What Washington Needs to do to get back to the top

There are a combination of things that obviously need to happen in order for the Huskies to get back to the top but I just one to touch on one thing I noticed while watching the bowl game vs OSU. As a scout the first thing you naturally do is the eyeball test. Looking at our guys compared to OSU there was a big difference in my opinion on the physical make up of the Players. OSU looked more physically imposing than our players.

Now when I played I was a huge weight room guy so I feel that championships are won in the off season strength and condition program or at least that is the foundation of successful season. Nowadays it seems some strength coaches are to technical with so much information that they forget the core training methods that have proven to work over time.

ESPN classics showed the 1991 Rose Bowl a few days ago and was thinking that team makes the current Roster looks like like a group of Freshman. I remember Johnny Morton from USC a few years ago commented on the fact that I used a thigh pad to cover my bruised Bicep for protection during the game. Hey said guys on their team were like, "#48 arms are so big he has to us a thigh Pad to cover it". Also, I ran into guy that played at Washington in 1993 for East Carolina. He said they were intimated when NIP and and guys like Ernie Conwell came out with half cut Jersey's showing their guns and six pack. Did you see the Ohio State Players last night? It reminding me how we looked. They ran the ball down Oregon's throat because the were the stronger Team.

My point is this, We just need to get our edge back and it starts in the Weight room. Its were confidence is built. It think its important to have certain measurables and set personal goals. It's not the the be all and end all but when I set the school record at UW in the Squat at 750lb I felt no one could stop me. I benched 420 pounds in high school so I was ready play when I first got to Washington and it showed on the practice field.

It seems that some programs overemphasize fancy Machines and a plethora drills and de-emphasize core lifts and Free Weights because they feel you would get to bulky and loose agility. I think you train correctly you get yoked up, fast, agile and explosive. (and we had loose hips. lol) If you remember we were known for our speed and athleticism but almost our whole team benched over 400lbs. Mark Brunell could Power Clean 350 pounds. Nip could bench press well over 400 pounds. I could go on and on. I just don't think a team 25 years ago should not be more physically imposing that a Team today.

Now It takes time to build muscle mass so I can blame the current strength program but next year if their lineman come out looking look pillsbury doughboys then I would question what they are doing in their strength and condition program. Just my thoughts on a program I love and hope to see back at the top soon.

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Comments

LoneStarDawg

Sounds like they need Stan empermann roaming the weight room

DugtheDoog

Even a guy in his mom's basement with a boner in his sweatpants knows that machines don't force you to use your stabilizing muscles and they're for pussies. Such fag, Ivan.

Swaye

Surprised Sark didn't have about 100 bow flex machines hauled in and just told the kids to have at it. In between hot dog eating contests of course. Jesus Christ.

NeGgaPlEaSe

Rocky IV >>> Ivan Drago, Free weights recruit accessory muscles preventing more injuries under physiologic load. I believe the correct terminology is proprioception. Why do you think we had so many ACL injuries under Sark?

HFNY

Please please please tell me that USC is doing the same weight program under Sark now. We play them this year so hopefully are superior S&C program helps match counter their 4 and 5 star talent (and depth issues remaining from sanctions).

DonaldJones

Thanks Guys on the information on Coach Socha. I have never met him but He seems to be my kind of guy after reading his article in the times. Like I said, it takes time and we have to give the new staff a chance to develop these players but I do hope to see a noticeable difference by next year.

I am a fan of Coach Petersen and believe he will get the job done. Sark did a good job considering he took over an 0-12 program but it seems he was trying to be too much like Oregon. That's understandable if you are WSU but the precedent has already been set and a culture has already been established. I have talked guys that played against Washington from the 70's all the way up to the early 2000's and they all will tell you that whenever they had to play the Huskies they always had to buckle up their chin strap because they new they going to be in a physical battle.

I am not knocking Oregon's style of play because they have become one of the top programs in the country but that's them. You can look at the way Stanford plays Oregon. Our style has been proven to win National Championships and I just feel we need to get back what's Husky football is all about.

dnc

Thanks Guys on the information on Coach Socha. I have never met him but He seems to be my kind of guy after reading his article in the times. Like I said, it takes time and we have to give the new staff a chance to develop these players but I do hope to see a noticeable difference by next year.

I am a fan of Coach Petersen and believe he will get the job done. Sark did a good job considering he took over an 0-12 program but it seems he was trying to be too much like Oregon. That's understandable if you are WSU but the precedent has already been set and a culture has already been established. I have talked guys that played against Washington from the 70's all the way up to the early 2000's and they all will tell you that whenever they had to play the Huskies they always had to buckle up their chin strap because they new they going to be in a physical battle.

I am not knocking Oregon's style of play because they have become one of the top programs in the country but that's them. You can look at the way Stanford plays Oregon. Our style has been proven to win National Championships and I just feel we need to get back what's Husky football is all about.

Sounds like DJ (ILTCHDJ) misses WASHINGTON, dammit.

Welcome home. You're among frens.

HFNY

I couldn't agree more. It will be satisfying to see the jump from Year 1 to Year 2, not only for the S&C program but culture overall.

I hope we end up being a hybrid between Stanford and Ohio State, maybe with a tilt towards Stanford since they remind me most of Washington from the 50's or 60's to 2000.

Thanks Guys on the information on Coach Socha. I have never met him but He seems to be my kind of guy after reading his article in the times. Like I said, it takes time and we have to give the new staff a chance to develop these players but I do hope to see a noticeable difference by next year.

I am a fan of Coach Petersen and believe he will get the job done. Sark did a good job considering he took over an 0-12 program but it seems he was trying to be too much like Oregon. That's understandable if you are WSU but the precedent has already been set and a culture has already been established. I have talked guys that played against Washington from the 70's all the way up to the early 2000's and they all will tell you that whenever they had to play the Huskies they always had to buckle up their chin strap because they new they going to be in a physical battle.

I am not knocking Oregon's style of play because they have become one of the top programs in the country but that's them. You can look at the way Stanford plays Oregon. Our style has been proven to win National Championships and I just feel we need to get back what's Husky football is all about.

dnc

Did Donald Jones just upvote me?

Awesome!

HuskyHalfBrain

Tequilla

Hiring these guys may have been better than some of the S&C guys that we've had in the past 10+ years

dnc

Hiring these guys may have been better than some of the S&C guys that we've had in the past 10+ years

Maybe we could have had Aaron Rodgers

whatshouldicareabout

Please please please tell me that USC is doing the same weight program under Sark now. We play them this year so hopefully are superior S&C program helps match counter their 4 and 5 star talent (and depth issues remaining from sanctions).

Yup they are. Going to copy/paste a post from my old thread.

Here is some more evidence, thanks to USC's scout site. http://usc.scout.com/story/1377439-lewis-tough-enough-to-eat-nails

He seems more concerned with addressing the question "why" rather than "how much", a philosophy he's cultivated in his own time as a head coach and a method he says differs slightly than his mentor's. "It's not always about the weights, it's about the whys. Why we do things." Lewis explained. "Coach Carlisle's philosophy was really about how to, how fast, how much."

This quote helps strengthen (lol) the previous statements on why the S&C program is much more difficult now. Under Lewis, it isn't always about the weights, and it isn't about completing a certain amount. Now, Socha sets quotas for these players to meet and demands that they do these work-outs properly. No shit the S&C is going to be a lot harder when you have a coach that demands you complete what was assigned to you and that you complete them the right way. Just go back to Riva's video. Or look at those Pro Days numbers above. Or back to ASJ's assessment by the NFL scouts, calling him soft.

Other gems from the article:
Lewis emphasized multiple times the importance of players "buying in" to a strength program.
"It's just a great staff who has been put together and we are just buying into that."
"We're going to play 100 miles per hour and we're going to win. It's going to be great."

Should be fun to watch the decline of USC these next few years.

CokeGreaterThanPepsi

More proof positive that the new S&C coaches mean bidness... This is Shane Bowman around Halloween, he is on the right:

GrundleStiltzkin

More proof positive that the new S&C coaches mean bidness... This is Shane Bowman around Halloween, he is on the right:

http://instagram.com/p/u3oR2hnKXq/?modal=true

Great

As always

CokeGreaterThanPepsi

I HATE INSTAGRAM.... WHY CAN I SEE THE PICTURE BUT YOU CAN'T!!!!!?????

GrundleStiltzkin

I HATE INSTAGRAM.... WHY CAN I SEE THE PICTURE BUT YOU CAN'T!!!!!?????

Screen cap that bitch. Probably permissions or something.

GrandpaSankey

I HATE INSTAGRAM.... WHY CAN I SEE THE PICTURE BUT YOU CAN'T!!!!!?????

Rub it in, asshole.

GrundleStiltzkin

Hey @CokeGreaterThanPepsi‌ where's the screencap?

droggins

Had to be done.

Edit: At what point, and from which orifice, does that QB's soul leave his body there?

In today's game that's a 15 yard penalty for hitting a defenseless player.