Excellent observations from today’s practice from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg [who’s got a bit of Jared from Subway in his blood] on his blog post here. He notes that Kevin Grady practiced with the team and here are a few more highlights:
* Feagin’s speed is immediately noticeable, and he looked comfortable running some of the basic option pitches and throws in the spread offense. My guess is he’ll be used to run some option this fall.
* Freshman Michael Shaw seemed to be getting a lot of work at wide receiver. It’s a little weird to see No. 20 in maize and blue who isn’t Mike Hart.
* Walking through Michigan’s weight room on the way out, I stopped to check out the team-high totals for several categories. Johnson tops the bench-press chart at 500 pounds, Taylor squatted a team-best 625 pounds and cornerback Morgan Trent ran a 4.13 in the 40-yard dash.
There was also a Barwis mention of course.
Look dudes, I realize that all the attention is great for the program and recruiting and all, and it’s cool to have this guy here. And I’m as guilty as anyone for deifying Barwis, I even followed him around at the spring game in Saline (it was awesome). I’m glad to see I’m not the only one getting a little tired of it all. The frenzy has even prompted a few recent articles that basically say, ‘”Hey, School X has a pretty cool S&C program too”.
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Update 8/4: mgoblue.com just posted audio and some additional notes.
6 Comments
Ace
Johnson’s bench and Taylor’s squat are believable (though also ridiculous), but there’s no way Morgan Trent runs a 4.13. That had to be a generous hand-timed 40. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran in the 4.25 range at the combine next year, but that’s absurd. If it’s real, he should be in the Olympics this summer pulling millions in endorsement money, not playing football for Michigan.
Webmaster
Maybe Barwis was chasing Trent with a medieval mace
Fred
Trent’s time was a shuttle.
Webmaster
But can Trent do the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs?
Steve
If NFL draft picks are any indication of Barvis’s accomplishments, then there are going to be a LOT of disappointed UM fans. During the years he was at WVU, his super-conditioning has netted 10 NFL picks! Oh, by the way, during that same time, Syracuse 15, Pittsburgh 22, Louisville 25, Rutgers 19, Cincinnati 12, TCU 16, and Vanderbilt 11.
Please not I didn’t try to compare WVU to powerhouse schools…these are just so-so programs, with programs equal to or below that of WVU. Think about it.
UM fans are certainly putting a lot of hope into a so so guy.
Lew
Why should NFL draft picks be indicative of Barwis’s accomplishments? I think people are more concerned with how Michigan players perform for Michigan. Based on your figures, it looks like you’re going back to 2003 (when Barwis was named director of the strength and condition program at WVU). During that time, WVU won or shared 4 out of 5 conference titles and went 3-2 in bowl games (winning their last 3 in a row). By comparison, Michigan, with its 29 NFL draft picks, won or shared 2 conference titles and went 1-4 in bowl games. Notre Dame had 28 NFL draft picks during this time period. And Florida State had 36. Oklahoma – who was trounced by WVU in last year’s Fiesta Bowl – had 33. Bottom line: these future draft picks still need to be coached and Coach Barwis (and the rest of the staff) certainly appear to get their players to perform to the fullest of their abilities. That’s all we can ask for.