Men at Work
June 02, 2008 09:59 AM | General
June 2, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The most important coaches in the Mountaineer football program right now are downstairs in the Puskar Center weight room. Strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph and his staff have completed their first full week of work with the team after a two-week discretionary period when players were permitted to come in on their own and workout following the conclusion of the spring semester.
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| Strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph works on an exercise with linebacker Mortty Ivy.
Brian Persinger photo |
Joseph has been extremely pleased with the way the team has responded so far.
“Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we have a 6:30-8:30 and a 2:30-4:30 group,” Joseph said. “Friday morning we have 6 am to 8 and 8 am to 10 group.”
There are a handful of players Joseph is working with to add weight. He said most of those are on the defensive line.
“There are a few D-linemen like Zac Cooper, who is switching from linebacker, Larry Ford, a JUCO transfer - both of those guys need to gain some weight; Julian Miller as well,” Joseph said. “The O-line is pretty much veterans so those guys are pretty much at their ideal weight. Some of the younger offensive linemen need to gain weight but they will progress.
“In terms of our running backs and slot backs, we’re always trying to get Noel (Devine) and Jock (Sanders) just a pound or two here to get them a little more size,” Joseph noted. “It’s not like it’s the entire team that we’re trying to get a lot of weight on. It’s just a small number that the coaches think need a little help.”
Joseph said his staff is using the help of a nutritionist to make sure players are gaining weight appropriately.
“You want to put good weight on them and that’s why we’re using Nettie Freshour who is our department nutritionist,” Joseph explained. “She is able to interact with our staff to kind of help the athletes.”
Joseph admitted that some players consume as much as 5,000 calories a day.
“A guy that weighs 300 pounds their BMR (basal metabolic rate) is 3,500,” he said. “That means if they do nothing all day they will burn like 3,500 calories so they have to consume 500-1,000 calories more to get to the point where they are adding a pound or two during a two-three week period.”
Joseph has a recovery week planned around July 4th and another recovery period right before the start of fall camp in August.
“The new semester starts but I’m giving them a few days to take care of that and also to give them some time to recover because they will come back to three hard weeks, have a few more days off, and then camp starts on the first of August,” he said.
During the first recovery period Joseph will introduce the newcomers to the West Virginia strength and conditioning program.
“The week of July 4 I will have the new kids Monday and Tuesday as kind of an introductory week for them,” Joseph said. “That will be freshmen only.”
Comprehensive testing usually takes place at the end of the summer right before the beginning of fall camp. But Joseph said his staff is always measuring the progress of the athletes to make sure they are making the progress they need to make.
“We always monitor and test them to see how they are progressing each week,” Joseph said. “I am going to push them to the point that each week they are challenging themselves. Usually the last week or two, I will have good numbers from them. Each week I believe you have to test them to make sure they remain competitive.”
Briefly:
The rule has been referred to as the “Saban Rule” because even though coaches are not permitted to talk to athletes during their school visits there was also a “bump-rule” provision that allowed coaches to say hello to prospects. Nick Saban took advantage of this during his first spring at Alabama, visiting more than 100 high schools in a short period of time.
“It’s all about the glitter and the so-called (coaching) stars out there,” said WVU coach Bill Stewart, who is not a proponent of the new rule. “Most of us aren’t like that.”
Saban and others have found a way around the rule by video conferencing players, which falls under the same guidelines as one permissible phone call allowed by a coach during the evaluation period.
Stewart admitted video conferencing is not something in his plans during the immediate future.
“I’m not into the high-tech stuff,” Stewart told Hickman. “Even the texting got out of hand.”
Stewart estimated some top prospects were paying $600 and $700 per-month cell phone bills from all of the text messages sent by coaches. The NCAA has recently placed heavy restrictions on text messaging.
There are other rule changes that will have an impact on the game. They include:
Among the cities WVU coaches hit this spring included Shepherdstown, Bluefield, Weirton, Huntington, Beckley and Parkersburg. Out-of-state trips were made to Houston and Charlotte.
