. All summer, he slept on the couch and saved himself two hours of driving each day. Valuable time Sieler used at a nearby L.A. Fitness.
He could\u2019ve earned a solid salary designing the under bodies of Suburbans and Yukon for Chevy GMC. But, of course, he needed to give the NFL a shot\u2026 even if he wasn\u2019t exacty a diehard fan of any team. Sieler preferred episodes of Dragon Ball Z over watching the pros. Or hunting. Or fishing. He played fantasy football but, in the locker room, often leaned over to ask Ash for advice on who to draft and who to start.
True, he\u2019s always been into the outdoors most. Specifically, hunting. Sieler and his wife headed to Africa for their honeymoon, and then to New Zealand to hunt red stag. Hannah never hunted before meeting Zach but quickly fell in love herself. The No. 1 animal on Zach\u2019s mind this day is elk. Whenever he\u2019s done playing football, one of the first things he\u2019ll do is take a two- or three-week trip out west. Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, wherever.
For us novices, here\u2019s how it works. Your dogs \u201Cflush \u2018em out,\u201D he explains. They\u2019ll chase and corner the boar in one place, while barking to signal their location. That\u2019s when Sieler will either do the honors with a knife or \u2014 if the dogs are getting in the way \u2014 tie the hog up, load him onto the truck, put him down later. Sieler knows hunting isn\u2019t for everyone. He sees all sides to the conversation. Heck, his Mom has been a vegetarian her entire life.
But he also points to the patience of mainstream hunting. Sitting in the woods. Staying calm. Waiting to strike. There are parallels, and all of this is exactly what the Dolphins need. In August, Sieler was rewarded with a three-year, $30.75 million deal. He moves exceptionally well for a human his size. In the wild card loss to Buffalo last year, Sieler scooped up a Josh Allen fumble and returned it for a touchdown in one fell swoop of athleticism uncommon for any 300-pounder. We\u2019ve seen more such movement this fall, such as getting on his high horse to track down the mobile Tyrod Taylor. He got to the QB near the sideline, dove, tripped him up, forced an incompletion.
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