It is college football's greatest debate. I see more fans interact with each other over this topic than even championships and winning seasons.

When fans keep it civil -- not always the case -- they can be fun debates to go back and forth on. There are many ways for fans to support their cases for each side, whether it be Heismans, total number of draft picks, total number of first round draft picks, etc. The criteria is as versatile as the total number of schools who could claim these crowns.

When kept in the right spirit of the debate, those titles are really just about recognition. It's about giving a certain school, coaching staff and recruiting staff their dues when it comes to dominance in developing players. But it also helps us, as draft fans and football fans in general, narrow down where we might look first to find talent in certain areas.

I'm not here today to rekindle the DBU or WRU debates, but I would like to introduce a new one.

Weightlifting U.

Weightlifting is a staple for every athlete. It's way for participants of any sport to push the body in every way: speed, size, strength, durability, flexibility, etc. There is something to be said about the brain side of sports along with the braun. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll never make the most of that speed or strength. But we've seen, in every sport, that when the chess match of scheme and strategy is close to even, it's the best athletes that often come out victorious.

There are plenty of schools around the country who have a handful of crazy athletes every year. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, USC. Those and many more gather up some of the most outstanding athletes college football has to offer. But there's another school that I would say does not get recognized enough for their process and their results of weightlifting in college football.

That would be TCU.

TCU (Texas Christian University) has been putting an emphasis on weightlifting ever since head coach Gary Patterson came into the picture 20 years ago. Patterson initially came on TCU's staff in 1998 as the team's defensive coordinator, quickly turning things around for a defense that was abysmal before his arrival. Under then head coach Dennis Franchione, Patterson's attention to detail and investment into his students' lives is what can be credited to their new found success. In 1998, Patterson was not only defensive coordinator, but he was also in charge of academics for the team. Chief Academics Officer William Koehler said Patterson put more effort into helping these kids in the class room than anyone he's ever seen.

Additionally, Patterson was also the head of the strength and conditioning program for the team. He carried that same attention to detail and care into his players into the weight room. During his early years there, Koehler said that he visibly saw the players get bigger, faster and stronger.

Two years after being hired to be the defensive coordinator in 1998, Patterson was hired to be the head coach, a position he still holds today. More than 20 years later, Patterson is still investing in his players, and that includes the weight room. And you better believe it has made a difference. By pushing and training his players to be the best athletes they can be, TCU has seen more success than they've ever known. Since Patterson took over as head coach, TCU has recorded 11 double-digit winning seasons. Before his arrival the school had just three since 1903, its last before Patterson coming in 1938.

Patterson has changed TCU in a lot of ways, weightlifting being one of them. Since he took over, TCU, like many schools, now has a full weightlifting facility dedicated to just football. They have an entire strength and conditioning staff that is constantly striving to bring out the best in their athletes, and the results are there.

In 2016-2017, offensive guard Patrick Morris was named one of Bruce Feldman's top athletes in college football with a 500 pound bench press, 720 pound squat and a 450 pound clean. In 2018, both running backs Sewo Olonilua and Darius Anderson made Feldman's Freaks List, both benching over 400 and squatting over 700. And this year, that number rose even higher to three: Sewo Olonilua again, cornerback Jeff Gladney and wide receiver Jalen Reagor -- all three in the Top 21.

In 2017, Patterson got the feeling that his players lost their passion for greatness in the weight room, so he brought back something he calls the "Night of Champions", a weightlifting competition in the spring to see who is the strongest on the team in varying lifts. A few years ago, linebacker Alec Dunham won the squat competition by squatting 750 pounds. Patrick Morris put up 480 on incline bench. Running back Sewo Olonilua was able to power clean 440. And offensive guard Cordel Iwuagwu benched a team-high 480 pounds.

“I felt like we had gotten away from needing to be really strong and to highlight it,” Patterson said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “So we brought it back."

"Forged in iron"is a mantra many weightlifting coaches adopt. The meaning boils down to a team coming together and pushing themselves to be the best, starting in the weight room -- under the iron. When you read TCU's strength and conditioning philosophy, it's easy to see that the emphasis on weightlifting is genuine.

The field of strength and conditioning is extremely dynamic and always changing. The one constant in our profession is the student athletes. Our number one goal is to make each student-athlete stronger, faster and more powerful in whatever sport they choose to participate in. By doing these things, we help prevent injury.

The sport specific training regiments are preventative in nature. As strength and conditioning professionals, we are entrusted with the care and guidance of student athletes from across the country and mold them into elite world class athletes during their tenure at TCU.

Athletes of great ability come in all shapes and sizes. They also come from many different places around the country. Every year you'll surely hear about some of the top athletes from schools like Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson; schools that naturally get most of the national attention. But when you're starting your search for some of the best athletes in the sport, don't forget about the young men playing down in Fort Worth Texas.

"You have to keep your standards high," Patterson said. "If you’re not careful, you become average. We’re not about average here.”

Not in the weight room, at least. Not at TCU.