How the Hurricanes, Hoosiers prepare for the NFL Combine

It’s a moment they have waited for since childhood. The bright lights. The roar of the crowd. The electricity of Lucas Oil Stadium. For every kid who aspired to one day play professional football, the NFL Combine, specifically the 40-yard dash, which runs from Thursday to March 1, has been the ultimate goal. But for some it’s a dream that won’t be realized — only 319 prospects get an invitation — especially for players from the University of Miami and Indiana who just faced off in the College Football Playoff National Championship game barely a month ago. For now, it’s all about the process — however slow it might seem. “I’m just taking it day by day, week by week,” Miami edge rusher Ahkeem Mesidor said. “I’m [going to] go to the Combine, do whatever I got to do there, on to the pro day and then keep training and wait for your name to be called.” As Mesidor traverses the field at Bommarito Performance Systems in Aventura, there’s a part of him that wants to be alongside everyone else who does wind sprints in preparation for their 40s. The star edge rusher, however, does different dynamic stretches, preparing his body before he even begins to push himself. Comparatively speaking, this sacrifice happens to be rather light. “My mom worked three jobs,” Mesidor recalled. “Put blood, sweet and tears into getting money and funding my travel expenses to go to different camps in Indiana, Michigan, whatever. Football has always been the most important thing.” Mesidor finds himself on the precipice of a goal he made at the tender age of 8: make the NFL. The Canada native even moved to the United States just to have better competition. Now, analysts have him pegged as one of the top edge rushers in the NFL Draft. Mesidor, however, understands the value of patience. “I’m excited,” Mesidor said. “I never thought this day would come true, and it has — or hopefully, it’s going to.” Back in the day, Pete Bommarito, the brain trust behind the training facility, had a more difficult time when it came time to convince players that they shouldn’t run 40-yard dash at the Combine. Nowadays, the players come in ready to listen to whatever he says, something that he sees as a direct byproduct of NIL, or in his words, “the greatest thing that ever happened to college sports.” “Now, they’re coming at me like businessmen,” Bommarito said. “They understand they have one job. My job is to make sure they make as much money as possible. It’s all on how you present the data.” Added Bommarito: “When I show them stats and statistics and this and that, and they see ‘Okay, nobody runs at the Combine if they’re in the national championship game. I’m not an outlier.’ All they have to do is forget the dreams of when they were 10 years old, running on TV.” Scan the list of NFL draft prospects who have trained with Bommarito, and it’s no wonder that the best and brightest choose to go to him. There’s Antoine Winfield Jr., two-time Pro Bowl safety with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There’s guard Chris Lindstorm, a four-time Pro Bowler with the Atlanta Falcons. And there’s edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, a four-time Pro Bowler with the Cincinnati Bengals. What separates Bommarito is not just that he tailors a player’s workout plan in order for them to peak athletically right before the 40 but that he does so with extreme precision. “I just got to get a projected time, tell the agent and the agent makes the decision ‘Okay this is what we’re doing at the Combine, this is what we’re doing at the pro day,” Bommarito said. “There’s limited stress because every guy that I have out of the National Championship game has got an elite agent that understands the process. All they want out of me is two things: No. 1, projection; No. 2, don’t f***ing be wrong.” That’s why guys such as Mesidor and Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds have a bit of a different timeline; their seasons ended January 19th whereas other guys have trained since December. Their goal will be to run at the pro day, something that takes place March 24 for the Hurricanes and April 1 for the Hoosiers. “Growing up, watching the Combine, it’s something I always wanted to compete in,” Ponds said. “Transitioning from a national championship, I’m behind. Guys were training before me. I’ve always been a quick learner, so I’ve been using that and just catching top with the guys.” The Miami native has arguably had one of the better starts to 2026. Not only did the standout cornerback help anchor a defense that brought the Hoosiers its first national championship, Ponds did so at Hard Rock Stadium against the team in his own backyard. Now, he has a legitimate chance to be a Day 2 pick. “It’s hard to put into words,” Ponds said. “Just going from playing in my hometown for a national championship to the celebration, the parade and things like that to coming right back the next weekend training.” “It’s been great just to see them and compete in my hometown,” Ponds said.