“I’m like a proud uncle”: Richard Hogans helping train, grow undefeated Amherst football players

AMHERST — The smile on Richard Hogans’ face shined brighter than the Saturday morning sun as he stood on the hill overlooking Amherst Regional High School’s Community Field.

That smile was apparent all morning as he watched Jameson Dion run rampant on the Putnam defense during the Amherst football team’s season opener on Sept. 9. The game served as a coming out party for the senior tailback, who has totaled 987 total yards (868 rushing) and 14 touchdowns (12 rushing) through the Hurricanes’ first three games of the season.

The same Dion that is on the verge of breaking 1,000 yards Thursday at 7 p.m. against Wahconah (2-1) once walked into Hogans’ gym – TRAIN Performance Training and Nutrition – in Hadley as a freshman, just a small kid with immense aspirations.

The joy Hogans showed watching Dion dazzle came from what he witnessed during the past three summers – the blood, sweat, and sheer hustle.

“Man, he was a dog. A dog. That’s why we call him JYD – ‘Junkyard Dog,’” Hogans said of Dion. “He never missed a workout. Every day he pushed it. The gains were just crazy. Just his attitude, his thought process, and his approach to all of this – you don’t get kids like that all the time, and then it translates to the field. The stuff that he’s doing on the field is crazy.”

Dion’s glory didn’t come without sacrifice, which is often the case. Shortly before his junior year, he had surgery to repair his left kneecap – “[it] was defused in two and the patella bone was partially removed by the surgeon in order to repair it.” Still, he played in the first four games that season before breaking his arm, an injury that ultimately caused him to miss the remainder of 2022 – but not before putting up 618 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

He rehabbed both his knee and arm with Hogans, and came out the other end a different beast.

“Going to Richard, he actually helped me through my arm injury,” Dion said. “He helped me through that, he helped me put on weight, get stronger, get faster. Everything… And with my knee – flexibility, stability, all that. Without him, my recovery would have been a lot longer for both my knee and my arm.”

Hogans, now 48, attended Spencer High School in Columbus, Ga., where he played alongside a handful of future NFL players. Moe Williams, an eventual 10-year NFL veteran who played for the Minnesota Vikings, was Spencer’s starting running back at the time.

Williams scored 21 touchdowns at the highest level, yet Hogans believes what Dion is doing is even more impressive.

“The whole Columbus, Georgia area produced pros, but this dude was Moe Williams,” Hogans said. “He was the man. But the stuff that JD is doing, he’s doing way more than what Moe was doing. And that’s why I’m so awestruck, because I played with Moe. Now, it’s less competition, but the numbers this kid is putting up and the stuff he’s doing when he touches that ball is ridiculous.”

Following his collegiate career with the University of Memphis, the Chicago Bears selected Hogans in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL Draft. Hogans’ stint in the pros was short, as he suffered a torn ACL, a torn Achilles, and, the career-ender, fourth cranial nerve palsy – which paralyzes a muscle in the eye for an extended period of time.

He knew sports had to be in his life, but he could no longer be the one participating.

“That was a hard decision, though,” Hogans said. “But it was mounting injuries for me. So that right there, when you start messing with your brain, and you can’t see straight, I had to let it go then. But that’s when I transitioned into personal training and got into sports-specific training and all that.”

Those injuries allowed Hogans to help players like Dion rehab and recover, because he understands the process from a mental and physical standpoint.

“That’s why I’m able to help the kids post-injuries,” Hogans said. “Look at JD junior year after his knee surgery. I was shocked at the season that he began to have right at the very beginning [of 2022]. He was doing some crazy stuff right after that surgery. This dude was really pulling off 200-yard games.”

Before Hogans landed in Hadley, he bounced around as a strength and conditioning coach at high-level programs. John Calipari reached out to have him join his staff at Memphis. Hogans worked with future stars like Derrick Rose during the Tigers’ memorable stretch of success – including an NCAA title-game berth in 2008 – during the mid-to-late 2000s.

Derek Kellogg, who was an assistant coach at Memphis until 2008, asked Hogans to join him at UMass in 2011. Hogans was part of the 2014 Minutemen staff that saw the program earn a top-10 ranking and a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Dion is just one example of the many kids Hogans has helped throughout his eight years in western Massachusetts, and Hogans’ track record and experience is precisely why he’s able to.

“I feel like I’m above a level on everyone with the training I’ve been doing with him,” Dion said. “When I go to different workouts with other players, I feel like I’m stronger and faster because of what Richard has put me through.”

Amherst football players Junior Ramsey and Owen Earle trained with Hogans all summer. Ramsey, a junior, has become the Hurricanes’ go-to guy in goal-line situations, and Earle, a freshman, starts at safety and plays a key role on defense.

Ramsey filled in for Dion when he went down with the arm injury a year ago, and is likely to take the lead running back role next season when Dion and second option Matt Hockman graduate in the spring. He’s also a talented defensive end with tenacious pass-rushing ability. Hogans knows Ramsey can play at the next level.

“I told Junior he could be a special player, and a special man,” Hogans said. “To see the light in his eyes and that look on his face, I knew he believed it, too. He’s done nothing but put the work in and it shows on that field. I used to tell Junior all summer long to keep investing. This is an investment in yourself, an investment that proves to yourself what you’re capable of.”

Earle is only a freshman, meaning he still has three more summers to get after it with Hogans. He’s got a head start on everyone else because of that, and he’s only going to keep filling out his body the older he gets.

“He’s gonna be the next JD before it’s all said and done,” Hogans said of Earle. “His work ethic is impeccable. And it’s fun, because all the other players watch it, too. They see him growing, and they’re like, ‘What? You’re in eighth grade? Wait, you’re going into ninth, and you got three more years with Big Rich?’ They all know this kid’s going to be a monster.”

When Hogans was a young high schooler like the ones he works with now, tragedy struck. His father passed away when he was 15 years old, and from that point on his life lacked a strong male presence. Hogans acknowledged that a lot of the people he trains may be going through a similar situation, and he knows he has the opportunity to provide some structure.

“I didn’t have that [male figure], and that’s where I get that motivation now with these kids I’m dealing with, because I know some of them need the same thing I did,” Hogans said. “When you’re young, you don’t realize it, but people come in and are in and out of your life for specific reasons. You start to figure those out as you go further on in life, what they did and what they meant to you. So I’m hoping one day they can see back like, ‘Man, Big Rich helped me out.’”

The most rewarding part of Hogans’ job is feeling exactly what he felt on that Saturday morning watching Dion, Ramsey, Earle and Amherst (now 3-0) cruise to a 50-6 win – knowing that his guys’ demanding summer was paying off.

“It’s exhilarating for me. I’m like a proud uncle,” Hogans said. “I love going out there and watching these dudes be successful and getting after it, and it makes me proud because I helped contribute to that.”

And it means the world to Dion and company to have Hogans there watching, too.

“Richard cares a lot about our careers as much as we do,” Dion said. “He comes to all of our games, and I think he cares a lot about us. It’s not just us working out with him, and him training us, it’s him shaping us into better people, and teaching us life lessons… I’m really thankful for what he’s done for me.”