Tech players prepare for spring with grueling workouts

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson’s second spring of cruel and unusual punishment began Monday afternoon with what he calls “coaches’ runs.”

In the final two weeks of the Jackets’ strength and conditioning workouts before spring practice begins March 23, the team will have six workouts under Johnson’s supervision. The roughly 90-minute sessions unfold two painful minutes at a time, the length of each will-sapping drill.

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Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com

Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson (background) checks the time it take his players to get out of the hudddle and go their next station during conditioning drills on the practice field Monday.

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“I feel like it truly makes you mentally tough,” linebacker Kyle Jackson said. “This is honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my football career.”

Under the coaching staff’s watch, the team performs two circuits of a seven-station loop. Players sprint from one station to the next. When they’re waiting in line, they can’t rest their hands on their knees or bend over, and must be ready when it’s their turn. The penalty is either up-downs — players sprint in place, then at the coach’s call drop to the ground and jump back up — or worse. If the effort or performance of one group at any station is unsatisfactory, everyone repeats.

Jackson and offensive tackle Austin Barrick are your tour guides, grading each station on a 1-10 scale of misery.

3-2-1

Three cones are set up about four yards apart, each of them numbered, 1, 2 or 3. The players start at the middle cone and run to a cone according to the number the coach calls out, touch it and keep shuttling between cones for several seconds. With the cones not numbered in order, players have to stay mentally focused.

• Grade: 6.0

• Jackson: “That station’s definitely more mentally challenging than physically challenging. It’s one of those things where, if you get tired, Coach [Brian Jean-Mary] likes to switch up the numbers so you really have to pay attention initially.”

Seat roll

Players start on the ground on their hands and knees with their backs arched. As instructed by the coach, they roll over left or right, and re-assume the starting position. After four or five rolls, they drop to their stomachs and then sprint to a towel that they pick up about five yards away.

• Grade: 7.0

• Barrick: “I’d say the hardest thing there is Coach [Mike] Sewak yelling at us. He gets into it. … All the twisting, you get a little dizzy.”

Star drill

The player is in a box about five yards across and is rapidly directed to run to different corners, with an up-down or two thrown in. Each player might be in the drill for about 12 seconds, then gets back in line.

• Grade: 7.5

• Jackson: “You have to make sure you turn to run because if you get to the point where you just start chopping [your feet], they’re going to keep you in that drill forever.”

Bag drill

Players sprint to a series of bags on the ground placed about four yards apart, step over them and then sprint to the finish line. Then, they sprint back, step over the bags sideways, run forward to a cone and make a 45-degree turn to the end of the drill. The last repetition is weaving backwards and forwards through the bags.

• Grade: 8.0

• Jackson: “You have to make a cut at 45 degrees and then sprint through. So that’s a little bit of extra juice that you’ve got to use. It wears down on you quick.”

Four-way run

The players sprint out to a cone, do an up-down, backpedal and then go left and right as the coach directs, usually once or twice in each direction.

• Grade: 8.0

• Barrick: “You actually have to run a lot more than you think. Coach Buzz [Preston] is pretty tough on us. … He’ll send you halfway across the world if you’re not running hard.”

Pro agility drill

Players start in a three-point stance. Depending on which direction the coach commands, they sprint five yards left or right, touch the ground, then go 10 yards in the other direction, touch the ground and run back five yards to the starting point.

• Grade: 9.0

• Barrick: “It doesn’t touch towel drill but it’s definitely the second-hardest because it’s so rapid-fire and you’ve got to focus on which way you’re going. And if you miss the line by half an inch, Coach [Jeff] Monken and Coach [Brian] Bohannon are going to be like a pack of wild dogs.”

Towel drill

Four towels are placed in a square about five yards apart. The players start at one square, place their hand on the towel and, with all their weight on one hand, circle the towel, get up, sprint to the next and do likewise at each corner of the square.

• Grade: 10.0

• Barrick: “By far the hardest, especially for [offensive] linemen. You’re supporting your body weight with one arm and you’ve got to bend down and a couple of us have got some bellies. We’ve got to bend over that and spin around. Your legs burn, your back gets tired from bending over. It’s really tiring.”