To get to the top, you have to start at the bottom.
The bottom of the University of Cincinnati's Lindner Center is far from a dungeon, but you may hear loud noises, the thunderclap of heavy metal and young men pushing past their limits. There's nothing soft about a weight room other than a little cushion on the floor.
There's certainly nothing soft about Niko Palazeti, a former blue-collar fullback from Detroit who cleared holes for Mark Dantonio's Michigan State Spartans and trained Mississippi State Bulldogs, Maryland Terrapins and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Palazeti, UC's new director of football performance, replaced former Bearcat strength coach Brady Collins, who went with Luke Fickell to the University of Wisconsin. Palazeti previously worked under Mickey Marotti at Ohio State. Before he joined Urban Meyer at Florida and then Ohio State, Marotti was UC's football and basketball strength guy, helping Bearcats football players return to bowl games and working with Bob Huggins' basketball players like Danny Fortson.
Palazeti perfected his craft at Ohio State. The results of his work were showcased in the College Football Playoff semifinals when Ohio State lost to Georgia only because of a missed field goal. That game was far better than the national championship game, where Georgia took Texas Christian University (TCU) to the woodshed, 65-7.
"To have such great mentorship has been incredible," Palazeti said. "To work for Coach Mick for the past six seasons has been a gift. The scale of how they do things has really prepared me for this opportunity. Mickey Marotti came into my life at the perfect time."
Blue-collar man
Palazeti grew up in a blue-collar household outside of Detroit. Instead of being a blue-chip recruit, he was the proverbial chip-on-his-shoulder guy, the kind of guy who wants to show the world what it's missed.
He echoes many of the same words Dantonio uttered as head coach of the Bearcats. "Football is a game of inches. You need to be tough. The tough team wins."
UC's past toughness led to Palazeti's present position. He admired what Dantonio and Marotti did in the past from afar as well as the recent work of Collins who also had stops at Mississippi State and Columbus before him.
"These kids take so much pride in it (toughness) and the city takes so much pride in it," Palazeti said. "I can't imagine a place that I fit better with or it fits me better. It's a tough town, we're a tough team and we lean into that."
After leaving Cincinnati, Dantonio had Palazeti in his backfield as a fullback with the Spartans. Fullback is a term rarely used beyond the Mason-Dixon line in the current state of college football. With longer locks in 2011 and 2012, he played in 11 games for the Spartans.
"We took him on full scholarship at the end of our recruiting class one year," Dantonio said. "He worked extremely hard but got injured. He went into strength training and he's been a rock star for various places. He'll do an outstanding job. He'll treat the players right and instill effort and toughness in them. That work ethic is so important in that weight room."
Top of the morning at the bottom of the building
Now the former all-state product of metro Detroit Catholic Central is on the ground level of the perpetual grind at 4:30 a.m., often not leaving the Lindner Center until after 7 p.m. It's not easy with a family, but tell people who've been discounted in their life they can't do something and they'll laugh in your face.
Palazeti sips his coffee and grins.
"I'm fueled by caffeine and the Holy Spirit," Palazeti said.
Speaking of fuel, UC provides athletes plenty at the snack bar with healthy items like protein bars and shakes with good ingredients. In addition to his sports performance support staff, UC now has a staff nutritionist.
"We have a great, young dynamic staff that really, really cares," Palazeti said. "We're all tough kids. We're all blue-collar; that's what what we believe in. At the same time, we have to have a new school approach. Old school mindset, new school approach is what college athletics is going to. There's so many more resources and expectations. You can't be stuck thinking how it was. We have all of these new resources. How do we maximize them?"
More than a 'get-back' coach
If you think all a strength coach does is growl, guess again. To be on the Divison I level, schooling and certification are not necessarily easy. Unpaid internships can be exhilarating but also test your mental makeup.
On the other hand, the physicality of the profession is needed. They lead by example. When push comes to shove, they're well-trained.
Previously, Palazeti has worked with special teams personnel at his stops. Basically, it's just getting the right group of 18- to 23-year-old athletes on the field when the coaches need them. Palazeti laughed at the process and the intensity of the coaches he's been around as he's managed teams from the sideline.
"They're like wild animals," Palazeti said laughing. "You can't negotiate with them and they don't make any sense. All you have to do is get the right people on the field and make sure everyone's working in a functional way. A sideline is a fascinating place."
Bearcat Breakfast Club
Before a player even gets to the sideline, he must pass muster with Palazeti's power principles. His goal is always the same, to maximize their development. When young college students enter the weight room at 6 a.m., it's not always an easy task.
"You see them at their very worst when they're not feeling the mood," Palazeti said. "You see them at 18 years old when they don't know their hand from their butt. You work them through, train them and develop them. You get them when they're vulnerable, on their last set of leg presses and they want to quit. You make them do it again. They quit again and you make them do it again. You uphold the standard. That's your job."
Out of those painful times come relationships. Out of relationships come mentors. Mentors have steered Palazeti to Cincinnati where his job is to steer his charges onto a successful path. The ride has been pleasant thus far.
"I feel like I've been here for 10 years," Palazeti said. "I don't even remember my life before this because it's been so immersive and supportive so far."
Floor one is Palazeti's palace. When the boys of fall are hanging and banging, the atmosphere echoes the music. It's loud. It's aggressive. It's abrasive. Using his term, it's immersive.
"We want every bit of effort and attitude and toughness we can possibly get," Palazeti said. "We're trying to create a training environment that screams that. We have fun. We compete. It's violent, tough, angry, fast and full speed. But, at the end of the day, we know that we love them and care about them."
When he met with players individually, he came away feeling they wanted to be coached really hard. That he can do.
He feels he owes that to a group who looks to put his stamp on come Sept. 2 with the Bearcats open with Eastern Kentucky.
Niko at night
At home, he's married to his high school sweetheart, Kelsey, and is a girl dad with a 15-month-old and another daughter on the way. Even their golden retriever is female.
"I must be so immersed in testosterone that this is God telling me to balance my life out a little bit," Palazeti said.
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