It is the long, hot, offseason. There is a requirement, perhaps even a rule somewhere for college football media folks doing a feature on strength and conditioning coaches.
ESPN.com is covering it this year. They talk about its genesis in Nebraska in 1969 or so and along the way with Buddy Morris.
[Boyd] Epley, albeit in an indirect way, begat men like Buddy Morris, the self-proclaimed head coach of “physical preparation” at the University of Pittsburgh ever since the Panthers had script Pitt on their helmets. After being “thrown the keys” to Pitt’s strength program by then-coach Jackie Sherrill after his graduation from Pitt in 1980, Morris applied his strict disciplinarian personality, infectious enthusiasm and blue-collar, steel-town work ethic to his job, dubbing the Panthers’ facilities the “Pitt Iron Works.”
In the opinion of Morris, one of the most respected strength coaches in the business and an icon revered by former players, the thinking of old-school coaches and the myths concerning strength and conditioning could not have been more wrong. The weight room — not the film room, not the recruiting trail and not the huddle — was where preparation takes place and where championships were really won.
“If you look at the calendar year, 65 to 67 percent of your time is spent on preparation,” Morris said, “and only about 3 to 5 percent on actual game time, the rest being other responsibilities, so if you don’t enjoy the process, you’re in the wrong sport.”
Morris, like Epley decades ago, is on to something. Examples of both sustained and mini-dynasties in college football that have roots in strength training lore abound.
Big East writer Brian Bennet alsohas a little interview with Coach Buddy Morris.
What is your philosophy when it comes to strength and conditioning football players?
Buddy Morris: We don’t refer to ourselves as strength and conditioning coaches, and that’s not being arrogant. We’re coaches of physical preparation. What we do encompasses more than just conditioning and strength. There are a lot of variables we have to look at it with each individual athlete and each individual group. In this country, I think if anything, we place too much emphasis on strength. I’m not downplaying the importance of strength, but I think we put too much emphasis on it and too much volume.
Our program looks very simple, and it’s very simplistic-oriented. But don’t mistake simple for being easy. It’s a very demanding program.
So are you saying you don’t lift a lot of weights?
BM: It depends on the position because of the way we run our program. What makes our program unique and a little different than anybody else across this country is, I’m responsible for all the offensive and defensive linemen, the tight ends and the linebackers who we deem need more strength. My assistant James [Smith] is responsible for the preparation of our skill guys. …
We look at it as a long-term process, so we slow cook it based on position requirements. They’re not all the same. I still don’t understand why some people train their skill guys like they do their big guys. We don’t do that.
Dan Mason, Chaz Alecxih, Myles Caragain and Henry Hynoski come in for workout warrior praise. The interview also has Morris expressing an opinion glossed over in the first piece about the preparation. When it comes to playing the game, all the conditioning and working out does not matter without the ability to actually play.
How much does weight-room performance translate into on-field performance?
BM: In my opinion, the most important criteria and the most overlooked is the ability to play the game. I’ve seen guys who are built like Tarzan but play like Jane. The best athlete is not going to put up the greatest numbers in the weight room. They’re going to be kind of right in the middle, which is where we want all our guys to be, right in middle of everything. Because then we know we’re developing the strength of entire human body and preparing them for the sporting demands.
He also has a former player still working out with him this offseason.
The other two players who missed all the voluntary/involuntary workouts, cornerbacks Nate Clements and Shawntae Spencer, reported to minicamp as well after spending their off-seasons in Arizona and Pittsburgh, respectively. … Spencer has worked in Pittsburgh in the past with trainer Buddy Morris, so his absence from previous workouts was not a surprise…
Then there are the quirks of various weight rooms nationally.
If you visit the “Pitt Iron Works,” the weight room lair of 30-year strength and conditioning veteran Buddy Morris, don’t let him catch you sitting down — sitting is prohibited and punishable by extra work. Don’t expect to hear any music during your workout — tunes are a privilege left solely to Morris’ discretion. And, heaven forbid, don’t yawn. Rumor is that offense is punishable by death.
As usual, the Flagstaff Hill runs are an annual summer challenge.
Tuesdays and Fridays are all about running and improving endurance, and according to the players, no drill has been harder than running the dreaded Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park for the first several Fridays.
“The hill is the rough one because it’s not that you’re out of breath — it’s just that your legs go into meltdown,” senior guard Chris Jacobson said.
Now that the hill runs are over, the team does a workout called “one minute-two minute” every Friday.
In that drill, players have to run anywhere from 230 to 315 yards, depending on their position, in less than a minute and then get a two-minute break before repeating it.
Because of NCAA regulations, position coaches can’t be present at these offseason workouts, leaving strength and conditioning coach Buddy Morris in charge of preparing the team for training camp in August.
“I really think he’s preparing us for the season,” senior receiver Greg Cross said. “In the fourth quarter and overtime, when we’re well conditioned, we won’t think about being tired. We’ll just go out and play and perform.”
I almost feel guilty that my time on Flagstaff Hill was mainly spent tossing a disc, watching girls sunbathe, drinking and stuff. Odds are, though, I have more favorable memories of that place than the players.
