slama

January 7th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2015/01/07/strength-coach-tolbert-will-crucial-wolverines/21417113/

  • Tolbert was assistant strength and conditioning coach the last four years for the 49ers under Harbaugh.

  • Before that, Tolbert worked three seasons for Harbaugh at Stanford, two years as assistant strength coach before taking over in 2010.

  • But before that, Tolbert was at Michigan from 2001-07, working under Mike Gittleson.

  • Tolbert, at that time, was known particularly for speed development.

 

Sounds good to me.  NFL experience.  Navy.  Michigan man.  Harbaugh believes in him.

Joined: 05/05/2014

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TESOE

January 8th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^

they just can't be coached while doing it outside of the proverbial stretching hour, not to mention concomitant school playing.  College athletes sacrifice well beyond the NCAA limits on coaching.  In fact many of Michigan's athletes study the human body and how to train it - in their school playing time.  (Admittedly that is a small part of what they study.)

It's how you train that matters - most people think - not how much.  But somehow no one really knows the way to do that definitively - despite all the kinesiology majors out there.

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FreddieMercuryHayes

January 7th, 2015 at 9:36 PM ^

The team needs to get better. I don't think the ability to bench press or squat large amounts of metal or reduce body fat has been a problem under previous staffs. I think the problem is actually using that strength in proper ways to improve performance and reduce injuries. I hope Tolbert embraces that philosophy. But that's just me I suppose.

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CoachBP6

January 7th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^

Some people are against this guy. I'm gonna give Jim the benefit of the doubt though and hope he picked up some stuff from his last two stops.

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teldar

January 7th, 2015 at 9:34 PM ^

I would have liked someone who seemed to have had more experience in increased flexibility training and injury prevention like dude at Baylor. Consider me not impressed. Hoping that this works out, but currently not impressed.

Joined: 07/14/2009

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FreddieMercuryHayes

January 7th, 2015 at 9:42 PM ^

I agree. I know I'll take flak for that opinion because Tolbert's style he was trained in originally is that older style that everyone knows and has been the standard for so long. But just like anything else, just because its how you used to do things doesn't mean you should always do it that way. To stay elite from decade to decade and not fade into obscurity, one needs to keep learning, innovating, and improving. Honestly, the mention of the late Carr years is a minus to me right now, and that goes for pretty much any spot. Hopefully Tolbert has learned from his stops at Stanford with a cutting edge S&C guy (who everyone here was raving about when they thought he was coming). I don't think lifting anvils is the best way to improve football performance anymore.

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LSAClassOf2000

January 7th, 2015 at 9:41 PM ^

I haven't understood the reluctance regarding Tolbert, quite honestly - when he was here under Gittleson, he was associated with some rather talented players and teams. Further, he has broader experience than that and at the collegiate and pro levels. In this instance, I am definitely going to defer to Jim Harbaugh's preferences and tastes in the matter of staffing. 

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FreddieMercuryHayes

January 7th, 2015 at 9:46 PM ^

I guess it's all about how you view those later Carr years. Good? Quite. But still a step behind the peer group UM views itself with. And yet doesn't understand why it's a step behind. I think a lot of fans want UM to move toward the cutting edge of football, be out of the box and innovate instead of looking to the past and saying 'those were the good days, lets do that'.

But to your other point, as long as Tolbert is a student of his profession, he should be able to innovate with the changing times. He was basically co-S&C coach with Turley by the end of his time at Stanford.

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Erik_in_Dayton

January 7th, 2015 at 9:57 PM ^

Those weren't bad years in a lot of ways, but I can't help but associate them with underacheiving. Michigan only beat OSU once during that time despite the fact that their recruiting was, IIRC, pretty much even. They also suffered the mediocrity of 2005 and the terrible begininng of 2007. This isn't to say I think Tolbert isn't a good hire. I'm just speaking to the idea that people have a bad taste in their mouths from that period.

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trustBlue

January 7th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ^

I think people are probably a bit over-emphasizing Shannon Turley's "celebrity" status after being written up several times in the national press for his work at Stanford.  Turley was the only S&C coach in the college or pros that I actually knew by name (other than Wellman). I know I was pretty excited when it sounded like he was coming to Michigan, and was pretty disappointed when it ended up not happening. His particular emphasis on improving flexibility and reducing injuries (although probably a bit over-hyped) was also particulary welcome, given we seem to lose several key players to ACL injuries every year.   

Tolbert is probably a phenomenal hire - NFL experience, worked directly Turley at Stanford, Michigan man, hs worked with Harbaugh for a long time.  ButTurley is still the prettiest girl at the prom.  

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BlueReign

January 7th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^

"He wasn't there just to make you faster, but he was there to make you mentally tough," said Bennie Joppru, a former Michigan tight end who worked with Tolbert and Gittleson in college. "Kevin was a guy who was quiet, but you knew not to mess around with him too much, because he's really trying to make you puke.

"We thought, 'Oh, he's a speed guy, he'll be really nice. Let's go fast, it's going to be fun.' It wasn't anything like that. It was, 'I'm going to kick your (butt) and make you fast.' ... I think that's why you bring in a guy like that."

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LJ

January 7th, 2015 at 10:27 PM ^

Here's a try.  Point me to one single data point demonstrating that an S&C coaching change has influenced wins & losses.  I've seen this debate again and again, from Barwis to Wellman to this, and I still haven't seen any indicators.  S&C guys don't move around like coordinators, so you can never tell if they're having a clear effect on the field.  It's all hype and quotes from players, which is all well and good, but doesn't mean a whole lot on the field.

I'm very skeptical that certain S&C guys are much better than others, and even if they are, I'm doubtful as to how much on-field effect there is.

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maizenbluedevil

January 7th, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^

Elaborating on the last post...

The guy is associated with Gittelaon, who was the archaic S&C guy for all the underperforming late era Carr teams.

Since then he's been an assistant to other guys, in other words implementing their programs.

So i guess he could just as easily be like these other guys as Gittelaon. Maybe it'll work out. Just seems like a huge unknown at this point I guess.



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