Van Halanger Talks Strength & Conditioning

The S&C program at UGA has been a hot topic of discussion since last season, which isn't surprising given Georgia's performance on the field in 2009. But while strength coach Dave Van Halanger admits it was a down year last year, he said things are definitely headed back in the right direction this season.

On mat drills this year...
“The last day, we gave out 18 As. We’ve never done that before. They have six stations and they have to have a total A. That means they’re performing at a high, high level. We had a bunch of B-plusses, too. So guys did a great job. Richard Samuel’s had six As. Christian Robinson, Shaun Chapas, Dent, they came out fighting. We’ve got guys who are fighting.”

On the input he's gotten from Todd Grantham, Scott Lakatos and Warren Belin...
“The NFL is different in the way they go about it. They don’t want to get guys hurt. We’ve got to get guys better. Those guys that come to Dallas, they’re pretty good. So they just maintain their strength. I talk a lot to Scott, talked a lot to Warren, about what did you guys do? Because they’re college, and you’ve got to get college guys better. They’re 18 and they’re going to leave here at 22 or 23 and you need to get them better."

On what the feedback has been from the new coaches...
"We’ve talked to (Lakatos and Belin) a lot, and there’s just a lot of similarities. It was the first time those guys saw our mat drills and they were like, ‘Wow, that’s really unique.’ Because a lot of people don’t do that – getting in early in the morning, but it’s mentality. You win football games because you’re mentally, physically and spiritually tough, and you can get it done when you’re on the field. It’s chemistry and morale, and you’ve got to create that. You’ve got to get the guys believing they can do that, and if you do, you’re going to win football games. We get our kids believing and going in the right direction. Last year, that was a pretty bad blip. But this year, I think it’s going to be pretty good. I’m excited about this year.”

And here's some video -- courtesy of Brandon Spoon -- of Van Halanger talking about the current state of affairs in the UGA S&C program...

Video Blog: Pro Day Workouts & Interviews

First off, I think our pal Brandon Spoon deserves an award for the great video work he's been doing for the site. I'd suggest a Peabody or a Pulitzer, though a Pabst Blue Ribbon will likely have to suffice.

In any case, he put together a great bit of video of the workouts and interviews from yesterday's Pro Day in Athens. Be sure to check it out...

Video Blog: Pro Day Workouts & Interviews

First off, I think our pal Brandon Spoon deserves an award for the great video work he's been doing for the site. I'd suggest a Peabody or a Pulitzer, though a Pabst Blue Ribbon will likely have to suffice.

In any case, he put together a great bit of video of the workouts and interviews from yesterday's Pro Day in Athens. Be sure to check it out...

Notes: Richt Downplays Conditioning Concerns

Willie Martinez has been squarely in the crosshairs of caustic fans for two seasons. Mike Bobo has seen his playcalling critiqued by a bevy of message board pundits. Even Mark Richt has earned the scorn of fans unhappy with the team’s 4-4 start to the season and its 10-7 record over the past 17 games.

But the most recent coach to come under the microscope at Georgia is strength and conditioning coordinator Dave Van Halanger, a longtime assistant for numerous successful programs. With Georgia’s struggles on the offensive and defensive lines and problems running the football or bringing down opposing rushers, some critics have wondered if Georgia simply isn’t strong enough this season. Richt thinks that’s just par for the course.

“Everybody wants us to win, everybody wants to find some kind of angle to see where they think we’ve got issues,” Richt said. “So if everybody’s going to start chiming in on what we need to do, then it’s obvious that every part of our program is going to be looked at and questioned.”

Richt said across the board his staff works to keep up with the latest advances around college football, whether it be strength and conditioning, Xs and Os or simple coaching methodology.

“Coaches go to conventions, strength coaches go to conventions, everybody goes to the seminars trying to stay on top of the cutting edge,” Richt said. “Everybody gets together and they discuss the things they have, the things they do, what do you like and what don’t you like. And everybody’s got friends in the business where you can compare notes.”

It’s common practice during every offseason to evaluate Georgia’s program against what the competition is doing, Richt said, and that hasn’t changed in the nine seasons he’s been in Athens.

“We’re always out talking to other folks,” Richt said. “Our offensive and defensive staffs are either taking off somewhere, bringing somebody in or both. Our strength staff does that, too. We just do that across the board.”

Richt said most other coaches are happy to exchange ideas, although not normally within the same conference. But he said it’s not uncommon to seek out coaches from around the country who play a similar style on offense or defense or who have played against common opponents and bounce ideas off each other after the season has ended.

“If you want to get better at throwing certain screens to your receiver or things of that nature, you’re going to find a team that does it great and ask how do you do it?” Richt said. “Instead of just trying to watch the film and hope you get it right, you just go ask them. And most people will help you. It’s hard to go within the league. You won’t get much help there. But you go as far as you’ve got to go, and sometimes it’s an NFL team.”

STILL NO RAMBO

For the past month, Georgia’s coaches have given redshirt freshman safety Baccari Rambo increased playing time and have been pleased with the results. But despite the struggles of starters Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans in coverage against Florida and Tennessee, Richt said it’s unlikely Rambo will move past either veteran on the depth chart.

“I don’t know if he’ll move into the starting lineup but he’s earned playing time and he’s playing well,” Richt said. “He’s continued to practice well, and that’s good, good for us."

Richt said this week he planned to continue playing veterans that give the Bulldogs their best chance to win their remaining four games despite many of the team’s preseason goals now being defunct.

Rambo offers the option for Georgia to both keep a quality product on the field this season, Richt said, while also giving playing time to a younger player projected to see a bigger role next year. But Richt doesn’t think Rambo needs to be in the starting lineup to be prepared for next season.

“I don’t think he would have to start to say that would make him more ready a year from now,” Richt said. “He’s playing plenty to help us be ready for next year.”

WOOTEN GETS THE NOD

With sophomore receiver A.J. Green out of action this week with a bruised lung, freshman Rantavious Wooten is slated to make his first start of the season against Tennessee Tech, and the fast rise up the depth chart isn’t coming as a surprise to Wooten’s teammates.

Richt said that veterans raved about Wooten’s performance over the summer, giving Richt and early indication that the true freshman would be in position to help out immediately.

“They loved Wooten from the get-go – his quickness, ability to change direction and just how quickly he was picking up the route running,” Richt said.

Wooten has just four catches so far this season in minimal duty backing up Green, but that will change this week, and Richt said he expects Wooten to make the most of his chance.

“He’s going to get a really outstanding opportunity this weekend,” Richt said. “Wooten playing a position behind A.J. certainly hasn’t given him a ton of opportunities. This will be the biggest opportunity to this point for him, and I think he’s excited, he’s up for it.”

BROWN READY AND WAITING

Wooten isn’t the only freshman receiver hoping to make an impact against Tennessee Tech.
Marlon Brown thought his breakout game had come last month against Tennessee when he had the first two catches of his career. But a hip pointer a few days later derailed his plans for a bigger role.

“After the game, I was like, yeah, I’m going to get a little more playing time,” Brown said. “Then that Tuesday at practice I had the hip pointer going up for a pass.”

Brown said he was healthy enough to play in the past two games for Georgia, but he didn’t see any action. That should change with Green out this week, and Brown’s hoping for another opportunity to showcase his skills.

“I’m just going to go in, warm up, and if he says, ‘Marlon, you’re in the game,’ I’m going to go in the game and do my job,” he said.

HOME SWEET HOME

It has been more than a month since Georgia played in front of its home crowd, and Richt is thrilled to be back.

“If you’re home three or four games in a row, sometimes it’s good to get away,” he said. “But when you’ve been gone a long time, it’s good to get back home. I’m looking forward to being with the Georgia people.”

It’s been a rocky ride since Georgia’s last home date – a narrow loss in the final minute to LSU. The Bulldogs where thumped on the road at Tennessee, beat Vanderbilt prior to an off week, then settled for another dismal performance in Jacksonville, Fla. against the rival Gators.

With three losses in their last four games and not a lot of pats on the back along the way, Rambo said getting back in front of a cheering crowd will be a welcome dose of enthusiasm for a team in need of some positive energy.

“I know going off to play, we’ve been doing that for a month, and the opponent’s fans haven’t been too nice to us,” Rambo said. “It’s great to come back home and see our friends and let them support us. I think it’s going to be a great feeling to get back home and play again.”

Deleted Scenes: Dawgs' Strength Numbers

A lot of you have been asking, and I finally caved. I have a story in today's Telegraph on Georgia's offseason conditioning and the impressive strength numbers the players maxed out at last month.

Not all of the quotes I got from players made the final cut, but I wanted to share them here. Beyond that, I also acquired some of the top weight-room performances of the year along with this year's conditioning award winners...

Demarcus Dobbs on whether this has been the most intense offseason he's experienced...
"It has been. Our training staff has put us in a more strenuous workout than years past. They've been running us a lot more, and they're working on things that correlate into on the field. It's not just lifting weights, but stuff that's going to transition us toward getting on the field."

Dobbs on how the conditioning staff helped...
"The strength staff not only emphasized getting into shape, but we did a lot of stretching and things. We had a lot of hip flexors and hamstrings in the last camp, and we're doing a lot to emphasize those things to make sure we're healthy this year."

Shaun Chapas on the success of the offseason conditioning...
"I think we had a tremendous offseason going all the way back to January. We had great attendance, great participation, everybody was coming in every day and really working hard."

Jeff Owens on the importance of offseason conditioning...
"It starts during the offseason. All great teams have great offseason programs. This offseason, a lot of guys put a lot of effort into it and really wanted to get something out of it. I think it's going to transition onto the field."

Owens on using the weight room to avoid injuries...
"I think the weight room plays a big factor with injuries. The stronger you are, the more muscle you have, that prevents injuries. The more you lift, the more you stay in shape, the healthier you stay."

Caleb King on the offseason workout program...
"Coach Richt wanted to step up the summer program, and it really was stepped up. Everybody got tough and came out progressing."

King on who impressed him...
"Richard (Samuel) comes off that wrist injury, comes back squatting 500-something. That's pretty impressive, but he's always been strong in the weight room."

Dave Van Halanger on the atmosphere in the weight room...
"I've been around a lot of championship teams, and what you see different is the chemistry and morale. It's a special feeling, and you really know this is a special team. This team has all the attributes. I know every game our kids are going to fight their guts out. I believe that with all my heart. If we have the talent, Georgia will be real, real good."

Van Halanger on morale in the weight room...
"The chemistry is good, the morale is very good. They enjoy each other. They're a together team. They believe in each other. They believe in their leaders. This is a selfless team. They just want to win. They want to get it done, and they don't care who gets credit. This team has those intangibles. Now, do we have enough talent?"

Van Halanger on the freshmen performing...
"Wooten went from 162 pounds up to 175 since he got here at the beginning of the summer. Branden Smith, I don't think he lifted in a year, and now he loves coming in here. Little, skinny guys are making huge progress, so you can imagine what the other guys are doing."

Geno Atkins on the attitude toward offseason conditioning...
"We wanted to get stronger, faster, bigger to make sure that when we come out there for camp, everybody's healthy," Atkins said. "You want to treat your body like you'd treat a car – fuel it with the right stuff and tune it up to the max."

Georgia's Top Weight Room Performers, 2009

Bench Press
Defensive backs: Bryan Evans and Reshad Jones, 385 lbs
Defensive ends: Justin Houston, 435 lbs
Defensive tackles: Jeff Owens, 545 lbs
Specialists: Ty Frix and Blair Walsh, 285 lbs
Linebackers: Rennie Curran, 460 lbs
Off. linemen: Justin Anderson, 515 lbs
Quarterbacks: Joe Cox and Aaron Murray, 315 lbs
Fullbacks: Shaun Chapas, 390 lbs
Tailbacks: Dontavius Jackson, 375 lbs
Tight ends: Bryce Ros, 380 lbs
Wide receivers: Michael Moore, 380 lbs

Squats
Defensive backs: Prince Miller, 555 lbs
Defensive ends: Justin Houston, 600 lbs
Defensive tackles: Brandon Wood, 650 lbs
Specialists: Brandon Bogotay, 405 lbs
Linebackers: Rennie Curran, 615 lbs
Off. linemen: Vince Vance and Clint Boling, 620 lbs
Quarterbacks: Joe Cox, 425 lbs
Fullbacks: Shaun Chapas, 585 lbs
Tailbacks: Richard Samuel, 600 lbs
Tight ends: Orson Charles, 500 lbs
Wide receivers: A.J. Green, 450 lbs

Power Cleans
Defensive backs: Chad Gloer, 339 lbs
Defensive ends: Justin Houston, 420 lbs
Defensive tackles: Jeff Owens, 365 lbs
Specialists: Drew Butler, 280 lbs
Linebackers: Darius Dewberry, 391 lbs
Off. linemen: Vince Vance and Clint Boling, 353 lbs
Quarterbacks: Joe Cox, 316 lbs
Fullbacks: Shaun Chapas, 400 lbs
Tailbacks: Richard Samuel, 329 lbs
Tight ends: Aron White, 339 lbs
Wide receivers: A.J. Green and Craig Sager, 290 lbs

Power Index (Top 10)
1.) Rennie Curran
2.) Prince Miller
3.) Bryan Evans
4.) Brandon Boykin
5.) Carlton Thomas
6.) Darius Dewberry
7.) Reshad Jones
8.) Chad Gloer
9.) Richard Samuel
10.) Makiri Pugh

Award Winners:
Leon Farmer Award: Michael Moore (Sr./WR)
Leadership Award: Joe Cox (Sr./QB)
Top Lineman: Ben Jones (So./C)
Top Big Skill Position: Shaun Chapas (Jr./FB)
Top Small Skill Position: Prince Miller (Sr./CB)

Odds and Ends

I've been out of town all week (and actually, for the better part of the past month) so a few things happened that I didn't get around to commenting on immediately. Rather than write up long responses to each issue, I figured a quick (OK, not so quick) around the horn might suffice...

-- Big thanks to ESPN's Chris Low for linking to my post on returning offensive production in the SEC this week. One of his commenters, however, wondered why I ranked the schools by percentage of returning offense rather than gross production. The answer is that I was curious about both, but assumed you could eyeball the gross numbers easier than the percentages. But, since it was asked, here's a quick rundown of the rankings based on yardage returning for 2009.

Receiving Yards

Arkansas, 2999
LSU, 2580
Alabama, 2098
Ole Miss, 2091
Kentucky, 1880
Georgia, 1775
Florida, 1596
S. Carolina, 1370
Miss St, 1354
Auburn, 1212
Tennessee, 1066
Vanderbilt, 725

Rushing Yards

Florida, 2414
Ole Miss, 2331
LSU, 2011
Arkansas, 1362
Auburn, 1317
Alabama, 1208
Kentucky, 1204
Miss. St., 1192
Vanderbilt, 940
Tennessee, 500
S. Carolina, 499
Georgia, 479

-- I ran into Andrew Williams last night. He said he's been working in an advisory capacity with Knowshon Moreno and is planning to move out to Denver with him. No deal done yet for Knowshon with the Broncos, but Drew said they're not too far apart.

-- The MLB draft reminded me what a joke the NCAA is. This had already been on my mind, but then ESPN's Jemele Hill wrote a fantastic column about it. Why is it that a baseball player can be drafted and then return to school, but the same isn't true for basketball or football players? Why are baseball players allowed to sign right out of high school but basketball and football players are not? Why is it that a baseball player can sign a contract, play professionally, but still return to school and participate in another sport, but something as petty as extra textbooks or attending a high school graduation are violations in football?

Hill argues, quite rightly, that it's all about money for the NCAA, which seems a bit ironic since the NCAA flips out whenever a player or his family receives a dime for their work. And chalk this up in the "I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'" category, but here's the racial breakdown in college sports: Football, 51 percent minorities. Basketball, 67 percent minorities. Baseball, 19 percent minorities. Oh, and as for the high-level "decision maker" jobs in the NCAA... the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports estimates that as much as 97 percent of those gigs belong to white people.

-- Bleacher Report stirred up some controversy this week with a story criticizing Georgia strength and conditioning coach Dave Van Halanger. I'd love to link to it for you to read firsthand, but Bleacher Report -- the bastion of journalistic integrity that it is -- deleted the story from its site already.

Nevertheless, the AJC's Bill King linked to it earlier this week, which drew plenty of comments from his readers.

Now, I'm not in any way endorsing the Bleacher Report story which was essentially no more than one man's opinion, but I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing up a topic of debate and challenging the status quo a little. And after talking to one NFL talent evaluator (who asked that his name not be used), I found there was at least a little bit of legitimacy to the story. He said several NFL people feel that Georgia's strength and conditioning program has "the wrong emphasis" and players from the Mark Richt/Bobby Bowden/Chuck Amato coaching tree have entered the league "undisciplined and not well prepared."

Is there reason to believe the critique? Potentially. Here's a bit of analysis of Mark Richt's draft classes done by reader Jim Franklin back in April examining the early selections of UGA players by year...

Year	Round	Player
2008	5 (161)	Marcus Howard
2007	3 (51)	Quentin Moses
2006	2 (30)	Tim Jennings
2005	1 (14)	Thomas Davis
2005	1 (17)	David Pollack
2005	2 (35)	Reggie Brown
2005	2 (48)	Odell Thurman
2005	3 (85)	David Greene
2005	4 (131)	Fred Gibson
2004	1 (32)	Ben Watson
2003	1 (6)	Johnathan Sullivan
2003	1 (20)	George Foster
2003	2 (34)	Boss Bailey
2003	2 (37)	Jon Stinchcomb
2002	1 (25)	Charles Grant

(By year, Georgia had four players taken in 2008, four in 2007, seven in 2006, six in 2005, four in 2004, seven in 2003 and eight in 2002.)

Obviously the 2009 draft turned around the recent trend illustrated in the statistics above with four Georgia players being selected in the first three rounds, including two of the top 12 overall. But if you look at those high draft picks from 2002-08, there's a pretty fair number of busts (at least by NFL standards) in there, too.

The case could also be made that there has to be a reason for all the injuries last year, although I'm not sure any explanation given could be specifically traced back to the strength and conditioning staff, particularly since the injury bug had never been that bad in the past.

Now, the other side of the coin: At the start of the 2006 season, Georgia was tied for third with 36 former players on NFL rosters, and at least a half-dozen more will be added to the mix in 2009. (Also of note, Bobby Bowden's boys have the second most players in the NFL). So if NFL folks are so displeased with the preparation of Richt's players, why are they so prevalent on NFL rosters?

Of course, success in your S&C program isn't all about putting players in the pros either. At least ostensibly, it's about winning in college, and few people have done a better job of that than Van Halanger. His teams have made it to a bowl game for 28 straight seasons, an unofficial record among college coaches as far as Van Halanger knows.

The Bleacher Report story discusses Georgia's defensive woes as the product of poor conditioning, but that seems like an odd critique. For one, no amount of conditioning teaches Reshad Jones to wrap up on a tackle (and, in truth, it's probably time I stop picking on Reshad, too). No strength program will keep Jarius Wynn from hitting the quarterback late or ensure that the defensive ends can handle a cut block. Plus, if Van Halanger's preparation caused the defense to suffer last season, then why was Georgia's offense so good? Both sets of players are trained by the same staff.

Again, I don't think there's anything wrong with having the discussion about Georgia's conditioning program, but until a former player or two speaks on the record saying they were ill prepared for life in the NFL (or games on Saturdays during their college careers) I'm inclined to think Van Halanger and his staff are doing as good a job as anyone.

-- Lots of questions about the new deal with ISP Sports that Georgia just signed. I'll have a more detailed story in the next few days (I'm just starting to sift through a mountain of information on it) but here are a few tidbits I got from ISP's general manager in Athens, Jeff Huffman...

On changes to the UGA Web site...
"We're going to re-launch our site this year. We're making improvements to it to make it more cutting-edge, offer our fans something that they've never had access to before. That's our biggest investment from an upgrade standpoint. We're going to invest a lot of resources into making that a real fan-friendly place."

On the all-important upgrades to the game tracker software at GeorgiaDogs.com...
"That's in discussions right now. We're working to improve all facets of our Web site and that is a piece that we're obviously looking to upgrade."

On when the new Web features might be available...
"We're shooting for a target date of the end of August. We want to have it up and ready to go so people can get acclimated with it and have time to learn and have it ready before we kick off (for football). This is something that's been in the works for several months now, so we didn't just start on it."

On the TV side of things, including the coach's show...
"We're going to introduce new programming which will be unveiled in the next several months. With the coach's show, the biggest thing is distribution. We're working to make sure if you want to be able to watch the coach's show, you can find it. We're also going to upgrade just the overall look and feel of the show. This new media team that we have in place, they will be not only working for our Web site, but they'll be shooting game-day activities, working with the coaches behind the scenes, shooting the coach's show. We've got the HD equipment and the necessary tools to be able to produce a first-rate quality program."

On who'll be doing the radio broadcasts...
"Scott Howard will be our play-by-play man and Eric (Zeier) will continue to be our color analyst for football broadcasts. The other positions that we have from a sideline perspective, from a pregame show, from some of the ancillary programming that we have with this new hour, we're working closely with UGA to determine who those talents are going to be, but we haven't released that yet."

-- I wanted to wish a happy father's day to all the dads out there and remind you that Mark Richt will be hosting the All-Pro Dad event tomorrow if you can make it.

-- And finally, I made a bit of a big deal over a comment by Rivals' Radi Nabulsi on UGASports.com's messsage board over the weekend. I received emails from both Radi and Anthony Dasher explaining their side of the situation, and in fairness to them, I thought it was important to publicly note that we've cleared things up and there are no hard feelings on my part. I highly doubt any of you really cared, but since I called them out on the blog, I figured I should be as up front with the results.

OK, that's it for now. Have a great weekend!