Man, they’ve kept this kind of quiet.
Georgia’s strength staff under Joe Tereshinski has made some new hires.
Former Penn State head strength coach John Thomas is joining the staff as an assistant after 20 years with the Nittany Lions under Joe Paterno. He was not retained by new coach Bill O’Brien.
Also being hired as a speed specialist is Sherman Armstrong from V.A.S.T. Sports Performance in Tampa, who said last month that he had interviewed on campus and was a strong candidate. Their hires should officially be announced soon.
Actually, we did hear a little about Armstrong a week or two ago. Does anybody know much about Thomas? He certainly is experienced.
Get The Picture 
Not so thrilled with the Thomas hire, unless he’s going to conform to Tereshinski’s rountine in a big way. Penn State has been roundly criticized as having an inadequate and antiquated S&C program (I know EDSBS has taken the team to task for this, but I can’t find any of the posts). This article seems to confirm (http://thetimes-tribune.com/sports/new-strength-and-conditioning-program-already-having-an-impact-at-penn-state-1.1274025#axzz1ocmJMWbY), but the out-with-the-old reporting tends to be kind of biased that way. All the same, as I recall, PSU was working out with Nautilus machines until the change… Yesh.
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It looks like we hired somebody’s buddy who is a good guy and needs a job.
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I’m not so sure that the linked article reflects poorly on Thomas or not. I kind of like the idea that we’re bringing someone in who’s focus has been on endurance and conditioning. Wasn’t the knock on Tereshinski that he was too old fashioned and would only care about bulk and who can max the most on the bench press? Wasn’t the complaint from our fans that we ran out of gas at the end of games? Seems like Thomas would be a counterbalance to that.
Of course, I have no idea whether this is a good hire or not. I suppose we’ll see down the road.
So, after admitting that I know nothing about this topic, if I were making a hire in this department, I’d probably give this guy — http://www.verkhoshansky.com/CVBibliography/tabid/71/Default.aspx — a call to see if he had any recommendations. Otherwise, I’d look to get somebody from Stanford. They are supposed to be cutting edge with this stuff, and have shown it on the field. (this is the same thought process as my opinion on hiring offensive line coaches — if they’re associated with Iowa, Nebraska, or Wisconsin, then they must be a stud)
I also hope fans realize that strength and conditioning will never be the way to win football games. You’ve got to assume that everybody in this conference is going to get the most out of their strength and conditioning program. We’ve just got to make sure we’re not lagging behind anyone else and aren’t at a disadvantage in that area.
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Bulldog fans, your team just got a lot better by hiring John Thomas. Ask anyone in the know at PSU, including especially former players, about JT and you’ll get the real answer. There are many, many misconceptions about HIT training – like the one quoted here about “only Nautilus machines”. Completely inaccurate and completely misses the point. HIT is all about training muscle to complete failure – and then forcing them through additional reps. Each exercise has a targeted number for the rep range and the load is matched to ensure failure of the muscle near that rep range. Exercises can be done with free weights or machines – sometimes machines are preferred only to protect the athlete when the muscle fails. This is not about working out until your feel a little fatigued – JT will be sure athletes are pushed to their muscular failure point. Not only does this method greatly improve strength, improve range of motion, and reduce injury, but it is very mentally demanding and the mental toughness and discipline that it requires comes out on the playing field. On top of that you got a great human being, a tireless worker, and a coach who genuinely cares about players. No local yokel reporting that I’ve ever read has ever gotten this right when describing HIT, so don’t always believe what you read. Good luck ‘Dawgs, you just got a new fan and a great addition to your staff.
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I am guessing that all our players will given lots of training on how to shower..
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There is never going to be any way to escape this is there…I guess UT fans can look at Penn State if they want to feel hopeful.
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I can remember when a speed coach was the guy who suggested how much speed to take before exams.
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I spent some time in State College; and the only knock I heard on this guy was that they never lifted with free weights. It was a lot of machines and pulleys. I never saw PSU get pushed around though. I just don’t think they recruited enough raw athletes. They got the most from every player from an athletic standpoint. The S&C methodology isn’t the issue; it’s the attitude of the players and the mentatlity they have while performing the workouts. The Dawgs will be fine as long as the players have the desire to get bigger, faster, and stronger everyday….
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I know absolutely nothing about S&C. But I have had the pleasure of speaking with a former Georgia player who went on to start in the NFL for eight seasons as an offensive tackle. According to him, methodology does matter quite a bit. He indicated that after he left Georgia and started working out with the pros it was staggering to him how much strength, bulk and speed he added and how quickly he was able to do so.
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I’m not an expert either, but every expert I’ve read says free weights are better than machines. Doesn’t mean you can’t use machines, but if your program doesn’t use free weights, you’re S&C is in the stone age. I’m not sure Mark Richt is keeping the S&C on the cutting edge like we should/need to be.
Anyone want to know how important it is? Nick Saban pays his S&C coach almost 300k. And Nick Saban isn’t stupid.
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Most machines don’t work the smaller stabilizer muscles, and are easier to “cheat” than free weights. Most of what they should do is free weights, bench/squat, and stuff with bodyweight/resistance bands. Couple that with ideal nutrition and they should get the best strength/endurance gains.
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T is looking for candidates that will commit to his program. Staff last year were not doing what he asked….openly. Hiring someone who needs a job is not such a bad thing, but verdict is still out on our players buying in to his program.
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“Wasn’t the knock on Tereshinski that he was too old fashioned and would only care about bulk and who can max the most on the bench press? ”
Actually, Coach T instituted a few long runs into the program to address stamina; UGA running low on steam late in games was more due to a lack of depth than a serious conditioning flaw. Tereshinski likes lifting, (look at the size of some of the guys last year), but he doesn’t ignore cardio.
As far as Thomas goes, a lot of NFL coaches have said good things about the strength of Penn State players coming in, so maybe he’s got something to add. Just because PSU abandoned Olympic or power lifting doesn’t mean Tereshinski’s going to.
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If you watched the combine it’s hard to argue with Coach T on the Strength part of S&C. The Dawgs were beasts in the lifting. I think the speed guy was a great hire and he’s young and will know the latest techniques. Thomas is just replacing Kasey as Coach T’s ole fart buddy.
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Yeah. This looks like a non-issue really.
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So, are we going to go ahead and label Thomas as TOFB? It’s a lot easier than strength and conditioning coach Thomas, no?
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i do know that John Thomas is britsh slang for penis.
sorry, i couldn’t help myself.
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will not make cheap, easy, totally inappropriate penn state joke… will NOT… oh, damn, man, Chris went and did it for me…
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In a related hire…CMR has arranged with the family of Joe Paterno to hire Joe Pa’s corpse to be the new consultant on offense specifically to make clock management and end of game decisions. He will also serve as Special Teams Coordinator. The feeling on the Georgia coaching staff is that this action will be a significant upgrade over what the program was doing last season. Joe Pa’s corpse was asked for his impression but made no comment.
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Noted sports blog host Senator John Blutarsky, while vacationing in Florida, was asked for his reaction and stated: “I don’t think this will have a significant impact either way. A dead guy making these decisions versus doing what they have been doing is basically a wash.”
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