Staying strong Before a team can submerge itself in the countless formations and nuances of every play in the tome that is the playbook, or learn to read their opponent's next move before it happens, there must be a foundation of strength and speed to build upon.
Meet Evan Marcus, Virginia's first-year head strength coach. Like head coach Al Groh, Marcus brings NFL experience to this Virginia team. After five short stints in the collegiate ranks in the 90's, Marcus spent three seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach for the New Orleans Saints before joining Groh's staff ten months ago.
Marcus' mantra is team unity. Every healthy player performs the same exercises, regardless of size or position -- that includes punters and kickers.
"They all need to be stronger and more explosive," Marcus said. "We're all in this together."
During quarterback Matt Schaub's recovery from a season-opening shoulder injury, he first worked with the medical staff before combining trainers' exercises with specialized routines determined by Marcus -- all the while doing his lower body work, just like the rest of the team.
While united on the goal of gaining strength and agility, certain Cavaliers stand out above the rest. Marcus rated senior linebacker Raymond Mann as the single strongest player on the team. Freshman linebacker Kai Parham took the title of runner-up, despite a back injury in 2002 that sidelined him from hitting the weights for a long period of time.
Social assumptions pertaining to overall strength are intertwined with an obsession over the bench press. But don't confuse Evan Marcus with Emilio Estevez's How much ya bench? SNL character. He names the two most important football exercises overlooked by most people as the squat and power clean. Sophomore linebacker Alex Hall maintains the dominance of his position in the McCue Center weight room with squats reaching 575 lbs, while Mann cleans up to 352 lbs.
--by Bayless Parsley
Players recieve help hitting the books
The members of the Virginia football team that faced Florida State last Saturday are aided immensely by a diligent academic support staff led by Director of Academic Affairs Kathryn Jarvis. Jarvis offers team members advice on issues such as course selection, time management and summer school. The result is consistent graduation rates well above the national college football average.
Jarvis makes the team aware of their practice schedule, enabling them to fit their courses around it. Despite the season taking place in the fall, the team has to choose courses with regard to additional winter and spring training sessions. With afternoon practices this season, players must schedule their courses before 2:00 p.m. daily.
With players devoting hours each week to practice, meetings and weight lifting, Jarvis stresses time management. Most players carry between 12 and 15 credits during the season, and Jarvis helps each player design a schedule of his week, incorporating tutoring sessions and study halls. The goal is efficient studying so that the player can focus on football on Saturday. Jarvis can also relax from her duties on weekends.
"Our role is to help them get all their schoolwork done during the week so that on Saturday they don't have to worry about academics," Jarvis said. "On game day we don't have many official responsibilities."
Jarvis remains available during the summer. Some players take relaxing summer school courses, while others take courses that may have otherwise been too time-consuming. While many returning players take summer courses, Jarvis feels that the team's incoming freshmen benefit most.
"We're trying to learn [about] the incoming class during the summer," Jarvis said.
Jarvis' dedication is shown by a signed Aaron Brooks picture in her office.
"Ms. Kathryn Jarvis, thanks for advising and encouraging me down the road to success," Brooks wrote.
The Cavaliers want Jarvis' personable approach to academic advising to remain prevalent in their football program.
--by Sid Parekh
Trainers help keep athletes in top shape
In an age where bowl games no longer define the end of football season, the role that athletic trainers assume to keep these athletes in peak shape and on the field takes the utmost importance. That is where Virginia's head athletic trainer, Ethan Saliba, and his large supporting cast come into play.
With two full time athletic trainers, two graduate assistants, two undergrads, and a four hydro-tech (the water crew), an outsider only beginsto understand the amount of staff, labor, money, and time that is needed to put a successful product out on the football field.
Whether the football team is in meetings, at practice, or eating, an athletic trainer will always be a shout or a phone call away.
"Student-athlete welfare should never be forgotten," Saliba says. Athletic training has grown to the point that it spans all aspects of an athlete's life.
Whether a football player has a cold or needs to be put on a nutritional meal, trainers are always there to help out. The days that athletic trainers solely focus on treating sprained ankles and pulled groins have long been gone, but don't think that Saliba is no longer concerned with this aspect of the game. Virginia's equipment staff is "a very well trained group," Saliba said.They select, purchase, and maintain the very best equipment to keep player performance high and injury-free. Saliba continued on to say that Al Groh's motto has always been," 'don't spare an expense if it prevents injury.'"
All in all, the Virginia football team wouldn't be to the caliber that fans see every weekend if not for the athletic training staff.
Therefore, on Saturday when you're at the game, just remember that the men and women monitoring the bench, the field, and the X-ray machine are the same men and women that put that polished and well-tuned product out on the field.
--by Graham Tucker
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