It’s Wednesday afternoon, and Steve Rusk is at home in Rock Island, Illinois: “I live just on the other side of the river from Bettendorf,” says Rusk. “They’ve all got different names, but the whole Quad City area is pretty much the same,” says Rusk.

Originally Steve competed in college wrestling whilst at the University of Illinois, and achieved a second and a third place in the nation’s college wrestling.  Then after graduating, he went to see one of Pat Miletich’s fights. Following the bout, Pat approached Rusk and asked him if he’d help coach wrestling at the gym: “That was back in 1995, and I’ve been with Pat since then.”

Although Steve won an amateur national MMA match, and then did a few pro fights, he says it’s unlikely we will see him in any of the IFL Superfights: “You know, they’ve been talking to me about it, but I don’t enjoy fighting: I enjoy coaching. And the reason is I just don’t like the stress of it all. I just like the laid-back lifestyle of coaching and helping people out when they’re training hard, rather than getting nervous and all that stuff.”

After the Silverbacks’ success at the IFL World Team Championship Final on December 29, 2006, light-heavyweight star Mike Ciesnolevicz suggested Knucklepit catch up with Steve Rusk and Nate Schroeder about the role they play in helping to keep the Quad City team running so smoothly.

Steve, is it fair to say you and Nate Schroeder are the guys in the engine room for Team Miletich and the Silverbacks?

“Yeah, I would think so. We’re the ones who run the practices, and tell the guys what they need to do, and point out different things for them to improve on.”

Nate said you were a wrestler who hits like a freight train; whom do you work with on your stand-up?

“I’ve also trained with Nate, but mostly Pat Miletich has taught me my stand-up. Like I say, I’ve been with Pat for about 12 years now. ”

What role do you play in the coaching?

“My role is the takedowns: Some of them I try to help offensively, and others I help defensively with takedowns. The thing is, I’ve been around this sport long enough to know how to mix that in with the stand-up and the jiu jitsu, so they feel comfortable with it. I help the wrestler who just knows about wrestling to transition well into this sport of MMA. And I assist them with control on the ground and with how to ground’n’pound.”

So you’re involved more in teaching them control and positioning on the ground, and setting up g’n’p, as opposed to putting on submissions.

 “Right.”

Nate also said you help out a lot with getting fighters to make weight for their fights: Is that the case?

“I try to help them with that part of it – to get their weight down.”

Do you also help them with their diets?

“I’m not real big on that - with their diet. I don’t talk to them until the last week before a competition, and then I say, ‘Okay, you can eat this, and you can’t eat that.’ I don’t do their overall diet because they’re doing something that works for them: I just help them with the cutting-weight part of the diet.”

But do any of the guys - Silverbacks or other Team Miletich guys - come up to you and say, ‘Hey, Steve, what do you reckon I should be eating? What food or vitamins will give me more energy?

“I probably hear that at least a couple of times a week. Then I just pass on information that I’ve learnt through doing this over the years. So I help a lot of guys with that too.”

What about Ben Rothwell? Being a heavyweight, you wouldn’t have to worry about his cutting weight.

“He was twenty-something pounds overweight last time. He was the biggest one we had to worry about. I believe it’s 275 he has to make.”

I didn’t realize heavyweights had to make a weight.

“Yeah, so we’ll be watching him more closely next time. He slid under the radar. He’s definitely one we’ll be keeping our eye on for next time. We thought, ‘Ben’s fine.’ Then he got overweight: You know, we were fighting right after Christmas, so they had their Christmas break. It was a tough time.”

Which guys from the Silverbacks do you grapple with?

“Mostly Ben, Mike C and Ryan McGivern. The other guys, Bart and Rory, are smaller, and I work with them every Tuesday. That way I get to work with all of them on that stuff.”

Do you study the tapes of their opponents leading up to a fight?

“Yep, I like to see those fights and see who they are fighting. Lately, we were fighting in Portland, so we got to see the Wolfpack fight live, right before we fought them… Plus we had them on tape, so we got to watch them over and over again. That really helps because you get to know the opponents.

“It’s going to be hard with some of the new ones: like that Russian team (Red Bears), because I haven’t seen them before. But this next one of Bas Rutten’s (Anacondas), we’ve seen most of those guys. We think they’re probably our toughest team, and we’ve got them right away. It should be a real tough one.”

So you’d rate them above Renzo Gracie’s Pitbulls?

“Yeah, because they match up so well with us: That’s the hardest part, when they match up well.”

Steve, is there anything you’d like to add?

“The one great thing I can say about all our guys is that most of them didn’t know me before coming here, but they all listen to what I have to say and are very respectful to me. And it’s great to work with guys like that, because there have been guys before who think they already know everything. These guys are open to everything; that’s what makes them a top team.”

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