Agree on the sport specific training. I trained differently for boxing, football and baseball. Totally different programs that only slightly complimented each other and in some cases not at all. My biggest issue was the weight/strength/hypertrophy training I did for football versus what was needed for boxing. Heavy weight training caused elongated recovery times, increased muscle soreness and stiffness in the short term and impacted sparring and bag sessions. Not a good combo, so I had to adjust. Even baseball I'd get so sore in my normal football routines that I'd have to back off or it would impact my throwing motion and my swing. I would imagine your surfing overall routines would be similarly differential to football training from my boxing routines, though I'm not certain. On the 'cutting edge' end of things, I agree we don't need to be 1975 'Husker Power' to win again. In fact I don't think we've been close to that for a long time. I've seen a few pieces on the program and it looks more innovative than I could imagine an antiquated program to be. Honestly though, I'm just not sure.
On the prep for the combine, that's true of nearly every kid coming in. Schools get them ready to compete for their team, using their systems and for their desired outcomes. Combine specific training is driven by the combine events. You'll routinely hear of guys completely changing everything they do to prep and that's great. It's also false. If a kid runs a 4.6 forty normally, then spends a couple of months working on his 40 time with a specialist then drops it down to a 4.4, that's great. He's likely not able to keep it there when he has to return to a 'normal' routine. I'm not concerned when a kid has to change things up to perform for the combine, unless he's an O lineman who I can out bench.