I mentioned in passing that you can expect to read plenty more about the Pitt players training with Strength and Conditioning Coach Buddy Morris. He is after all the only coach the players can really do much physical interaction. Add in the factors of Morris being something of a larger than life character, a Pittsburgh native and Pitt alum. Well, then you’ve got a guy ready-made to have stories written as he comes back to Pitt for a 3d time.
Joe Starkey pens his ode to Buddy Morris today.
Their fiery general, a small but cartoonishly muscular man named Buddy Morris, hurls insults as the players stagger past.
Morris wears a T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Chewed off, for all we know. His Popeye arms are plastered with tattoos.
“Every day, you (expletives) show me why you were 6-6 last year!” he shouts. “No heart, no (fill-in-the-blank), no fight.”
God help the last person to reach the summit.
“You were not designed to play this game!” Morris screams at the lagger. “God did not give you a heart or a set of (questionable word, plural).”
The idea here is to introduce the players to “chaotic situations,” and they are not responding as the general would like. He turns to an assistant and says, “That’s why they get (bad word) in the last two quarters. Chaos sets in, and they break down.”
Okay. I love the underlying themes and message to the training regimens. It’s not about getting bigger, stronger faster. It’s not about improved conditioning. It’s about managing the chaos when they are wearing down.
Last year it was the random runs and “Fridays with the coach” to build team camaraderie and public puking.
Expect more of this and then to hear about it on the broadcasts this season as part of the “color” filler.
