Our strength staff has never run Mat Drills. Our coaching staff is responsible for them. Our strength staff is there and they work our injured players, but the regular staff runs the drills. Last year, Jost wanted to work the OL's in the Tully Weight Room rather than having them go through Mats (a HUGE mistake, IMHO), but that was an exception rather than the rule. There's no way Trickett would allow that this year.
Mats have never been the same since Devaughn's death (I went through them that awful day) and understandably so. First of all, the format was changed slightly -- instead of 3 stations (one of which was broken into 3 substations) of 21 minutes apiece with no breaks and no water allowed, now we have those same stations at 18 minutes apiece with three minute water breaks between them.
But that is not the biggest difference. You see, before the tragedy, if one player in a group going through a drill made a misstep or somehow gave the appearance of not giving everything he had during that particular rep, the whole group was immediately sent back to the front of the line to repeat the drill. They would finish the drill only to hear "send 'em back!" and then have to sprint back around the drill to the front of the line, starting immediately. This could happen indefinitely. I think the most my group ever got sent back was around 5 times in a row (thanks to a very young BJ Dean; funny note: Peter Warrick got my group sent back 2 or 3 times one day), but some groups got sent back even more. Some days, the coaching staff would pick a particular person or group to pick on and send back with a hair-trigger (at least it seemed that way), and it would be very difficult for that group that day.
Getting sent back repeatedly was what everyone dreaded going into the old-school mats, but it was also a major factor in developing toughness and leadership. The guys who were getting through okay would pretty much carry the guys who were struggling back to the front of the line if they were sent back, and the players always had one another's back to help each other through. Unfortunately, this is probably what led to DD's death -- his group had been sent back a few times, he was struggling, and he kept on going with the encouragement of his teammates. He wasn't the first one to have collapsed that year by any stretch, but he never got up.
Now, a group can only be sent back twice, and when they're sent back, they go to the back of the line rather than the front. I went to mats last year a couple times and was quite frankly disappointed in the intensity I saw. There were a couple players I saw in particular that would never have gotten away with their intensity level a few years ago.
This is all understandable, and I NEVER want anything like what happened to DD to ever happen to any player again, but it is different and most certainly impacts our toughness and leadership. The effect the tragedy had on our coaches was also substantial. A couple of them were never the same in my estimation. I'll never forget the looks on their faces that day. I can't imagine that such a tragedy wouldn't affect the way they think about the whole thing for the rest of their careers; it certainly affected the rest of us players.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:32 PM by nolewr
Posted on 1/15 8:30 PM | IP: Logged
Great insider stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Posted on 1/17 2:28 PM | IP: Logged
Great post Nolewr. I've wondered about the Mat Drills since DD's passing myself. Do you know if any of those changes were mandated in the court proceedings when his family sued the university that would keep the athletic dept. from allowing any changes from being made back to the way it was? I agree though that we do need to get back to a much "tougher and meaner" attitude but would not want to put the players health in jeopardy to do it.
Posted on 1/15 11:03 PM | IP: Logged
Originally posted by nolemrs54: Great post Nolewr. I've wondered about the Mat Drills since DD's passing myself. Do you know if any of those changes were mandated in the court proceedings when his family sued the university that would keep the athletic dept. from allowing any changes from being made back to the way it was? I agree though that we do need to get back to a much "tougher and meaner" attitude but would not want to put the players health in jeopardy to do it.
I don't know for sure. I do know that some of the changes (such as allowing water) were pretty much forced (though the coaching staff most certainly was't going to protest anything at that point), but I don't know from where.
This post was edited on 1/15 11:51 PM by nolewr
Posted on 1/15 11:27 PM | IP: Logged
Thanks for the responses. It's a tough situation all the way around -- I can't imagine how the coaches must've felt.
At the same time, if there's any way that we can come up with another form of bonding/team building that is forged through hard work (instead of some "ropes course"), I think it would help the program get back to where it needs to be.
I gather from the responses of former players that the drills were more about mental toughness and bonding than the atual physical rigor.
Posted on 1/15 11:44 PM | IP: Logged
Thanks for the perspective and for the specifics on the changes. I had heard the drills were "watered down" some but did know exactly how. The water breaks seem reasonable and the reduction of time at stations by nearly 15% probably makes a big difference. I have to agree that the old manner of send backs would be a good thing to reinstate maybe with the training staff having more authority to intervene if they think an individual needs to be pulled from a drill. The only time I have ever passed out cold from exhaustion/fatigue in my life was during mats in a multiple send back scenario and thankfully an amonia tab up the nostril cured that condition pretty fast.
Posted on 1/17 1:04 PM | IP: Logged
Ah yes, if they had it out for someone in your segment but not in your specific group it could make for an easy day. I remember one day only going once on the mats in 21 minutes because of other groups getting sent back. I also remember getting sent back a few times in a row and how much that sucked.
Posted on 1/17 1:30 PM | IP: Logged
these former players that post are freaking money! Get some more on here!
Posted on 1/17 1:32 PM | IP: Logged
Thanks for the insight.
Posted on 1/17 1:42 PM | IP: Logged
nolewr, keep posting!
And yeah, we have to respect that incident and dear Lord hold him close but we cant act like that is what happens. There is also phenomenal equipment now that is a sticker with a TINY transmitter on it that sends readouts that would blow your mind to a computer off field. Ive though ever since i read that if i was a booster and had money i would buy the team that. ANYWAYS, we need to push harder, have some guys politely ask Miami, Florida, UGA to see how hard they push their players. I just think we are allowing a fortunately RARE occurence to hinder our program.
And I APOLOGIZE if any of that came off wrong, i was floored when that update came on the wire, wont soon forget it and i was young.
Posted on 1/15 8:42 PM | IP: Logged
The reduction in "thunbs down" is a HUGE change from the "good old days". You learned very quickly to get yourself in a good group. There was one OL that we learned to avoid. Great guy.. .just not great at mat drills.
I learned to love the intensity. When you dove out on that mat, with you hands hitting last, you never felt anything. If you could make it through without a single repeat... it was a big day.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:39 PM by Octoberfest
Posted on 1/15 8:38 PM | IP: Logged
Originally posted by Octoberfest: The reduction in "thunbs down" is a HUGE change from the "good old days". You learned very quickly to get yourself in a good group. There was one OL that we learned to avoid. Great guy.. .just not great at mat drills.
I learned to love the intensity. When you dove out on that mat, with you hands hitting last, you never felt anything. If you could make it through without a single repeat... it was a big day.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:39 PM by Octoberfest
Totally agree. I actually miss mats in a sort of masochistic way -- there's a sort of victory that comes with doing well. I'll always be as proud that I made it through mats as anything else in my athletic career, to be honest. There is a sort of mental lightbulb that goes on in one's freshman year mats when one thinks it's impossible to go on. By refusing to quit and just pushing, there's a sort of "zone" of invincibility that comes after the body can't go any further but the mind just keeps pushing. I'll never forget it, and that realization will apply to everything I ever do.
To be totally honest, I do think we should reinstate the unlimited "thumbs down" policy and have everyone go back to the front of the line like before. I will never forget DD's death and think we should be careful, but we've got to fight like we used to. I think the new blood on the staff will help a lot with that -- the new coaches won't be as hesitant to push guys to their breaking point because of bad memories.
As far as the water breaks, I think we should keep them -- that should be enough to keep everyone safe. We should just work harder between them.
This post was edited on 1/15 9:08 PM by nolewr
Posted on 1/15 8:58 PM | IP: Logged
To be totally honest, I do think we should reinstate the unlimited "thumbs down" policy and have everyone go back to the front of the line like before. I will never forget DD's death and think we should be careful, but we've got to fight like we used to. I think the new blood on the staff will help a lot with that -- the new coaches won't be as hesitant to push guys to their breaking point because of bad memories.
As far as the water breaks, I think we should keep them -- that should be enough to keep everyone safe. We should just work harder between them. This post was edited on 1/15 9:08 PM by nolewr
Excellent Post! Agree 100%
Posted on 1/20 11:52 AM | IP: Logged
Originally posted by nolewr:
Originally posted by Octoberfest: The reduction in "thunbs down" is a HUGE change from the "good old days". You learned very quickly to get yourself in a good group. There was one OL that we learned to avoid. Great guy.. .just not great at mat drills.
I learned to love the intensity. When you dove out on that mat, with you hands hitting last, you never felt anything. If you could make it through without a single repeat... it was a big day.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:39 PM by Octoberfest
Totally agree. I actually miss mats in a sort of masochistic way -- there's a sort of victory that comes with doing well. I'll always be as proud that I made it through mats as anything else in my athletic career, to be honest. There is a sort of mental lightbulb that goes on in one's freshman year mats when one thinks it's impossible to go on. By refusing to quit and just pushing, there's a sort of "zone" of invincibility that comes after the body can't go any further but the mind just keeps pushing. I'll never forget it, and that realization will apply to everything I ever do.
To be totally honest, I do think we should reinstate the unlimited "thumbs down" policy and have everyone go back to the front of the line like before. I will never forget DD's death and think we should be careful, but we've got to fight like we used to. I think the new blood on the staff will help a lot with that -- the new coaches won't be as hesitant to push guys to their breaking point because of bad memories.
As far as the water breaks, I think we should keep them -- that should be enough to keep everyone safe. We should just work harder between them.
This post was edited on 1/15 9:08 PM by nolewr
Wr, great posts on this stuff, thanks. Ive been thinking some of the same stuff for years and noticed quite a drop off in our teams toughness and agressiveness. There has to be some happy medium to go back to and create what were missing without oveddoing it.
Posted on 1/15 10:24 PM | IP: Logged
terrific insight in this thread.
Thanks for posting the information. I have often wondered if DD's passing had the effect it seemed to.
Posted on 1/15 10:43 PM | IP: Logged
yeah, i think if kids just get reminded to notice serious side effects, there are easy ways to test VERY QUICKLY for dehydration and temperature spikes as well (sorry if im drilling the medical aspect)
Posted on 1/15 10:48 PM | IP: Logged
great thread guys, thanks.
Posted on 1/15 10:53 PM | IP: Logged
Originally posted by nolewr: Our strength staff has never run Mat Drills. Our coaching staff is responsible for them. Our strength staff is there and they work our injured players, but the regular staff runs the drills. Last year, Jost wanted to work the OL's in the Tully Weight Room rather than having them go through Mats (a HUGE mistake, IMHO), but that was an exception rather than the rule. There's no way Trickett would allow that this year.
Mats have never been the same since Devaughn's death (I went through them that awful day) and understandably so. First of all, the format was changed slightly -- instead of 3 stations (one of which was broken into 3 substations) of 21 minutes apiece with no breaks and no water allowed, now we have those same stations at 18 minutes apiece with three minute water breaks between them.
But that is not the biggest difference. You see, before the tragedy, if one player in a group going through a drill made a misstep or somehow gave the appearance of not giving everything he had during that particular rep, the whole group was immediately sent back to the front of the line to repeat the drill. They would finish the drill only to hear "send 'em back!" and then have to sprint back around the drill to the front of the line, starting immediately. This could happen indefinitely. I think the most my group ever got sent back was around 5 times in a row (thanks to a very young BJ Dean; funny note: Peter Warrick got my group sent back 2 or 3 times one day), but some groups got sent back even more. Some days, the coaching staff would pick a particular person or group to pick on and send back with a hair-trigger (at least it seemed that way), and it would be very difficult for that group that day.
Getting sent back repeatedly was what everyone dreaded going into the old-school mats, but it was also a major factor in developing toughness and leadership. The guys who were getting through okay would pretty much carry the guys who were struggling back to the front of the line if they were sent back, and the players always had one another's back to help each other through. Unfortunately, this is probably what led to DD's death -- his group had been sent back a few times, he was struggling, and he kept on going with the encouragement of his teammates. He wasn't the first one to have collapsed that year by any stretch, but he never got up.
Now, a group can only be sent back twice, and when they're sent back, they go to the back of the line rather than the front. I went to mats last year a couple times and was quite frankly disappointed in the intensity I saw. There were a couple players I saw in particular that would never have gotten away with their intensity level a few years ago.
This is all understandable, and I NEVER want anything like what happened to DD to ever happen to any player again, but it is different and most certainly impacts our toughness and leadership. The effect the tragedy had on our coaches was also substantial. A couple of them were never the same in my estimation. I'll never forget the looks on their faces that day. I can't imagine that such a tragedy wouldn't affect the way they think about the whole thing for the rest of their careers; it certainly affected the rest of us players.
This post was edited on 1/15 8:32 PM by nolewr
Thanks for posting that information; it was very insightful. Amongst the myriad reasons for the decline of our program, I always felt that the difference of the mat drills was a big factor (understandably, changes needed to be made) as well as the effect of the passing of DD on the psyche of the players and coaches.
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