Published: July 17, 2008 11:38 pm         

Joseph says WVU gridders headed in the right direction

MORGANTOWN — Mike Joseph, director of strength and conditioning, thinks West Virginia’s football players are at the point where they should be with just a week of summer workouts remaining.

“They have been working really hard, and I believe the program is heading in the right direction,” he said Thursday. “They feel better, stronger, faster and quicker.”

Players who have been interviewed by the media have said Joseph, who assumed his position Feb. 1, isn’t as tough as Mike Barwis, his predecessor, but that he’s getting at least the same results with a different approach.

Asked about that, the Fairmont native commented:

“I think (in effect) they’re saying that I’m not yelling in their faces. I get out there very intense and they know I get upset when they’re not doing what they should be doing. But I think overall they understand that as long as they work as hard as they need to, with intensity and effort, they get rewarded with the rest and recovery time they need to go out here and work again.

“So maybe I’m getting the point across differently, the way I structure the workouts in the weight room and organize the schedule in such a way that they do have some down time. They work at a high rate and intensity within the four-hour time frame, and they’ve gotten good results from that.”

Joseph, who had been at Notre Dame before returning to WVU, said he’s pleased with the way the Mountaineers have responded to what officially is a voluntary task. They have been doing that annually, knowing it helps them earn playing time once the season starts.

He recalled that when he first arrived they faced a great adjustment to what Barwis had done the past several years. So it took a few weeks for them to adjust to how Joseph wanted to run the strength and conditioning unit.

“Then throughout spring ball they got a lot of results,” he said. “They felt better, and they became more comfortable. And they responded well to the different format they have been following all summer.”

The young taskmaster thinks the Mountaineers are doing everything they need to do in running, lifting weights, etc., to put themselves “in a very good position to be a very strong, well-conditioned team” in the fall.

Joseph is especially pleased that there has been steady improvement in speed, both individually and as a team.

He mentioned three exceptional times for the 40-yard dash. Jock Sanders ran that distance in 4.32 seconds, Noel Devine in 4.30 and Bradley Starks in 4.33. All are young backs.

“I think overall the team speed is very good,” Joseph said. “They spend a lot of time on mechanics and a lot of time on true speed work. They also do a lot of lifting and other things designed to increase speed on the field.

“I think the D-linemen and linebackers all are quicker and can move better and with more flexibility. So I think overall the program has fared quite well throughout the summers.”

The players will have a week off to spend with family and friends before fall camp opens Aug. 1.