Countdown Day 19
Aaron Wellman is the focus of this one.
August 12th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
Interestingly enough, everything linked on mgovideo is blocked by my work filter and categorized as porn. Hmm.
August 12th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^
...there was a lengthy Butt sighting at the end of this video.
August 12th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
August 12th, 2013 at 9:38 AM ^
Dailymotion
August 12th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
do make me feel a little tingly in my special place.
August 12th, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^
August 12th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^
Wellman is an intense individual. Did he smile even once during that interview?
One of the shots in that video was a player doing chin-ups, with a massive chain and weight strapped around his body. Amazing ...
August 12th, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^
I think that was Norfleet. I was already impressed when I saw the chains, then he pulled the 50lb weights into the frame and my jaw hit the floor.
August 12th, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^
I wonder if there is an offseason motivational theme in it.
August 12th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
Probably not. Chains (long ones) are effective tools in the weight room. Instead of adding another weight plate to a barbell on a bench press, for example, you can hang chains from the ends. When the bar moves down toward the chest, more of the chain collects and rests on the ground making the bar lighter and making it easier and safer to achieve full range of motion.
Also you can just wrap them around you and look like a badass.
August 12th, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
Love the weighted pull ups and chin ups. Great exercise!
August 12th, 2013 at 9:36 AM ^
That was Dennis Norfleet in the chin-ups scene, and yeah he is ripped.
August 12th, 2013 at 10:36 AM ^
That was actually incredible... I couldn't believe that
August 12th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^
No. It was Jarrod Wilson.
August 12th, 2013 at 9:36 AM ^
Was at the very end when it was showing Shane passing to Jake Butt. Butt has wheels, loved to see that.
August 12th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^
Can't wait
August 12th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^
Jake Butt!!!
August 12th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^
That I read this and think "19 Days and Counting", and realize I think that because of an awful, awful show "19 Kids and Counting". But then I realize there is hope: I now have a den!
August 12th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^
I actually really liked that clip from Mattison's presser at the beginning, saying how impressed he was with the progress of these kids in the weight room and how he saw defensive linemen lifting weights that he wouldn't have thought they could lift. It's great to hear the staff giving each other praise like that.
August 12th, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^
I've always wondered why Wellman isn't as celebrated on the blog as Barwis was, is it because he doesn't have pet wolves?
August 12th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
Theory: Barwis took the job at a moment when there was a lot of discontent about Gittelson's S&C program. Early on, he became a symbol of everything that would change in the RR regime (ie, no more Alex Mitchell pizza diets, instead, vomiting in a sand pit). His eccentricities added to the hopes people invested in the new regime: ie, that RR would take the type of prospects Carr had recruited and, via Barwis, create a stronger, faster, more ruthless team.
Wellman doesn't seemingly have the same personality-type/eccentricities as Barwis, but he also took over at a moment where people saw S&C as the least of the program's concerns. Thus, people haven't invested as much hope in him. Mattison is the closest analogy to Barwis in the Hoke regime (in that he took over the part of the program seemingly most at sea with fans investing great faith in them. So far, this faith seems to be paying off in results).
August 12th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
Bariws has and had a really good and widespread reputation, and the Mealer Bros. situation makes him pretty popular. His decision to stay in AA helped him retain some of that past the time he left the team.
August 12th, 2013 at 1:54 PM ^
I think more than that is Barwis and Rich Rod were huge promoters that Barwis's method was/is much better than other methods out there and heavily promoted that Michigan would be stronger and faster than any other team.
I personally think it was over-promotion, and for what it's worth, while other in the strength field respect Barwis's methods, they aren't necessarily revolutionary and extremely different than other methods being utilized. Because of that, because Barwis put himself out there and built hype around himself, a lot in the strength field don't really like Barwis even though they respect his methods.
IMO, he was vastly overhyped and I thought that from the day he got hired. I admit that I thought the hyperbole that was built into the hype was funny, and I'm by no means calling him a bad S&C coach or a bad trainer, it's just at the end of the day, Barwis really wasn't getting Michigan any better on the field than Wellman is. There is little difference at that level of S&C, because you can only do so much with people's bodies. IMO, Wellman has the hype and respect he deserves and should get, which is mostly being in the background to the outside world, but doing his job and being very well respected within his program and with his players.