Wellman starts getting Barwis-ized by media
Let the media obsession about what a S&C coach does begin. Nice article on the guy, and he seems a bit more low key. He mostly loved the upgrades made to the weight room by the previous staff. But you'd think "The Process" should have been searching for this position first, the way the media hovers around it.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:05 AM ^
I have to say I like how this staff seems to be taking the blame when things go wrong but giving the players the credit when things go right. I also like how every one of the coaches seems to be singing out of the same hymn book. If you ignored the name in the interview you would never know which coach was speaking based on what they are saying. It seems they have a universal message and goal and I think that is pretty significant (but that could be just me...I don't know).
August 16th, 2011 at 9:09 AM ^
I've noticed that too....in the C2C videos, Mattison was dropping tremendous bombs left and right! i was almost like Hoke was standing behind the camera pointing at him!
August 16th, 2011 at 9:22 AM ^
August 17th, 2011 at 10:43 PM ^
tremendous idea!
August 16th, 2011 at 8:10 AM ^
Time to change my handle to "The Wellman Effect"?
August 16th, 2011 at 8:20 AM ^
Needs more pet wolf.
August 16th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^
I have really good inside source that says Wellman keeps pet Velociraptors.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:28 AM ^
i was at bowling green when he was there. guy is your typical insane 100hr a week s&c guy. im pretty sure he was there when urban meyer was as well.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:54 AM ^
When was this?
August 16th, 2011 at 9:03 AM ^
2004. i worked in an office directly above the weightroom. he would chase the football players around the parking lot screaming at them as they pushed sleds on the concrete with his staff standing on the sled. it was a wooden sled so obviously didnt glide on asphalt very easy. we laughed as we watched...yet cowered in fear if the sled started coming towards r offices.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:07 AM ^
His MGoBlue.com bio says he was at Ball State in '04...
COACHING EXPERIENCE
| Years | Team | Position |
| 2009-10 | San Diego State | Strength & Conditioning Coach |
| 2004-08 | Ball State | Director of Football Strength & Conditioning |
| 2001-03 | Michigan State | Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach |
| 1998-2001 | Indiana | Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach |
| 1996-98 | Indiana | Graduate Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach |
August 16th, 2011 at 9:16 AM ^
hmmmmm
August 16th, 2011 at 9:23 AM ^
I know the S&C guy from BG left to become Wellman"s assistant at UM. Maybe that's the guy who was making the players pull the sleds in 04?
August 16th, 2011 at 9:27 AM ^
Probably.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:38 AM ^
yes u are right. i knew i read a bg guy went to michigan. aaron wellman /aaron hillman....i got confused. my bad
August 16th, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
one more note....hillman came from nd so im pretty sure urban meyer brought him with him as he was a receivers coach there before he took bg job. so...should be a good addition to the staff
August 16th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
Aaron Hillmann is in his first year as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Michigan. He brings 20 years of strength and conditioning experience to Michigan, previously serving 10 years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Bowling Green University, overseeing all 18 sports at BGSU. Prior to his stint with the Falcons, Hillman served as an assistant strength coach at Notre Dame (1998-2001), Connecticut (1996-98), Cincinnati (1995-96) and Ball State (1992-95). Hillmann also spent time as a strength and conditioning specialist for the Pittsburgh Steelers (summer, 1994), assisting in the supervision of their preseason strength and conditioning program.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
there ya go...thanks barwis methods. the world is back in order now
August 16th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
wow. i feel stupid. i checked and the s&c guy at bg was aaron hillman...not wellman. thank you for gently rebuking my fantasy world. u have saved me from repeating this to others in social gatherings and as i walk away they talk about me being THAT guy.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
I think you get a pass on that one. the Aarons Hillman and Wellman - easy mistake to make.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:28 AM ^
i was at bowling green when he was there. guy is your typical insane 100hr a week s&c guy. im pretty sure he was there when urban meyer was as well.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
People are obsessed with S&C because they like things they can quantify. It will be the same with the next S&C coach.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:52 AM ^
HOWEVER, I'd say we'd have had two of the best S&C coaches in the COUNTRY.
I think the rage started when people realized how outdated our S&C program was before Barwis. We've been blessed to have two guys that do a great job.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:02 AM ^
I agree that both of them seem to be very, very good at their jobs.
August 16th, 2011 at 10:00 AM ^
How the hell would you know that? Does the AP have a preseason top 25 of S&C coaches?
I'll save you the time: you don't know that. Which is why the S&C obsession is so ridiculous. It's a bunch of people talking out of their asses.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
You mad?
August 16th, 2011 at 8:37 AM ^
It's best when these things grow organically.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:59 AM ^
Difference here is that Barwis enjoyed his fame...Wellman seems to prefer the background and go mostly unnoticed.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:25 AM ^
His personality is such that it attracts attention. You couldn't be more wrong about him. Sounds like Wellman is simply a different personality. Some coaches are high vis some arent'.
August 16th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^
I don't think Barwis was begging for media attention at all...but when you're changing the culture of the S&C program, you're voice is raspier than raspy, and you have more energy than a 6 pack of Red Bull...people want to hear what you have to say.
Not to mention it was the FANS and the message boards all gitty about "the barwis effect" and Barwis in general. I hate the media more than most, but I have to give them a pass on this one...
August 16th, 2011 at 9:13 AM ^
Don't really see how this qualifies as a 'media obsession' about to begin with the S&C coach, but that's probably just more childish ripping on anything a newspaper does, even though this site constantly links to the articles, proving it's just as big an obsession with the patrons of this site as it allegedly is with the media.
I thought it was a pretty good piece in capturing Wellman's personality and how he, like Hoke and the rest of the staff, puts himself in the background and the players and team first. Worth reading despite the cynical intro that opens this thread.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:39 AM ^
Point of clarification: The bashing of newspapers that goes on here is in relation to the Free Press, not the News. So there's that.
Secondly, for the record, people link to articles because one of the most valuable services of this Board is to disseminate information that other MGoMembers might not otherwise uncover. But feel free to continue your "veiled" criticism of your fellow MGoMembers if you like.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:38 AM ^
The media is giving the fans what they (strangely) want. They only did a lot of write-ups on Barwis after they saw fan boards totally freaking out about him.
We'll see how much attention Wellman gets in the future, but the noticeably increased discussion about the S&C coach around here is one of the most peculiar aspects to an already somewhat weird base.
August 16th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^
Strength and conditioning coaches are to football programs what electricians are to a building. There are definitely good ones and bad ones, but you tend to only notice them when things have gone catastrophically wrong.
About 12 years ago, I covered a program that lost one of the better S&C coaches. The players went from intense workouts to working out on their own while watching soap operas in the weight room. They went from double-figure wins in back-to-back seasons to six wins to three wins.
August 16th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
What Michigan needed the most was to bring their conditioning techniques into this millenium. They did it with Barwis, and it will continue with Wellman. There are plenty of very good S&C coaches out there.
The most important thing is that Michigan isn't twenty years behind everyone else anymore.
August 16th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^
players Aaron Wellman has sent to the NFL while at BSU
Robert Brewster - OT
Nate Davis - QB
Dan Gerberry - OT
Darius Hill - TE
Reggie Hodges* - P
Andre Ramsey - OT
Dante Ridgeway - WR.
So, at a lowly MAC school, he sent roughly two per year to the league. Most of them didn't work out, but from my time working with Wellman I am 100% convinced that they would not have had any chance of getting drafted. I honestly can't compare his techniques to other S&C coaches techniques because he was the only one I ever had. HOWEVA I can comfortably sit back and say that he is going to be an essential part to brining Michigan back to MANBALL, and it will happen.
August 16th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^
Thankfully I do not have a nutritionist present at every one of my meals... I dont need that kind of judgment
August 16th, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
Somebody already mentioned the key transition from Gittelson to Barwis, but what I find telling about the effectiveness of the so-called Barwis method is that Wellman and co. came in and changed VERY little in terms of equipment and setup, whereas Barwis basically did an entire overhaul of the facility/equipment/setup OUT OF NECESSITY. I'd guess that Wellman's and Barwis's approaches and philosophies are fairly consistent, and certainly a far cry from the Gittelson mindset. "Maximize strength, develop maximal power and speed and minimize orthopedic stress to the body" sounds a lot like Barwis to me. This can only be good.
As for body types and weight gain or loss, it sounds like it's predicated more on the coaching philosophy than S&C philosophy.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
Gotta love Wellman being considering 30 minutes/month with the media a waste of his and UM's time.
I remember reading where Mattison stopped by the weight room to introduce himself to Wellman and Wellman wouldn't even look up from the guys he was working out.
Intense.
Beautiful.