Since Mike Barwis arrived in Ann Arbor from West Virginia, he has been hailed as something of a visionary and an expert by the local media as well as the national media as everyone seems to want to know what his workouts are like and how much they appear to be helping the Michigan players.

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JEH45 said:

	Nick: Thanks for being fair to Gittleson. Amazes me how he has been trashed. I buy the concept that Barwis teaches a system that will dovetail into the system the coaches use on the field. I do not buy the Godlike acclaim he has received. Concerning what players say-I have never heard anyone admit to being fat, lazy, & out of shape. Should be an interesting year.
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August 29, 2008
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mike said:

Well, with Game 1 under the belt...I think it's safe to say our players at UM were much more capable at the end of the game than we had seen for some years now. And I have been a vocal opponent of Gittleson on this forum many times already. Stressing Mike G. was an innovator for his time...but like all things, if you stay in one place and continue to drive a car with a front end crank because it's always worked...where would we be now? And NO I'm not advocating the 'flavor of the month' is the way to go...I'm simply saying with the level of opponents faced week in and week out and the current speed of the game you need to keep up. Mike G. and Lllloyd were not getting it done anymore. Mike Barwis even acknowledges without Mike G. S&C wouldn't exist. Mike has had such an impact thus far, multiple alum have returned to Ann Arbor for summer conditioning (relating back to questions asked by JEH45 before about the difference between NFL and college...) and Tom Brady has added his name to the list of hopefuls for next off season...the buzz and a summer of results are speaking volumes. Before I am hazed and blasted around a Utah 2 point win...keep in perspective, the ENTIRE offense was new. Playbook, leadership, no huddle offense, etc... Utah is a respectable team, and the offense though bleak, was admitedly vanilla. RR mentioned postgame that he had to keep it simple. The defense rose to the challenge in the second half and made a game of it. Though I would have rather seen a different tilt on the score, I thought it was respectable for the first outing. Positives I took from the game. 1) conditioning- the kids were hitting just as hard in the 4th quarter as the 1st. And YES there were pads a popping...the no huddle offense and the defense being on the field a majority of the game (forgot the actual TOP but it was lopsided favoring Utah) the kids held their own. 2) Score- hey, 2 point loss as rough as the offense looked...I'll take it. The line has a LOT of maturing to do, and that was to be expected. 3) Fight- they didn't give up. Though many fans bailed when it looked as though the feast was set on the table, I hung out as traditionally I do until the final 00:00 and saw one heck of an effort to push two scores in. The kids didn't give up. Again, a loss is a loss, but they kept it interesting in the second half. A slow start really put them behind the 8 ball. Things that need work- 1) implimenting more playbook, and moving a little faster off the line (which comes with learning the offense which is SO anit-tradition it has to be a bit overwheliming) 2) Maturity- the kids are young. Given time together with RR and the playbook, it will improve. NC contenders in the near future? I'd like to see a solid season before I even start going there. 3)Passing game- the line is very young and very suspect right now. If they gave either kid about another half second, it could have been a much different ballgame. I would think Threat proved himself the more composed starter yesterday. With this...I THINK I can feel comfortable saying Barwis has made a positive impact, if not just physically, certainly from a mental standpoint, and without DOUBT he has created a buzz...when guys like Tom Brady start heading back to campus...how does that affect recruiting? to a high school kid trying to make a decision...buzz can be huge.

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August 31, 2008
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mike said:

here's a nice excerpt from some of the linemen...giving deserving praise of "CHANGE" at Michigan where strength and conditioning are concerned... "We're conditioned and we're ready to play four quarters hard, and run around and hit people," Taylor said. "We know what we need to do, and we're not going to let anything stand in our way." No position group on Michigan's team comes close to matching the defensive linemen in terms of experience. Taylor will make his 27th career start at nose tackle Saturday and has played alongside Johnson and Jamison since 2005. Graham, the only non-senior, led the team in sacks last fall (8.5) in his first season as a starter. "I really think of them as my brothers," Taylor said. "We're probably the closest group on the team." And arguably no Wolverines position group made greater strides during the offseason. Strength coach Mike Barwis' work with the whole team is extremely well documented, but quite possibly his biggest impact came with the defensive linemen. "We got most of the records on the board, the squat and the bench press and the clean, stuff like that," Taylor said. "You want to be the best." A chest injury limited Taylor in the bench press, but he increased his squat to about 700 pounds. Johnson did two bench-press repetitions of 545 pounds and improved in other areas, including speed work. "When Barwis first came in, the power clean, I had like no technique," Johnson said. "I'm a lot more explosive now. My speed's also getting better, I feel, balance-wise and going in and out of movements."

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September 13, 2008
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