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Groundwork for future success laid during offseason

March 16, 2000
By Jimmy Robertson

While most fans get caught up with basketball during this time of the year, or with the beginning of spring sports such as baseball, softball, track and lacrosse, most fail to realize the importance of the work being done in a room at the bottom of Tech's Merryman Center.

But that work sets the foundation for the upcoming season. And while the construction on the stadium is set to begin shortly, the construction of next season's football team already has begun. Mike Gentry, Tech's assistant AD for athletic performance, and his staff have been handling Tech's offseason workouts since the end of the Sugar Bowl. Gentry considers the time between the bowl game and spring practice as the "first quarter," and if the recent max testing results are any indication, the Hokies took the early lead.

In all, 64 Hokies - more than half - earned honors in Gentry's strict, regimented program. That number includes 13 Super Iron Hokies and 10 Iron Hokies, the top two levels in the program.

Complacency after such a successful season? Not here.

"If anything, it's gone the other way," Gentry said. "There's been a sense of competition to earn positions. Now it's time for some kids to step up. I feel that we've had good offseason workouts."

Tech players also broke 21 position records, including four by tight end Browning Wynn. The rising junior set tight end records in the back squat (585 pounds), power clean (356), push jerk (361) and the 40 (4.59). Wynn also holds the vertical jump record for a tight end (36.5 inches).

"He always surprises me," Gentry said. "The kids is a winner. He somehow finds a way to get it done. In the Ironman competition, he's always there. He's just a winner." Wynn also became the first Elite athlete under Gentry. To borrow a clichÚ, Tech's strength and conditioning coach is raising the bar for the football team.

To become an Elite athlete, one must reach the goals on a chart designed by Gentry and his staff. This chart takes into account the 40 time, the 10-yard sprint, the 20-yard shuttle run in addition to the strength categories and it takes a tremendous amount of hard work to become an Elite athlete.

Gentry and his staff take this testing chart very seriously. In fact, this year marked the first time they've tested in the 10-yard spring and they've only been testing in the 20-yard shuttle run the past few years. But after a clinic at Nebraska, they recognized the importance of both tests.

The 10-yard sprint tests a player's ability to get off the line of scrimmage - or his "get-off" - and the result of that test enables Tech's coaching staff to determine where a player plays best. If he gets off the line quickly, maybe he needs to play along the defensive line.

The 20-yard shuttle run determines a player's ability to redirect - or his ability to turn and change directions quickly. Corey Moore, Tech's All-American defensive end last season, was such a great player partly because of his get-off and his ability to redirect.

"At Nebraska, their staff believed that the things which correlate to the most success on the field are the 10-yard sprint, the 20-yard shuttle run, the vertical jump and the 40 time," said Gentry, adding that the athletics department has purchased an electronic timer to time the 10-yard sprint, thus ensuring accuracy. "Football's a game of speed and power and we want to do a good job of evaluating our players. We want to give them the opportunity to work at these things and improve on them.

"There's lot of ways to show improvement. [With this Elite chart], we want to recognize the elite in terms of athleticism as well as in the strength components. We feel that this is a total system of evaluation."

Two other Tech players nearly earned Elite honors - fullback Jarrett Ferguson and quarterback Michael Vick. In fact, Ferguson, who broke three records for a fullback (squat - 620; push jerk - 370; and vertical - 38.5), still has a chance because he hasn't been tested yet in the 40 and the 10-yard sprint. He missed those tests with a slight hamstring strain. Gentry only re-tests in case of injury.

As for Vick, he broke the quarterback record for the back squat (515) and the 40 (4.25). He needed only to do a little better on the flex test (which tests flexibility) to earn Elite honors.

"It's like we told him," Gentry said. "We don't get to play games over. If we re-tested him, he'd make it. But we only retest in case of injury."

Other fine performances in recent testing came from rover Cory Bird, backer Ben Taylor, whip Nick Sorensen and cornerback Larry Austin.

Bird broke three records for a rover and became the first player to earn Super Iron honors for the fifth time. Bird broke the record in the squat (550), power clean (336), and bench press (390).

"He may be the most outstanding strength and conditioning athlete we've ever had here," Gentry said.

Taylor broke the power clean (326) and 40 time (4.48) records for a backer, while Sorensen set new whip records for power clean (300) and push jerk (336). Tee Butler also set whip records for bench press (370) and squat (550).

And Austin set two records for a cornerback. His blistered the 40 in 4.26 seconds, just one one-hundredth of a second behind Vick, and he recorded a 42 1/2-inch vertical jump. That vertical jump ranks second on Tech's all-time list behind Pierson Prioleau's 43 1/2-inch mark and his 40 time ranks third all-time.

Gentry also pointed at how well the quarterbacks tested. In addition to Vick's marks, Dave Meyer earned Super Iron Hokie honors. Meyer benched 320, squatted 450 and ran a 4.5 40.

"I think that's important," Gentry said of the quarterbacks testing well. "They're in a position that requires leadership, so it's good to see them excel in the strength and conditioning program as well as on the field."

Also, Matt Lehr and Jake Grove led the way on the offensive line. Lehr benched 435 (a record for a guard), squatted 640, power cleaned 331 and push jerked 361 - all excellent marks. Grove set the record for a center in the power clean with a 376-pound lift and he also benched 410, squatted 575 and recorded an offensive linemen-leading 35-inch vertical.

Finally, several of the freshmen who redshirted this past season performed well. Marvin Urquhart, a 266-pound fullback, earned Super Iron Hokie honors after benching 365, squatting 550, recording a 304-pound power clean and a 346-pound push jerk. And Nathaniel Adibi, Chris Buie and Ernest Wilford all earned Iron honors.

Adibi benched 380 and squatted 530 in addition to running a 4.48 in the 40. Buie benched 390, squatted 530, recorded a 341-pound push jerk and jumped 35 1/2 inches in the vertical. And Wilford benched 310, squatted 450, recorded a 290-pound push jerk and a 260-pound power clean while running a 4.53.

"Those guys have been impressive," Gentry said. "As a group [the freshmen who redshirted], it's very good."

In all, the foundation seems to be set. And once spring practice begins, the 2000 version of the Hokies will begin to take shape.

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Jimmy Robertson is the editor of the Hokie Huddler at Virginia Tech. The Hokie Huddler is the athletics department newspaper that is printed 33 times a year - weekly during football and basketball seasons and bi-monthly during the spring.

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