What's the Deal with Barwis?
A lot of Michigan fans are wondering why everyone is talking about new Director of Strength and Conditioning Mike Barwis. There was never much discussion about the old guy, Mike Gittleson (except of the "ARGHHHHH GITTLESON I HATE YOU" nature), so why is Barwis on everyone's mind all the time? Obviously he is a great S&C guy, but what makes him this way, and even still, what is so different about Barwis that it makes him a pseudo-celebrity, when I have never heard the name of a single other S&C coach in the country?
First, Barwis is a very good Strength Coach. He has unique workouts that focus on the core of the body, and are designed to help football players. While other gurus might train in ways that make guys bigger simply for the sake of having more size, or faster just to be able to run a better 40-yard dash time, Barwis designs his drills after football-specific movements, to make his guys better football players, rather than better weightlifters (or sprinters). Barwis takes a very scientific approach to everything he does, and won't do a workout if he can't explain the reason for it scientifically.
Another aspect of Barwis's coaching that is noteworthy (at least to Michigan fans) is the fact that he holds every player accountable for their workouts, both in and out of season. If a player is too injured to work out, he is on the bike, or seeing the trainer, or doing something else to help him become a better football player. Under the old S&C staff, if a guy was hurt, he simply didn't show up at Schembechler Hall for his scheduled workout. The offseason workouts are still nominally voluntary, but as Coach Rodriguez says, "so is their playing time."
The results speak to Barwis's prowess as a Strength Coach. West Virginia has been one of the most successful teams in the country over the past four years, despite not reeling in top recruiting classes. Thanks to a great conditioning program, the Mountaineers have been able to run other teams ragged, and outwork them over the course of four quarters to get a victory. For Michigan fans who say that the results for the Wolverines wouldn't have been different with better conditioning (and that in-game coaching is instead more important), I point to the 2006 Rose Bowl, when the O-line was clearly out of shape, and the first two and last one game(s) of 2007, where the team was clearly not in game shape. They would have beaten App State, and at least not embarrassed themselves against Oregon and Ohio State. As further evidence, look at Ryan Mundy. He was forced out at Michigan because he wasn't any good, and in the course of one year, Barwis turned him into an NFL draft pick.
The main reason Barwis has garnered so much fame, becoming a celebrity more than any other S&C Coach, is his personality. The guy is engaging and intense, as many interviews with him display. His players love coming to his workouts despite the difficulty, visiting recruits consistently say that he made them want to start working out then and there, and reporters are taken aback by his gravelly voice and intense demeanor. The famous video of Barwis giving a pregame speech to the Mountaineers before this year's Fiesta Bowl (Thanks to commenter Max for furnishing a link and clarifying that it was actually the previous year's bowl game) speaks volumes. Not only is the strength coach giving a pregame speech, it pumps the team up in a way that nothing else could, and is a perfect capsule of his motivational power.
When Rich Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor, many were excited for his unconventional offense and recent track record of success. Many were unaware that he would also be bringing along one of the best Strength Coaches in the country, and perhaps the man that is one of the biggest keys to his success. Barwis and Rodriguez seem to be linked for the long-term:
First, Barwis is a very good Strength Coach. He has unique workouts that focus on the core of the body, and are designed to help football players. While other gurus might train in ways that make guys bigger simply for the sake of having more size, or faster just to be able to run a better 40-yard dash time, Barwis designs his drills after football-specific movements, to make his guys better football players, rather than better weightlifters (or sprinters). Barwis takes a very scientific approach to everything he does, and won't do a workout if he can't explain the reason for it scientifically.
Another aspect of Barwis's coaching that is noteworthy (at least to Michigan fans) is the fact that he holds every player accountable for their workouts, both in and out of season. If a player is too injured to work out, he is on the bike, or seeing the trainer, or doing something else to help him become a better football player. Under the old S&C staff, if a guy was hurt, he simply didn't show up at Schembechler Hall for his scheduled workout. The offseason workouts are still nominally voluntary, but as Coach Rodriguez says, "so is their playing time."
The results speak to Barwis's prowess as a Strength Coach. West Virginia has been one of the most successful teams in the country over the past four years, despite not reeling in top recruiting classes. Thanks to a great conditioning program, the Mountaineers have been able to run other teams ragged, and outwork them over the course of four quarters to get a victory. For Michigan fans who say that the results for the Wolverines wouldn't have been different with better conditioning (and that in-game coaching is instead more important), I point to the 2006 Rose Bowl, when the O-line was clearly out of shape, and the first two and last one game(s) of 2007, where the team was clearly not in game shape. They would have beaten App State, and at least not embarrassed themselves against Oregon and Ohio State. As further evidence, look at Ryan Mundy. He was forced out at Michigan because he wasn't any good, and in the course of one year, Barwis turned him into an NFL draft pick.
The main reason Barwis has garnered so much fame, becoming a celebrity more than any other S&C Coach, is his personality. The guy is engaging and intense, as many interviews with him display. His players love coming to his workouts despite the difficulty, visiting recruits consistently say that he made them want to start working out then and there, and reporters are taken aback by his gravelly voice and intense demeanor. The famous video of Barwis giving a pregame speech to the Mountaineers before this year's Fiesta Bowl (Thanks to commenter Max for furnishing a link and clarifying that it was actually the previous year's bowl game) speaks volumes. Not only is the strength coach giving a pregame speech, it pumps the team up in a way that nothing else could, and is a perfect capsule of his motivational power.
When Rich Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor, many were excited for his unconventional offense and recent track record of success. Many were unaware that he would also be bringing along one of the best Strength Coaches in the country, and perhaps the man that is one of the biggest keys to his success. Barwis and Rodriguez seem to be linked for the long-term:
I was coming to work for Coach Rodriguez. He is a good friend and a tremendous coach. He is the one guy in the country that I really want to work for. Regardless of the situation, I want to work for Coach Rodriguez as long as he'll have me. He's my head coach. I have the utmost respect for him.Michigan fans hope that the tandem can combine to bring the success they had in Morgantown to Ann Arbor.
Labels: coaching, football, mike barwis
This entry was posted by Tim, on
Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
You can leave your response.
4/29/2008 11:24:00 AM
It seems like common sense to lift to make better football players not weight lifters.
4/29/2008 11:29:00 AM
It would be interesting to see what Barwis does with Threet over the summer. The forty doesn't matter as much as how fast he gets off the blocks.
4/29/2008 11:31:00 AM
Seems like common sense, but previous Michigan regimes may not have quite been able to understand the concept.
Re: Threet. Barwis will do what he can, but if you are in good shape, speed is really something genetic, and you can't train it up that much.
4/29/2008 12:05:00 PM
Barwis' secret is the CHOCOLATE MILK he pours out to the players.
4/29/2008 12:40:00 PM
If you're talking about the clip I think you are, It can still be found on Myspacetv or whatever they call it. Not sure how to link it, but it's embedded in one of Brian's posts: http://mgoblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/unverified-voracity-goes-eeee-again.html
Also, for what it's worth, I believe the clip preceded last year's bowl game, as Barwis says, "Undefeated, undisputed Big East Champions. Is that enough for you?"
Hope it's the clip you're looking for.
Another fine post.
4/29/2008 01:03:00 PM
Eeeeeeee!
4/29/2008 02:45:00 PM
Way to steal from other blogs ... What a dick to steal info.
4/29/2008 02:49:00 PM
What blog did I rip off? I came up with all of this myself. If you think something is plagiarized, let me know and I'll check it out and give credit if any is due.
4/29/2008 03:07:00 PM
Anon,
You could go to any message board and find all of this out. I follow UM pretty well and knew all of this from message boards and a google search. How do you think Brian at Mgoblog gets his recruiting updates and rumors...message boards.
Tim,
Don't listen to the morons. I've been meaning to tell you that Varsity Blue is one of my daily reads. You've gotten to be pretty quick with recruiting updates and have good insight. Don't know if you plan on making a living on this but you really do improve a lot as time goes on.
4/29/2008 07:19:00 PM
You didn't rip off any blog... I check every frequently-updated M blog daily (bi-daily, tri-daily... whatever). And while I can't say the bulk of this post was groundbreaking information, it was certainly useful to any Michigan football fan - particularly those who don't have the time to check blogs all day long, as they've likely heard the name Mike Barwis frequently and not been able to figure out why.
I've been hoping for a post like this, it was a nice piece.
The only thing I still wonder about is if there's any other S&C coach in college football who garners the same notoriety as does Barwis. And, relatedly, if Barwis belongs in a category of his own with regards to his methods and results as opposed to being just one of the best.
4/29/2008 11:06:00 PM
seems you don't understand mundy;i think by saying "live wire" he meant not under control...stems from a situation in/near the training room with mike gansey and barwis...barwis exploded and rendered gansey unconscious for several seconds. however,this incident wasn't reported for months...ask barwis or gansey for the truth (ps,gansey was a bb player)