{mosimage}Mike Barwis brings his innovative program to A-Squared.

While the most-talked about change involving new head coach Rich Rodriguez's Michigan arrival is his fancy spread offense, another more subtle, overlooked change that will benefit Michigan is the addition of new strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis.

Michigan's old strength coach was a guy by the name of Mike Gittleson who was supposedly an innovator back in the 1980's, but his program began to seem outdated to most observers in the past few years.

Lloyd Carr even conducted a year-long study of the strength program a couple years ago to determine if it was still up-to-date with other teams and supposedly found that it indeed was. But that's not what a lot of other people were saying around the country.

Former UM safety Ryan Mundy went to West Virginia last year as a transfer and said that Barwis' programs were far more intense and advanced than what he experienced at Michigan and Barwis said it was a difficult transition for Mundy to make considering what he was used to.

Former UM player Dhani Jones worked out with the trainer who worked with USC LB Brian Cushing and supposedly was told that the program he had been on at Michigan was not getting it done in terms of flexibility and explosiveness.

Penn State is another major program that supposedly had a more outdated strength program that focused a little too much on traditional exercises that put on bulk and not necessarily explosiveness that is of practical use on the football field.

Now that Michigan has Barwis, expect to see a faster, more explosive, and better-conditioned team on the field. Barwis has already cleaned out almost the entire weight room and brought in all-new equipment after only a few days on the job. The old equipment was auctioned off at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor. Barwis also strategically plants trash cans all over the weight room so that players can puke in them if need be. They'll probably get plenty of use.

Many posters on the Michigan forum who saw this video (below) of Barwis said that they were fired up to work out. Many were just tired from hearing the guy talk non-stop for 20 minutes about his workout philosophies.

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At any rate, Michigan is going to be more aggressive on both offense and defense next year and Barwis is the guy who will allow them to do that. He seems borderline crazy at times, but this is big-time college football we're talking about and sometimes a little craziness goes a long way.

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Tom said:

	FINALLY!!!
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January 15, 2008
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mike said:

I was at UM in the late 80's/early 90's...he was not revolutionary THEN either... I was enrolled in the division of Kinesiology/biomechanics. I took his strength class (which was mostly comprised of football players). He based MOST of his principles on his experiences in Vietnam...as a seabee... He flat out told us that the team did not perform pre-game stretches because in 'Nam they never stretched when jumping from their rack into a foxhole...great concept.... We were supposed to lift in the Nautatorium gym with Gittleson's little toads...but we had our own small gym in the track building. We performed cleans and other Olympic lifts as well as free weight squats, etc. We were FAR more explosive than our teammates who chose to follow the herd...no major injuries, and more successful at Big Ten events etc... Point above all as an alum and fan, I have said this for the last ten seasons or better, the boys are too fat, too slow, and out of shape, which is why we are being beaten by spread offenses and teams from the SEC and such. Not because we are not as talented...and Lllllloyd ball didn't help either...you can only start a game off tackle left/right so many times before opponents figure out you will try to throw to the flats on third and long... ask anyone in the Big Ten...then again if they see this video, they may be too busy panicking....

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January 21, 2008
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itoffishul77 said:

	actually we've won 5 of 6 vs. the sec but i still agree with you. we recruited amazing talent but didnt develop it. and larry foote did used to say that stretching was the key thing he did before a game and how much of a difference it made but i dont know if gittleson pushed it or not
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January 21, 2008
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eddie said:

Jeeze...what a cheap shot on your former strength coach. Must be easy for you to do that and lurk in the background. What a coward! Like you would know anything about stretching or Viet Nam. It seems that Michigan is the winningest program in college football in the last 50 years. They, including Gittleson, have cranked out countless All Americans, Heismann Trophy winners and presently lead all colleges with former players in the NFL. They actually beat SEC schools, believe or not, including the defending National Champs... Univ of Florida! Also, it's spelled natatorium...did you even graduate from U of M? Michigan players are known for being super fit! Flat bellied lineman.... ask former OSU coach John Cooper about Michigan Football!! And, after seeing the video of this new strength guy.... the Buckeyes must be salivating to see such a goof ball in charge of a pretigious football power's weightroom. Rodriguez and his coach, barwis will be gone in 3-4 years. Then, they'll bring back a Michigan man.... someone who knows Michigan football!! He ain't in Morgantown anymore.... although some are referring to the school as The Michigan Mountaneers.

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February 06, 2008
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David said:

	This "new" strength coach means absolutely nothing - he has no clue and will injure all your players with his stupidity.
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February 07, 2008
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ItOffishul said:

	what the hell are you guys talking about with those last two comments anyway? this guy has trained olympic athletes and actually trained athletes for ALL sports at WVU or most of them anyway
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February 08, 2008
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Ralph Cornwell, Jr said:

Coach Gittleson did a fine job for many years. In my profession it's sort of odd,if you win you get no praise, if you have a bad season it must be the strength coach. I wish Coach Gittleson good luck and there a lot of athletes out there that owe him a debt of gratitude. Also, if you have spent any time with this "new" guy, it does not take long to know it will be a short stay for him and Rich at Michigan.

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February 23, 2008 | url
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Hannibal, David said:

I can't speak for Coach Gittleson because I do not know the man. I will say that he was around for a long time and they rarely keep you around if you are not a good coach. I do know Mike Barwis as we worked together at WVU as intern strength coaches when we were still in school over 10years ago. Mike is a hard worker that is driven and you can see this by his success. Not only does he have the knowledge in the field but he has been tested and proven effective at WVU. Those that predict his failure obviously do not know Mike. Talk to any of the athletes that he has coached and you will see. It is easy to have big talk behind a keyboard but I would be more judicious in what you say to his face. “Are you trying to offend me? Because I am starting to feel offended”. Ha Ha. Mike is a great guy and I only wish him the best in Michigan.

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March 07, 2008
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mike said:

Well Eddie...as I am not an English teacher...my apology for the TYPO...and YEAH...I guess as an athlete I must have had that preferential treatment all the pundits talk about... and NO he wasn't MY coach... I REFUSED to lift by the methods of one set to faking....it was a joke...but don't take my word for it... Barwis has exclusive domain over the Wolverine players until spring practice begins March 15. "He's got a lot of energy," said defensive end Tim Jamison, who's still adjusting to the more demanding (and earlier) workouts. "I like him. We're still in the introduction stages, and we haven't gotten to half of what he's going to teach us." After about two months with Barwis, the results are showing. "We're all going to be in really good shape, and definitely there's a change with his program," defensive tackle John Ferrara said, patting his chest. "I can already see it on myself. In four weeks, the change my body's gone through is amazing. It's a credit to this new workout system he has, a couple new things we had never done before."

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April 09, 2008
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mike said:

need more? Former UM safety Ryan Mundy went to West Virginia last year as a transfer and said that Barwis' programs were far more intense and advanced than what he experienced at Michigan and Barwis said it was a difficult transition for Mundy to make considering what he was used to. Former UM player Dhani Jones worked out with the trainer who worked with USC LB Brian Cushing and supposedly was told that the program he had been on at Michigan was not getting it done in terms of flexibility and explosiveness.

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April 09, 2008
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