When a university hires a new football coach, the players are not the only ones who have to learn to work with the new coach. A less visible — but nearly as vital — group also has to learn about the new coach and his demands: the strength and conditioning staff.

Such was the case when SMU hired June Jones in January to take over the football program. Jones arrived with his new staff — some of whom had followed him to Dallas from Hawaii, others who had been hired away from other schools — and they had their own ideas about how players should be trained. So while receivers and quarterbacks began to learn the nuances of the Run-and-Shoot offense, and defensive players began to absorb new defensive coordinator Tom Mason’s scheme, strength coach Vic Viloria and his staff visited at length with Jones and his staff to zero in on what exactly the coaches wanted to see developed in their players.

Strength coach Vic Viloria said the best thing he did this offseason was consult with assistant coach Bert Hill (photo by Webmaster).

“In an ideal situation,” Viloria said, “a new coach comes in and says ‘you’re the pro — do what you do.’ That’s about what June said, but all coaches have some ideas about what they want. So I’d say our program is about 95 percent us (the strength and conditioning staff), and five percent Bert Hill.”

Hill is the Mustangs’ new defensive line coach, and a renowned expert in strength training and how it translates to the football field.

“One of the best things I’ve done since they (the new staff) got here was talk to Coach Hill,” Viloria said. “He’s been in the NFL, as a position coach and as a strength coach, and he’s very highly thought of.

“Our program is still based on Olympic lifts. My background isn’t in powerlifting, so I don’t have guys lift with a really wide grip. Coach Hill helped me refine some techniques, because we’re not interested in lifting numbers — we’re interested in ‘football strength.’”

Viloria said that one of the changes he has seen in incoming freshmen over the years is that more and more of them are exposed at a younger age to weight training at a high level, and therefore are arriving in college bigger and stronger than their predecessors.

“Take Quincey Whittington,” Viloria said of the Mustangs’ 5-foot-7, 159-pound freshman slot receiver from Cuero, Texas. “Quincey’s a very good powerlifter. He’s a small guy, but he’s really strong. With his powerlifting background, he lifts with a really wide grip, and that plus the length of his arms means he’s not moving the weight very far, so it’s a lot different from someone with long arms and a narrow grip lifting that much weight. Don’t get me wrong — he’s really strong. He benched 365 pounds. No matter how wide his hands are and how long his arms are, he’s still lifting it. There’s no way to get around that. But there are different kinds of ‘strong,’ that’s all.”

“Put your arms out wide, like you’re benching with a wide grip. Have you ever seen someone block like that? Ever see someone make a tackle like that? Of course not — people will run right through that. The way we teach lifts — narrow grip, elbows in — that’s the same way you use your hands when you’re blocking. That’s the way it should be done.”

Viloria said that at Jones’ request, he has modified his running program from what was done before.

“(Jones) wants us to develop more agility,” Viloria said. “Look at the guys he recruited — a lot of short, quick guys. They’re fast, and we can work at ‘speed improvement drills,’ but they’re quick, shifty guys, who can move side to side, too.”

Viloria said several veteran players have shown improvement unlike anything that had shown prior to Jones’ arrival. Some of the extra work can be attributed to the hype surrounding Jones’ decision to come to SMU, but a lot of the changes in attitude came from within the players, too.

“Serge Elizee is probably the No. 1 guy,” Viloria said when asked who had shown the most improvement since last season. “His endurance has increased because he has really dedicated himself to becoming a better player. His weakness before was not in the weight room — it was his endurance. But he’s worked really hard to get that better.”

“DeMyron Martin and Jessie Henderson are another couple of guys who have really been working hard. DeMyron is about the same weight as he was last year (he’s listed at 230 pounds), but he’s stronger than he’s ever been, and his body fat is lower than ever before. Jessie is a lot stronger. The biggest thing with Jessie is ‘can he stay injury-free?’ He’s a guy who has had to make a lot of sacrifices to stay healthy.”

Another player Viloria praised for his work in the weight room doesn’t necessarily put up eye-popping numbers, but Viloria said the progress he has made has been significant: quarterback Justin Willis.

“Justin power-cleans 264 pounds now, and that’s a lot more than he used to,” Viloria said. “He has become a real leader in the weight room, really consistent.

“When he first got here, he was about 210 pounds. Now he’s 195 — he’s even got abs now. He decided not to get heavy, but he has increased his strength and maintained his quickness.”

Viloria is genuinely impressed by the work put in by some of the upperclassmen, but he also is eager to see what he can do with some of the team’s young players, who arrived at SMU already proficient in strength training.

“Taylor Thompson is a freak. B.J. Lee is strong as hell. Cole Beasley has tremendous leg strength,” Viloria said. “There are some guys coming here now who have put in a lot of work at a young age. Guys like that have a chance to do some great things in our strength program, and that program is designed to carry over to the field.

“Look at (linebacker) Pete Fleps. Pete’s a guy who already had been lifting before, but he had been taught some different ways to lift. He always had the physical potential, but we wanted him to learn our way of lifting. If it’s not done our way, we don’t add any weight, because we never will sacrifice lifting technique for weight. Once he got past that and started lifting the right way, his numbers went through the roof. Now he’s one of the strongest guys on the team.”

The Ponies tested recently in a number of lifts, sprints and jumps. What follows is the top 10 in each. (Editor’s note: This isn’t the most scientific list, since not all players tested … but it still makes for some interesting conversation and offers an insight into who has been working hard.)

Evan Huahulu (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

Torlan Pittman (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

BENCH PRESS

1 (tie) Evan Huahulu: 455 pounds

1 (tie) Torlan Pittman: 455

3 Chase Smith: 440

4 Patrick Handy: 430

5 Will Bonilla: 425

6 Kelly Turner: 415

7 (tie) Pete Fleps: 405

7 (tie) Andrew Robiskie: 405

7 (tie) Justin Smart: 405

7 (tie) Taylor Thompson: 405

Pete Fleps (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

BENCH PRESS REPS (225 POUNDS)

1 Pete Fleps: 25 repetitions

2 (tie) Will Bonilla: 24

2 (tie) Justin Smart: 24

4 Tommy Poynter: 23

5 (tie) Patrick Handy: 22

5 (tie) Kelly Turner: 22

7 (tie) Vincent Chase: 21

7 (tie) Torlan Pittman: 21

7 (tie) Andrew Robiskie: 21

10 (tie) Serge Elizee: 20

10 (tie) Sean Lobo: 21

Serge Elizee (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

SQUAT

1 Serge Elizee: 605 pounds

2 Chase Smith: 600

3 (tie) Jason Jackson: 561

3 (tie) John Nwisienyi: 561

5 Patrick Handy: 529

6 (tie) Torlan Pittman: 528

6 (tie) Kelly Turner: 528

8 Anthony Sowe: 506

9 Cole Beasley: 501

10 Adam Visosky: 500

Vincent Chase (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

Pete Fleps (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

POWER CLEAN

1 (tie) Vincent Chase: 341 pounds

1 (tie) Pete Fleps: 341

3 (tie) Chase Kennemer: 330

3 (tie) Kelly Turner: 330

3 (tie) Bryce Tennison: 330

6 (tie) Serge Elizee: 308

6 (tie) Julian Herron: 308

6 (tie) Jason Jackson: 308

6 (tie) DeMyron Martin: 308

6 (tie) Justin Smart: 308

6 (tie) Chase Smith: 308

6 (tie) Anthony Sowe: 308

B.J. Lee (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

40-YARD DASH

1 B.J. Lee: 4.37 seconds

2 Julian Herron: 4.40

3 Taylor Thompson: 4.46

4 Shaun Moore: 4.50

5 Chris Banjo: 4.52

6 Bryce Lunday: 4.55

7 (tie) Cole Loftin: 4.58

7 (tie) Keith Robinson: 4.58

9 (tie) Cole Beasley: 4.59

9 (tie) DeMyron Martin: 4.59

Shaun Moore (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

VERTICAL JUMP

1 Shaun Moore: 41 inches

2 (tie) Bryce Lunday: 38

2 (tie) Julian Herron: 38

4 B.J. Lee: 37.5

5 Robert Parker: 36

6 Cole Beasley: 35.5

7 Rock Dennis: 34.5

8 (tie) Chris Banjo: 33.5

8 (tie) Patrick Fleming: 33.5

10 (tie) Chris Castro: 32.5

10 (tie) E.J. Drewery: 32.5

Julian Herron (photo by SMU Athletic Dept).

BROAD JUMP

1 Julian Herron: 11’0”

2 Shaun Moore: 10’9”

3 Emmanuel Sanders: 10’8”

4 Cole Beasley: 10’5”

5 (tie) Pete Fleps: 10’0”

5 (tie) Bryce Lunday: 10’0”

7 (tie) DeMyron Martin: 9’11”

7 (tie) Youri Yenga: 9’11”

9 Victor Jones: 9’8”

10 (tie) Derrius Bell: 9’7”

10 (tie) Bryan McCann: