Lawson steady in 'weaponizing' Vols

#1
kamoshika

kamoshika

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#1
The approach is consistent; steady and unchanging.

Dave Lawson, whistle typically gripped in one hand on a string around his neck, asks the same of his Tennessee football players as the Vols' strength and conditioning head man entering his third year as he did in his first: shape and enhance their frames for violence.

"It's really not changed from Year 1; you want to be as strong as you can be. Coach (Butch Jones) uses the term, your body is your weapon," said Lawson, UT's third-year strength and conditioning leader. "With football and this conference, this is the most physical, most athletic, fastest conference in college football, you're going to have violent, violent collisions. It's a violent game at this level. They want to be as strong as they can be, as flexible as they can be to try and prevent injuries. With strength, you get power, from power you get speed. They all tie into together."
https://tennessee.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?sid=879&script=%2Fcontent.asp&cid=1742508
 
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#2
#2
These S&C guys are under-rated IMHO. So many times I've seen players take hits that looked like they got hit by a truck or rolled one way or the other. I say, "Oh man, he ain't gettin' up" (hoping they would of course). And to my surprise, most of the time they do. They do b/c of under-rated, behind the scene guys like this. God bless 'em.
 
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#3
#3
Actually, I gotta say the first thing I thought was...Kara(sp?). Wow. I get it now, though. Whew.

GO ALL THE VOLS SPORTS!
 
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#5
#5
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
 
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#6
#6
UTvolz9808 said:
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
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I'll bet you could have went all state, Uncle Rico. Put the singlet away and trust Lawson.
 
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#7
#7
UTvolz9808 said:
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
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This.

We used to run 6 miles before practice. :eek:lol:
 
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#8
#8
UTvolz9808 said:
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
Click to expand...

Wrestling matches are fifteen minutes tops with 6 minutes of all out effort. Very different than football games which last hours and have many extended breaks. And thats just the start of how they differ. Trust the professionals. You were probably JV anyway
 
#9
#9
UTvolz9808 said:
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
Click to expand...

You don't need to train for wrestling. You just need a ladder,chair,steel glove, and some fake blood capsules.:cool2:
 
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#11
#11
chattaboogie said:
Wrestling matches are fifteen minutes tops with 6 minutes of all out effort. Very different than football games which last hours and have many extended breaks. And thats just the start of how they differ. Trust the professionals. You were probably JV anyway
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15 minutes..sounds close to about how much time a football player actually "plays" in a "1 hour" game.
 
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#12
#12
chattaboogie said:
Wrestling matches are fifteen minutes tops with 6 minutes of all out effort. Very different than football games which last hours and have many extended breaks. And thats just the start of how they differ. Trust the professionals. You were probably JV anyway
Click to expand...

Hope you were joking there (bold type). Not cool to just be a d*ck to someone for no reason. I know some guys who wrestled in high school, and yes their training and bodies were both incredible. But I do agree with your main point. Completely different sport that requires different types of training all together. Also, since the sport of College football has changed so much, it's so much harder to get into that football shape, more is expected out of each player, if you'll remember, you used to see track and field athletes move to football all of the time. That has slowed considerably. So much more is expected of the receiver now than just run fast and catch. It still happens. Just not as common. It really is great to have stability in the S&C coach. And you are seeing the difference in our players.
 
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#13
#13
Our boys are getting ready for explosive violence.

Every play brings explosive violence and our boys need to Win every play with more explosive violence than the other team can bring.

From what I've read I think we have a great S & C staff.

Keep working hard boys, we'll stand behind you all the way!

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!!
 
#14
#14
Im sure CDL knows how important those lats are in football, they support the shoulders that do the hitting...Ive seen that we have a S&C coach that monitors the players where as pass coaches had sign in sheets....wonder why we always got beat in the 1/2 half in prior years.
 
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#15
#15
ItsAllVols said:
Im sure CDL knows how important those lats are in football, they support the shoulders that do the hitting...Ive seen that we have a S&C coach that monitors the players where as pass coaches had sign in sheets....wonder why we always got beat in the 1/2 half in prior years.
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ItsAllVols, I found your post puzzling. Help me out with a few points, please:

(1) "...those lats...support the shoulders...." Wondering why the sudden focus on one particular muscle set in a thread that, to this point, hadn't delved nearly this deep. In any case, the lats do not actually "support" the shoulders. The lats are primarily used in movement of the upper arms, esp. pulling down and back. They also contribute to alignment of the spine. The trapezius muscles ("traps") are what support the shoulders, kind of like the cables on a suspension bridge. But why delve into specific muscle groups, in the first place?

(2) "...pass coaches..." This clearly means past coaches, not talking about CZA specifically, but past S&C coaches. Right?

(3) "...always got beat in the 1/2 half..." Literally, this translates as "always got beat in the one-half half," but I have to believe you meant either the "1st half" or, more likely given the context, the "2nd half." Is that what you meant? Second half?

What an odd post. In its specificity about muscle groups, it does not seem to be a response to anything that came before. I should probably have just passed it by, but its sheer oddity got me scratching my head.

ItsAllVols, please explain?
 
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#16
#16
UTvolz9808 said:
The most physically demanding thing I have ever done was conditioning for wrestling in high school. The players should have to go through wrestling conditioning each off season.
Click to expand...

I know a little bit abut this one.

When it comes to amount of calories expended per minute, nothing compares to wrestling.

Some of the best OL in the NFL wrestled in HS/college. Doesn't translate well to a lot of the other positions.

Wrestling involves a tremendous amount of technique. Way too much to expect a football player to pick up in just a few months, let alone years.

Wrestling involves more pulling-in-motion so pull-ups, rope climbing, rowing motion, etc. is key. Football (linemen, receivers, etc.) involves more of a pushing away (punching) explosion (with the exception of guys who have to tackle and OL who can get away with holding).

I can tell you NONE of the football players messed with the wrestlers at UT when we had the latter, even when the wrestlers were half their size. Football players did fine for about the first 20 to 30 seconds and then they had nothing left. There are no 30 second breaks and TV timeouts between plays (which usually only average 7 seconds) in wrestling.

:hi:
 
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#17
#17
It's not worth comparing athletes that train for years for different sports.
 
#19
#19
The team seems to be growing stronger but the conditioning has improved also. We see it in the 4th quarter. I don't see as much let-down as used to be normal.

I don't recall exactly when but likely 20-odd years ago, the Chicago Bears hired a dance instructor to get the players more flexible. If memory serves, injuries went down. However, if that really worked, I would think they would still hire dance instructors and so would every team. Does anyone else recall that or has my senility gone up another notch? Maybe the players would be less embarrassed if they had to practice yoga instead of ballet.
 
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#21
#21
TVA said:
The team seems to be growing stronger but the conditioning has improved also. We see it in the 4th quarter. I don't see as much let-down as used to be normal.

I don't recall exactly when but likely 20-odd years ago, the Chicago Bears hired a dance instructor to get the players more flexible. If memory serves, injuries went down. However, if that really worked, I would think they would still hire dance instructors and so would every team. Does anyone else recall that or has my senility gone up another notch? Maybe the players would be less embarrassed if they had to practice yoga instead of ballet.
Click to expand...

Fulmer had a ballet instructor on staff as part of the off-season training
 
#22
#22
Its the big lineman that take a few yearS to get where they need to be.. The inconsistent changes in the S&C coaches at UT really hurt players like James Stone. Perhaps with a consistent program he could have been much more productive in his Jr and Soph years as well. I think you will see a big difference in Tenns strength and size of the Oline and Dline this year just by having the same S&C program for 2 years plus.. When Dooley announced an incoming freshmen OLineman was already the strongest guy on the team, That Was A Red Flag!
 
#23
#23
Coach Lawson was one of the presenters and it is quite incredible what they do. Had the pleasure of hearing speakers from Clemson, Georgia Southern and others. The biggest surprise is when Coach Jones came in after lunch on Saturday and gave us 10 minutes of his valuable time. Great time! GBO!!!
 
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#24
#24
CroKev said:
I know a little bit abut this one.

When it comes to amount of calories expended per minute, nothing compares to wrestling.

Some of the best OL in the NFL wrestled in HS/college. Doesn't translate well to a lot of the other positions.

Wrestling involves a tremendous amount of technique. Way too much to expect a football player to pick up in just a few months, let alone years.

Wrestling involves more pulling-in-motion so pull-ups, rope climbing, rowing motion, etc. is key. Football (linemen, receivers, etc.) involves more of a pushing away (punching) explosion (with the exception of guys who have to tackle and OL who can get away with holding).

I can tell you NONE of the football players messed with the wrestlers at UT when we had the latter, even when the wrestlers were half their size. Football players did fine for about the first 20 to 30 seconds and then they had nothing left. There are no 30 second breaks and TV timeouts between plays (which usually only average 7 seconds) in wrestling.

:hi:
Click to expand...

Ron Wright. Nuff said.
 
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