Strength leaders

[PonyPride]

SMU strength and conditioning coordinator Chuck Faucette has released the top five Mustangs on the team's Strength Index leaders:

Defensive back Chris Godfrey
Defensive end Don Ieremia-Stansbury
Defensive back Alvin Nnabuife
Defensive back Ruben Moodley
Linebacker D.D. Johnson.



The the 8 players from the 2002 roster who bench pressed at least 400 pounds were:

Fullback Derron Brown
Tackle Judson Davis
Tight end/H-back Billy Ford
Tight end John Hampton
Defensive lineman Clay Glockzin
Defensive end Eric Peterson
Defensive end/graduate assistant coach Markus Pratt
Linebacker Vic Viloria



Players who came close to benching 400, and who Faucette said he expects to reach 400 by the next test day this summer are:

Tackle Sterling Harris
Linebacker Jarrian James
Linebacker D.D. Johnson
Tight end Derek Swofford
Defensive end Don Ieremia-Stansbury
Defensive end Melvin Williams

[cowboypony]

I'm at the front of the line in applauding the hire of Phil Bennett and all the positive things he is doing for our program. Also, the article on Faucette is really good and encouraging. However, that list of "400 pounders" will have to be much, much longer in order for us to compete in Division 1 at the level that most of us desire. What is glaringly missing from the list is linemen who can bench press 400 pounds. All linemen should be in the 400 pound range. I would love to see an accurate comparison of other Division 1 programs. Obviously, we must crawl before we walk, etc. etc. We're going in the right direction; but, to me this statistic is why we can't expect miracles and an 11-0 season just yet.

Keep up the good work. Go Ponies!

[Corso]

I'm right there with you - Coach Faucette and his staff are doing a fantastic job.

"However, that list of "400 pounders" will have to be much, much longer in order for us to compete in Division 1 at the level that most of us desire. What is glaringly missing from the list is linemen who can bench press 400 pounds."

Here's where I waver a little in my agreement with you. First of all: yes, we want the whole team to be as strong as possible. However, the list of 400-pound bench press guys that you see released from some schools does not actually list the names of guys who got on the bench and pressed 400. What it lists (without really saying it) is a list of guys who should be able to bench 400. There are numerous schools out there that use a formula to project maximum bench press numbers, based on the number of times a player can bench a lower weight. For instance, bench pressing 225 pounds (the NFL standard for bench press) 10 times might project to a 300-pound bench, while benching the same weight 35 times might project to a 500-pound bench press .... and in both cases, the players didn't get under the larger weights and move the iron.

So yes, we need more guys with Herculean strength. But we might not be as far behind as you might think.

[cowboypony]

Corso,

I hope you're right that we may not be that far behind. Somehow, however, I think we're probably below average when it comes to total team strength in Division 1. No, I don't have statistics. That's just my opinion. Like I said, I'd like to see an "accurate" listing of teams and their '400 pounders." Knowing that such a document doesn't and won't exist, I can only surmise that we don't have enough players in the upper strength category. What I think is glaringly missing is seeing most, if not all, of our interior lineman in the 400 pound category. As ALL football games are won and lost in the trenches, I truly believe we need more on this list to get where we want to go.

Having said all of this, I'm really encouraged by the progress I've seen and read about. Kudos to Coach Bennett and Faucette.

[fbdad]

Before everybody gets hung up on 400 lb bench press, it reminds me of the comments that all linemen should be over 300 lbs to play Div I, consider that there is not one offensive player in the top five. This would concern me more than the 400 lb bench press issue.You can easily load up on a bunch of guys who can bench 400+ but don't expect them to be to agile... First, congrats to the players!!!!who did well.They worked their butts off the past two months. Secondly, the bench press is just one of many factors taken into consideration in this rating. Other items are just as critical in the overall makeup of a true athelete such as 40 time,agility drills,etc..I would have hoped to have seen at least a RB or two in the top five.

[MustangFan]

Congrats to Godfrey, Stansbury, Nnabuife, Moodley and Johnson. I don't care what kind of genetics you have, you don't top the charts without working your tail off, day in and day out. You guys are an inspiration.

fbdad is right (and I think Coach Faucette said so in the article) - benching 400 doesn't make you a great player, nor does a light bench make you a poor player. But I'd still like to see more players putting up numbers like that.

[I AM]

I wanted to add a couple of points from the Chuck Faucette interview (since I heard the man myself).

I personally like tracking bench strength because it's a macho guy kind of thing. But Coach Faucette said that bench strength doesn't always equate with football strength, because in football a player's power starts at the legs/hips and drives through the whole body. But in my book, bench is still a pretty good measure of upper body strength and I think our coaching staff agrees since that excercise is part of their overall Strength Index.

According to Faucette, better indicators of a player's football strength are the squat and power clean.

Coach Faucette has been a strength expert for a long time. There's so much hype out there these days about player's' strength. A good example is using these so-called formulas to determine a players "max" in an excercise. It's all hype... the same way every high school kid loses a few inches and is inevidibly a few 10ths slower than what their high school coach said.

Coach Faucette's take on 400 lb. presses is that "If he didn't see it, it didn't happen."

The Froggies tout some BS aboout half their team being able to bench 400. Faucette said that even in the glory power years at Nebraska, that monster team couldn't honestly make that claim.

Lastly, our team is getting stronger. As Coach Faucette said, last year we only got out-athleted by one team (OSU). I don't think we could have said that in prior years.

[ClassOf81]

Right you are - this team is stronger than in years past, and that trend is only going to continue!

[Lotus]

So the strongest group of guys on the team are the defensive backs?
Come on, linemen. Re-take the crown.

[Iceman]

In case you did not notice, Faucette was in last weeks SI, picture and all. There was a story about the rise of athletes taking supplements. Nice pub for the program. Soory if this was already posted but I did not notice it anywhere.

[giacfsp]

Who was on the cover of that issue? I only have a few hundred lying around my house. I need to read up on the Diesel!

[Iceman]

It was the Final Four cover, dated April 7th.