Since we are still more than a month away from football season it is impossible to debate the results of games. The how's and why's of what happened on the field are not known to us yet, so we fans have to find something else to debate. With the completion of strength testing for a large number of the Seminole football team a whole new debate has sprung up, that being Jon Jost vs. Dave Van Halanger. Jost is now entering his second football season as the strength and conditioning coach for FSU after replacing Coach Van following the 2000 season.

First, any comparison of the two has to take into consideration the different testing methods employed by the coaches. While both employ a lot of the same tests they go about achieving the results in a different fashion. The biggest difference can be seen in the bench press. Coach Jost follows competition standards for the bench. In the lift the back must remain flat on the bench at all times and the lifter must pause at the bottom of the lift. These

two seemingly small things can make a tremendous difference. Keeping the back flat on the bench takes the legs and back out of the lift, forcing the lifter

to use his chest and arms to lift the weight. The pause at the bottom of the lift takes away any advantage gained by bouncing the weight off of the chest. Jost's testing procedure is going to result in lower bench press numbers than Van Halanger's.

Well, you might ask, which process is correct? Honestly, to me it doesn't matter which method is employed. The most important thing is that the standards used for testing remain consistent. Why do all teams test players in certain categories? Believe it or not, it isn't done to impress fans or to intimidate opponents, it is done so the coaches can gauge improvement from one period of time to another. When comparing the bench press numbers of the FSU team

it isn't fair to judge Montrae Holland's 2000 bench press to his 2002 lift. Judge the numbers on how each individual performed from summer of 2001 to summer of

2002. The main thing to look for is if players are improving, and they are.

Another difference between the current testing and the past is the 40-yard dash. For the first time FSU implemented electronic timing while the running took

place on grass rather than the Mike Long track. I guess Bill Buchalter of the Orlando Sentinel has been right all of these years when he says 40 times for high school players are complete garbage. Those who have spent years quoting the 40 times of their favorite college players would probably be quite surprised to learn that the 40-yard times we have been hearing for years just weren't accurate. If one were to believe all of the 40-yard times we have heard over the years for some of the fastest players, we would also have to believe that the fastest 100-meter runners in the world couldn't hang with our

fastest college football players over 40 yards. Line up Maurice Green and your favorite football player for a 40-yard dash and I'll take Green every time. And if electronically timed I bet he doesn't break 4.2 seconds. Once again, pay less attention to the times and more attention to the improvement a player makes

over the course of his career.

If you really want a result to look at and analyze I'll tell you a number that impressed me. That number is 33 - 33 is the number of FSU players who cleaned

over 275. People can identify with the bench press because it is always a number focused on and an exercise that a lot of people do when working out on their own. People simply do not power clean in the course of their everyday lifting. I think it is a pretty good indicator for football, though. Jost has put an emphasis on lower-body work and on explosiveness and this is a good indicator of the success he is achieving in this area, as the clean is a tremendous measure of hip explosion.

Dave Van Halanger is a tremendous coach, a man who has my utmost respect as well as that of his peers nationally. His methods have produced unquestionable

results over his career. He will undoubtedly improve the strength and conditioning of the University of Georgia football team. Jon Jost doesn't have the experience of Coach Van. But he does have a tremendous pedigree, having worked under the legendary strength and conditioning coach Boyd Epley at the University of Nebraska. The coach may be different, the methods of training may be different, and the results may appear different but rest assured, the job of conditioning football players at FSU is in excellent hands.

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