House of Pain
June 19, 2003 01:38 PM | General
June 19, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite the Atlantic Coast Conference’s ongoing two-month siege of the Big East, the beat goes on at the Milan Puskar Center.
And like those keeping close tabs on the latest ACC moves and countermoves, West Virginia University football players in town this summer have encountered their own indigestion in the form of new strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis, who assumed his current duties more than a month ago.
“Just in lifting alone we’ve had 15 people throw up,” Barwis said Wednesday afternoon. “This is a whole new world of pain for some of these guys.”
One Mountaineer player taking part in Barwis’ “House of Pain” is senior Leandre Washington. The 5-foot-11, 212-pound, Key West, Fla., native says the new conditioning program has already made a big difference.
“I feel faster, I feel stronger and my body feels so much better than it did when I first got here,” he said.
Washington is one of several WVU players in the process of making a dramatic physical transformation. Four weeks worth of Mike Barwis has already meant an improvement of 50 pounds in one player’s bench press, and Washington says his body fat ratio has already come down from 14 to seven percent. He’s also added 25 pounds to his bench.
“Bigger, faster, stronger makes you more confident and makes you a better athlete,” Washington admitted.
Leandre Washington’s journey to Division I-A football went through Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz. Washington was a touted prep safety coming out of Key West High School who made an oral commitment to attend Florida State. However, he didn’t pass his only attempt at the SAT and was forced to go to junior college.
“Things didn’t go right so I ended up having to go out to Arizona to junior college,” Washington said.
Washington was a high school teammate of Florida running back Ran Carthon and he said they used to talk about facing each other in college.
Instead Washington was forced to try to improve his grades at Mesa. He didn’t play his first year there due to a disagreement with the coaching staff and his second year he gained 25 pounds and was moved to outside linebacker. Washington did well enough at outside linebacker to be recruited by some Pac 10 schools.
But Leandre was anxious to come back to the East Coast.
“I didn’t really want to go out there from the start,” he said.
In the meantime, his old high school coach Jerry Hughes went to work for him. Hughes, a former assistant on Don Nehlen’s staff at WVU, ran into Mountaineer recruiting coordinator Herb Hand at a football coaching convention and gave him a highlight tape of Washington.
Hand and the rest of the coaching staff liked what they saw in Washington and thought he could serve as a valuable backup to starting outside linebacker James Davis. Making Washington more appealing was the fact that he had already graduated from junior college.
“They needed somebody to come in right away,” said Washington.
So Leandre Washington joined the Mountaineer football program and lettered last year as Davis’ backup at outside linebacker. Washington finished the season with 37 tackles, including a season-high of 14 in the Temple win. Overall Washington was pleased with his performance.
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| Senior Leandre Washington believes the conditioning program instituted by strength coach Mike Barwis is making a major difference. (Pete Emerson photo) |
“I was pleased with it because of the situation at hand,” he said. “I was behind a guy who was a three-year starter. He made me better and I think I made him better. Whenever I did get my chance to play I felt like I put out.”
This year Washington is expected to play a bigger role in the Mountaineer defense. However, he may be playing a different position this year. Washington says WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel has asked him if he would be willing to move to the spur safety position occupied last season by Angel Estrada. Washington played spur a little during spring drills.
“They talked to me about it and told me they felt like it was the best thing for the team,” he said.
Washington is now excited about the move: “You’ve got pass coverage, run support, calling checks on defense … a lot of stuff.”
Washington says he actually prefers playing strong safety and is probably more suited physically for the position. “I like laying people out,” he said.
Defense is an area of big concern for West Virginia this season. The Mountaineers lose several key performers from last year’s defense including some big time contributors along the defensive line. Washington is a big fan of Coach Rich Rodriguez’ decision to bring Bill Kirelawich back onto the field to coach the defensive linemen and he also likes the schemes being developed by Casteel. Washington believes West Virginia’s young defense will rise to the occasion this fall.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys who are ready to step up,” he said. “They are ready to take on the challenge.”
Their first challenge though is making it through summer conditioning.
“Everybody that’s in town is working hard,” said Washington. “Last year there were some guys going to summer school but not coming to workouts. They were just hanging out. Mike has got us working hard but we’re having fun while we do it. Everyone wants to be here.”
For his part, Barwis has been pleased with their attitudes and willingness to work.
“They’ve been great,” he said. “They’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do and they’re already starting to come around. I couldn’t be happier with them and we’re beginning to see some huge gains.”
While Washington and most of the key players are in town working out, there are still a small handful of players back home for the summer. Washington issued a friendly warning to those not here: “The longer they take the worse it’s going to be on them when they come back,” he said. “I know those guys once they get into it they’re going to work but it may be hard on them at first.”
Or perhaps maybe even too late for some of them to catch up with the rest of the team: “College is all about business now,” said Washington. “If you win you go to bigger bowl games and get more money. All of that babying stuff is done and over with. If you’re not going to work you probably need to find another school. That’s how I look at it.”
