Tide offseason conditioning program paying off

TUSCALOOSA | Before the University of Alabama football team took the field for its first fall practice Thursday, coach Nick Saban answered most questions about his team’s offseason development by saying something to the effect he didn’t know because head coaches can’t oversee players during the summer.

“Not allowed,” Saban said. “All they do is run. What are we supposed to tell from that?”

Actually, that answer was more telling than it initially appeared. For the last six months, dating back to the conditioning program designed to prepare players for spring practice, never mind the fall, Crimson Tide football returned to some of its roots, with the kind of workouts that players used to say were more difficult than going through military basic training.

Remember Saban’s line about “making pizzas,” referring to how players were working themselves to the point of being ill during the spring? Well, that was just the type of the iceberg, yet a crucial step in preparation for the fall.

“It was tough,” junior center Antoine Caldwell said at SEC Media Days (players have to yet to be made available to reporters at fall camp). “He made you toughen up mentality. We shed some pounds and got tough physically. But we focused on the mental aspect of it.”

He later added: “Just a whole another level.”

The program has included everything from the weight room to agility training, but mostly featured a lot of running — everywhere from the inside facilities to the steps of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Quietly the players have used words like “brutal” to describe what they went through, while at the same time appreciating the rewards.

“You didn't really have a choice, you either finished or you finished,” senior cornerback Simeon Castille said.

“They wouldn't let you quit. There was a lot of running. One of things they want us to learn is that you have to outwork your opponent, so they would simulate a lot of that in training. I definitely think it will pay off.”

Consequently, when the players reported and endured their first fall drills, there was no open talk of pizzas despite stifling heat that drew comparisons to a steam bath.

“We improved the conditioning of our team,” Saban said Friday. “I think about 75 percent of the players passed their conditioning test, and a significant number of those who didn’t were right at the edge. But when I say that, I think everyone needs to understand that a very good job was done in the summer conditioning program. The players have worked very hard. I think we have improved physically, from that standpoint.

“Obviously the goal is to have every player in top physical condition, but we’re pleased. Every player has improved physically in some area.”

The coach went on to elaborate that while some players might have needed to bench press a higher weight, others were concentrating on something like quickly changing directions. Everyone’s program was tailor-made to meet certain requirements, with the “cumulative effect” the overall aim of the offseason.

“An example of this type of thing could be something as simple as we give a test to everyone when they come in, what’s your body fat, muscle mass and hydration,” Saban said. “To have the right combination of those things, through your conditioning regiment and diet, also enhances your chances of being able to sustain your performance, and the circumstances and conditions that we have to work in here.

“Typically, guys who have low body fat have low hydration. If that’s the case, we can identify that before they ever go on the field and fix it.”

A mere glance at the players is all it takes to some of the difference.

Andre Smith is still a 6-foot-5, 340-pound sophomore left tackle, but his weight distribution is vastly different.

Sophomore running back Glenn Coffee went into last season weighing 225 pounds, but is now down to 197.

Senior defensive end Wallace Gilberry is roughly at the same size (6-3, 267), but looks bigger.

Today, when Alabama hosts its Fan Day at Brant-Denny Stadium (practice is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., with gates opening at 1:30 p.m.), fans will see it for themselves, like in junior wide receiver Will Oakley’s shoulders. Every player is physically a little different in some way, which helps propel him, and the team as a while, with the mental toughness part, which Saban has mentioned over and over again since he arrived.

“This is like not something that’s not done in sports,” Saban said. “All these personal characteristics that you try to develop to be successful work on the field too, whether its commitment, hard work, overcome adversity, perseverance, pride in performance, discipline…

“I mean we could talk about any number of things.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.