Coming Back Stronger
June 11, 2009 04:05 PM | General
June 11, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite going through summer workouts without constant surveillance from the West Virginia strength and conditioning staff, defensive back Kent Richardson has never been one to slack as he prepares for the upcoming season.
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| Kent Richardson is working hard this summer to get into the mix at cornerback this fall.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
The redshirt senior from Tallahassee, Fla., has put every ounce of time, energy and effort into making himself better at the cornerback position. Richardson will be looking to make hay at left cornerback along with Brandon Hogan, but will also be called upon in other areas.
“I’m working on my conditioning more so this year because I’m going to be playing a big role in this upcoming season,” Richardson said. “I will be playing a number of different positions this year, including defense and special teams.”
To help maintain his versatility as both a special teams performer and a secondary specialist, Richardson and his teammates have looked toward a new method of preparation this season – yoga.
“Yoga really helps,” Richardson admitted. “You need to be flexible to play this sport. It makes you faster and strengthens everything by making you more flexible. Everything is football-specific. Our instructor asks us what we might need to work on like hips and thighs, and we stretch those out. After I do that, I feel loose and I feel like I can run well. It helps a lot.
Adopted widely by several other sports, yoga may be just the fix that Richardson and the rest of the secondary need in order to stay limber. Coach Bill Stewart plans to adopt more man-to-man coverage by the cornerbacks this season to allow more blitzing by WVU’s talented linebacker corps.
“I feel like we are getting better at that,” Richardson said. “This spring I think we have really grown as a unit as far as man coverage. This fall will be a good time for him (Stewart) to man us up so our defense can blitz and make plays.
The challenge of covering any Division I wide receiver one-on-one can be a tall task for a cornerback, let alone in the BIG EAST where speed and high-scoring offenses have become customary. Aside from the importance of staying loose and feeling flexible through yoga, Richardson is fully aware of the importance of implementing the basic fundamentals for a cornerback.
Working with strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph for the second season, Richardson is always ready to enhance his coverage skills through both strength and speed training.
“There’s a lot of stuff you can do,” Richardson said in terms of improving oneself in the secondary. “Position-wise I should work on my shuffling technique, jamming, opening my hips up, those skills. In the weight room, we do a drill with the bands where it helps open our hips up and builds powering in our hamstrings. It helps a lot to work with the bands.”
The Mountaineers begin 7-on-7 drills this week as part of their voluntary workouts. It is just another added dimension in what has been a hard-working summer for the upperclassmen. Richardson believes that the onus to improve and execute both in the weight room and on the field is put squarely on the shoulders of the veterans.
However, the former James S. Rickards High standout is eager for the freshmen to come along when fall practice begins. Richardson believes the focus of the strength and conditioning staff will start to transfer to the younger class that usually comes in with raw talent and potential strength.
“You want to get them here,” Richardson added of his freshmen teammates. “When they’re not here all the focus is on the upperclassmen and they run us to death. But when the freshmen get here they focus on them and get them hanging in the system. Right now it’s kind of hectic.”
Part of the tiresome workouts include an all-out, 175 yard sprint. Each position group runs together, with each time limit varying by group. Being part of one of the faster position groups in cornerbacks, the barometer to reach is about 21 or 22 seconds for the team’s last line of defense.
The bevy of speed workouts conducted by Joseph is just one of the many differences Richardson sees in the way he trains now compared to training under former strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis.
“They had two different philosophies about lifting,” Richardson said of Joseph and Barwis. “I feel Mike Joseph is more about hips and being able to run and transfer that to the field and be successful. Joseph is about power, too, but Barwis was more about being bulky and lifting a lot of weights.”
Richardson also believes Joseph’s familiarity with each and every player in his second year has increased the intensity for every training session.
“It is 10 times harder than it was last summer because he understands everybody and how we operate,” Richardson admitted. “He understands how far we need to go and how far he has to push us. When he first got here he was feeling us out and didn’t want to put too much weight on one person. Now he knows whose max is what, so now we can go full go.”
Preparing to undergo an alteration in WVU’s secondary philosophy, Richardson looks to come back leaner, faster and stronger than he has ever been. Playing more man-to-man in 2009, he looks forward to taking on the personal challenge of shutting down each wide receiver that lines up across from him.
“Man coverage is pretty much a confidence thing. You have to have it in your mind that you won’t let your man beat you,” Richardson said assertively. “They are going to catch balls because they know what routes they are running and when they are going to hike the ball. But when it’s all said and done you want to say, ‘I shut that dude down.’”
