As legs grew heavy during Georgia State’s inaugural football season, players realized if the Panthers wanted to be a better team, they needed to get stronger and faster.
They went to coach Bill Curry and said we can improve, but we need help.
An upgrade was received: Ben Pollard, with more than 20 years of experience working with college programs, including Alabama, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, was hired to oversee the strength and conditioning for the university’s teams, while working directly with football. Ken Coggins, who had worked with the team, was moved to another position.
“It started with an attitude,” Curry said. “We love and appreciate coach Coggins, who was a great motivational force, but Ben Pollard has stood the test of time in the toughest leagues in America and the guys know that.”
Pollard said he had concerns after arriving on June 20. There weren’t many overweight players, but there were too many out-of-shape players who weren’t strong enough for a Division I program. Pollard spent nine years at Sam Houston State (1989-98), so he wasn’t applying SEC standards to an FCS program. He drew on his eye, experience and the measurements taken of the players.
With six weeks to work -- and the normal offseason lasts eight -- Pollard went to work. More than half the team participated in the sessions, which NCAA rules stipulate can’t last more than eight hours per week for each player.
Pollard focused on improving the team’s conditioning and short-burst explosiveness -- surging forward at the snap, making cuts. Changes were easy to make: a conditioning sled, nicknamed “The Prowler,” was added to help athletes in all sports. Pollard eliminated drills that were focused on weight amounts with a lot of reps and added ones designed to replicate football movements, involving similar weight lifted at shorter, faster reps. He changed techniques. It didn’t take long for the players to see results.
“That’s the thing that motivates most football players; when they see themselves get stronger, when they see themselves get faster,” Pollard said.
Perhaps the most important change was the warm-up conditioning. Mandatory, intense warm-ups were something different.
“It gets us loose and allows us to play lower,” defensive end Christo Bilukidi said. “All of these techniques are helping us.”
Some of the drills were specific to each position. With a few days left before the season opener, there hasn’t been a single season-ending injury and very few tears or sprains. Gilbert, who transferred from Georgia Tech, said he’s never experienced that on any level. He credits Pollard’s instruction and ever-changing drills.
“Coach P knows we aren’t here on weight-lifting scholarship,” lineman Joseph Gilbert said. “We are here to be football players.”
Curry, who is rarely at a loss for conversation, was stumped when asked to pick out a single play during practice that illustrates the physical changes for his team.
“There’s been so many,” he said.
Finally, he saw Bilukidi fire off the line, get past an offensive tackle and put two hands on the quarterback during a drill. Curry called it a different level of quickness.
Even Bilukidi said that’s something he couldn’t have done last year, and he wasn’t able to participate in most of Pollard’s workouts because he was home in Canada.
However, Bilukidi was one of the players who asked for the change. He’s one of the players who bought in.
“Just look at us,” he said. “We’re stronger, we’re faster, we do things with good technique. I’m at 295 and running like I’m at 265 back in junior college.”
Georgia State vs. Clark Atlanta
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday
Where: Georgia Dome
Radio: 88.5FM, 1160AM, 1690AM
