"If you don’t want me knocking on your door, make sure you’re there on time."
Tim Rohan of the Michigan Daily provides insight into the changes instituted by Greg Mattison and how offseason optional conditioning and training is proceeding.
The new attitude that's based on raised expectations.
Soon after they arrived, Martin and his defensive linemates were going through their first workout of their winter conditioning and the coaches watched, not saying much.
“We were all going hard, obviously,” Martin said. “(This) was our first impression on the coach.”
After the workout, Mattison pulled Martin aside and warned him: “That was terrible. That was completely terrible. You guys have to do much better.”
“I thought we did pretty good,” Martin thought to himself.
Ever since Hoke and Mattison took over, the expectations are higher around the Michigan football team, and that has carried over into summer workouts.
“I feel like that we didn’t know how a championship team really functioned,” Martin said. “That’s why coach Hoke and coach Mattison and the rest of the staff are so vital and a huge asset, because they know what it takes. They’ve been around teams that have won. They tell us. Before they came in, we thought we were working hard. We weren’t.
“They’ve put the bar way higher.”
Check out the rest of the article. 100% participation rate in offseason optional workouts and 7-on-7s; Denard called the unquestioned leader of the team; Mike Martin and the other seniors showing leadership by demanding and receiving accountability; a new approach to strength training that's resulting in weight and strength gains.
Working out at 6 a.m. may be as uncomfortable as it gets. With the right direction, Michigan’s seniors and Robinson have masterfully orchestrated a successful summer of sweat.“If you don’t want me knocking on your door, make sure you’re there on time,” Martin said.
Awesome.
Will they go back to feasting on clam chowder poured out of pitchers, steak, and lasagna dinners on the friday nights before home games at the Campus Inn, like they did when Lloyd was here tho?
HULK MIKE GOING TO WORK!!!!
That's plenty of motivation to show up on time. You wouldn't like Mike Martin when he's angry.
I don't want Mike Martin knocking on my door.
Is it still voluntary if Mike Martin is making you go?
I don't think the workouts are voluntary, but the ass kickings are.
No, Mike Martin makes gravity happen. He wants me there, I'll be there
the command to get out of bed was "Out or down!" What this meant was that the officer would cut the underling's hammock, dropping them painfully to the floor!
Reading that article makes me wish the season started tomorrow.
Count me as unimpressed. I love M. Martin, but I hate thes articles. I used to be all impressed until I realized they say pretty much the same thing every year.
If I had a protective shield and an army in front of me I would ask Mike. Why weren't you knocking on doors last year?
How lazy was the 05 team?
06-Ran the golf course in the offseason so every one could cut weight and make up for 05 debacle.
07- Everyone came back to make a run to the title, worked hard to make it happen
08-Barwis came in and everyone was shocked.
09-Everyone rededicated to get taste out of their mouth of 3-9
10-All In
11-More Accountable more dedicated again
The Michigan players stepped up their offseason effort 2478% over the last 5 years.
I was about to post something along the lines of "oh fuck, why would anyone care?"
Then I read your post and upvoted.
Which makes my post extraneous. Oh well. I guess it fits right in.
In retrospect, this wasn't an appropriate post.
Agreed 1000%. My other pet peeve is hearing about how they are simplifying things and allowing the defense to just "react" rather than "think". Along those lines a "focus on fundamentals"
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<br>At this rate our defense will be pop Warner material...
That was hilarious and very true.
Well given the comments about last season's voluntary workouts, they weren't ALL IN.
Tate and his wingless breatheren.
'05 team - There were what, 4 blown 4th quarter leads? everyone was complaining about the defense but after the players said in '06 they worked so hard in the offseason to get in shape my first thought was "why don't you do that every year?"
As for '07 I recall App State players mocking Michigan guys saying they were out of shape even then.
Barwis did make a difference, IMO. There are no big bellies on the line (I'm looking at you, Alex Mitchell) and the players themselves said they were in better shape. RR's lack of success can be boiled down to defense, meh recruiting and po'ing the alumni/recruiting base, not Barwis.
Didn't we hear the same thing 3 years ago when they brought in RR & Barwis.
Jake Long and crew must've been a bunch of pansies. /s
How dare Barwis suck at coaching defense...
is a freaking great quote.
Looks like we weren't training as hard as we thought we were. Championship culture is being installed by people who've been there... and I like the direction we seem to be heading in.
Agreed with the lifting. Actually am surprised that the lifting is based on machines but who knows how much it really is based off machines rather it seeming like machines are the center because we didn't use them with Barwis. I still like Olympic lifting and traditional compound lifts, especially for football as strength is the goal, not isolation techniques for a bigger muscle (bigger does not equal strength necessarily).
I freaked when I saw that line in the article.
But, I've been reassured by a buddy of mine on the team via text: "We hardly use any machines."
This is probably an issue of a sports writer seeing a machine or hearing something about it and spewing out a story. No modern S&C program would seriously be machine based, because they would be ignoring core muscle groups and a lot of compound functional movements. I'll just assume that the dude who has people lift weights for a living and makes six figures doing it probably knows what he's talking about.
Wow. Don't piss this DL off. And I thought he was HULK before. Sorry for the caps. Unreal how strong these athletes are and what it takes to succeed at the next level.
I will first state that I don't really know how much 700 lbs is...HOWEVA
1.) As a HS incoming sophomore weighing 130 lbs I squatted about 350. (Only half, but I'm less than half his weigh, and don't work out like he does.)
2.) Guys on my school rugby team squat around 625 (only two that I know of)
3.) Those guys and I are not really that strong.
Ergo, not really impressed...Then again, I could just be an ass.
video link please.
or it didn't happen.
Leg presses don't count as squats. As a former powerlifter, I can tell you those numbers are very impressive. Freakishly impressive
That and putting 350 lbs on your shoulders and squatting about 3 inches doesnt count either. I've seen the form many young guys have in the gym (a bench press constituted by barely a bend in the elbow) to give much credence to this guy's opinion.
I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit.
5 out of 5 FAKES
Granted we may have heard this before, but I would like to believe that this year is different. I, for one, am very impressed with what Hoke and staff have done thus far. I have to believe that the team and recruits have bought in as well. I believe that some of the "All in for Michigan" rhetoric was nothing more than a diversion for the flak present when RR took over. From all appearances, no diversions are needed with Hoke. I believe he is the real deal. Time will tell.
DRAGO!!!
We will know in about a month and half if this is the same old same old.
Sure hope it was within NCAA rules for the coaches to supervise those workouts. You can never be too careful. Just sayin'
Dude, shut up.
to me, I'd never be late for anything again.
Wow this is super cool that they're trying really hard!
I do get the impression that Mattison and Hoke are very good leaders of men from a charisma perspective when compared to the previous regime. Mattison over GERG is especially pronounced, it seems.
Let's be real though, there's no way Mattison would have taken Mike Martin aside and told him anything other than he needs to get the team to step it up. Not in January.
I love that Mattison pulled Martin aside and got real with him right from the start. It reminds me of something a coach told me a long time ago..."Just when you think that you're really working hard and you've given all you have to give, you're wrong."
Direct accountability coming from someone of his pedigree that was received with humility from Martin (not to mention Denard being mentioned as the clear cut leader of the team) this is what I've been waiting for.
...gives another perspective and adds some detail on Martin's BBQ event.
"We've really taken ownership," Mike Martin said. "(If) guys aren't there, we call guys. If a guy's not there, we will drive to his house and bang on his door and get him out of bed. There's accountability to the max because you don't want to let down your teammates, and that's why I think we've had such great attendance, because its like, 'I don't want to let my guys down.'"
The upperclassmen saw what happened last summer, before coach Rich Rodriguez's final season at Michigan. There was spotty participation, and a few players were disciplined by the staff with the removal of the wings from their helmets during preseason camp.
Koger said the seniors learned from that experience. "The senior class (realized) we need everybody here working together to accomplish a common goal — winning a Big Ten championship. That's basically what it amounted to."
Martin also said there have been a number of team barbecues that have promoted team unity. Perhaps the most notable was the one Martin hosted in early June for the defensive linemen, when he grilled 50 pounds of chicken.
"I was bankrupt after that," he said, laughing. "I made this huge bucket of chicken, put it out when they got there, and I went out to get the second batch and when I looked back, it was all gone, they were licking their fingers."
Sounds to me like this senior class is doing things differently than the last senior class. Essentially, they're not allowing anyone to not buy in as happened last summer. Be cynical all you want, but it's clear something has changed. Of course with a change in coaching, that's expected. The thing that makes this different and believable is that many of these players were here for the last coaching change. They lived that transition and they appear to be reacting to the environment that's been instilled by Hoke differently than by the one instilled by Rodriguez.
"Be cynical all you want, but it's clear something has changed."
I agree - if you can't see that something has changed, then you just don't want to see it. Its pretty clear that one thing plaguing the team over the past few years was a lack of inspiration. It was evident on the field, evident from RR's pressers, it was evident in the whole 'earn back your wings' thing. This coaching staff has inspired at least the defensive guys. It takes grandiose cynicism to not see that.