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When strength and conditioning coach Jeff Bourque came to UC Davis in May of 2017, he had some work to do. Pronto.

The Aggie football team was under the watchful, first-year eye of celebrated alum Dan Hawkins, and the new boss wasn't happy with what had recently gone down.

UC Davis was in the throes of a six-season losing streak, aided in large part by bushels of injuries in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Aggies were not able to keep its corps of linebackers together for much of the last decade. Linemen (on both sides of the ball) went down frequently as receivers came and went. Top-notch talents like Keelan Doss and Ramon Vargas spent entire seasons on the rack.

Before even his first team workout, Hawkins knew if his crew was going to turn the corner anytime soon, it needed to get to the bottom of the injury iceberg, not just treat the tip.

"I truly believe that the No. 1 guy you should hire after the head coach is the strength coach," Hawkins explains. "He has so much to say and develop when it comes to your culture, your work ethic and your chemistry."

Hawkins knew he needed to change the Aggies' physical track record... he made a couple of calls.

Chris Petersen at Washington had a guy in mind. Then Hawk called his old stomping grounds, Boise State. There was a guy that staff knew, too.

Funny thing, the name was the same — Jeff Bourque.

Hawkins called Bourque (pronounced berk), who, with his wife Stacey and sons Easton and Mason, was happier than a clam at Abilene Christian (Texas).

"Dan piqued my interest with his vision and what he was trying to accomplish," remembers Bourque of that first phone conversation.

There was another chat, then a visit to UC Davis.

After meeting the coaches, Director of Athletics Kevin Blue and Associate Athletic Director of Performance Services Josh Flushman — and talking further with Hawkins and football staff in person — Bourque was sold.

"I realized this university was reinventing the football program," Bourque explained.

Bourque said he wasn't looking to exit Abilene Christian, where he also was director of strength and conditioning.

"I wasn't going anywhere," said the 36-year-old Massachusetts native, who had worked at Boise State, Arkansas, Nevada and Washington before ACU. "It's hard moving around like that. Luckily my kids were really young when we did it."

Easton is now 7 and Mason is 4.

"But we thought they need some stability, we need some stability," continued Bourque, whose family lives in Woodland. "All our moves have been great, though — all good experiences. I've never moved because I was fired, which is rare in this profession.

"I've learned a lot from every single (place). Now, to be in a really good place with really good people, and a great location? It's been nice, starting to grow some roots."

So why did Jeff and Stacey pull up stakes from Texas?

"The biggest different is the people here on campus, the athletes, the staff," says the man who, in addition to football, oversees the Athletic Department's training programs.

"There's just a different way of doing things here, which is very refreshing. (Senior management) understands we're working with really, really good kids. Really mature young adults who have really good perspectives and are really intelligent.

"The (student-athletes) want to know more about what you're doing — as opposed to just 'Hey, lift that!' That whole aura of the campus and (learning) the 'why' behind everything makes this place really different from any place I've ever been. It's all great because I'm kind of a nerd and I love to share the why behind what I'm doing.

"But I've been some places where only 10 percent of the athletes really cared. Here it's like 98 percent of them really want to know.

"We can go down the Rabbit Hole as to why we're doing everything with these guys and these girls and they'll love it. That's pretty cool."

Oh, yeah. The work...

Just two years after seeing as many as 20 injured Aggies on the practice sidelines in red jerseys, Bourque and company have culled that number.

"Immediately, we began to do things differently," says Bourque. "You're never going to prevent all injuries in football. It's a violent game and things are going to happen. But you want guys to get back as fast as possible (because maybe that injury) is not as severe as it could have been."

Since Bourque's arrival, UC Davis moved "spring" football to the winter quarter (March), provided in-season practices that match up with start times for Saturday's games, pulled frequent practices from Aggie Stadium, moving to the grass west of Toomey Field, turned to a more upright style of tackling (think Australian-rules football) and worked to create a reasonable off-season schedule that pays close attention to tapered workouts and nutrition.

Aggies are even schooled in how to hit the ground.

Bourque has welcomed Aggie track coach Rahn Sheffield's influence as UC Davis football players have not only become more physical, healthier and better rested — they've become faster.

"He's been a great resource," Bourque believes.

"I think Jeff has a unique way in getting the most out of guys," Hawkins continued. "He's done a good job of setting the bar really high. He's a guy on the cutting edge with a lot of his training techniques. With him, it's not just about going in and banging iron, it's about doing it in a functioning way.

"We always talk about tying the eyes and the mind and the feet together ... and he's done a really good job of that."

At 3-1 and ranked Nos. 19 and 22 in national FCS polls, Hawkins tips his cap to Bourque:

"We are very strong football team; a very fit football team. He's done a really nice job ... a real blessing to have Jeff."

Notes: Working with Bourque and the department's various teams are Justin Landry (men's basketball, women's soccer, field hockey and men's and women's golf); Sheldon Dunlap (women's basketball, women's tennis, women's water polo, softball, track and cross country); and new assistant strength and conditioning coaches Steven Banks and Jacob Myers (football, softball, men's water polo and men's and women's tennis). A graduate of East Central (Oklahoma) University, where he played baseball, Bourque worked with the Savannah Sand Gnats (Washington Nationals affiliate) and Cape Cod Rehabilitation before turning his attention to collegiate sports.

— Bruce Gallaudet is the former Davis Enterprise sports editor who has been around Aggie athletics since the 1970s. He also writes "Aggie Corner" each Friday in The Enterprise (www.davisenterprise.com).