Members of the football team have a different mental attitudethis season, some of them even have a little weight gain, and bothcan be attributed to the new strength and conditioning coach.
Aaron Wellman joined the team in January after spending theprevious seven seasons as an assistant strength and conditioningcoach at Indiana University and then Michigan State University.
He said he jumped at the chance to be in charge of his ownprogram. His sole responsibility lies with football, which isdifferent from the previous coach because he worked with multiplesports during the course of a season.
"Getting that relationship and that commitment is something thatwe've needed, and he's done an outstanding job with the mental partof the game," head coach Brady Hoke said.
Besides the mental part, Wellman helped offensive and defensivelineman gain weight and strength. Some even gained up to 20pounds.
"It's not just a strength and conditioning philosophy, it's thephilosophy of the football staff too, is that this program andevery aspect of this program will be based upon effort andtoughness," Wellman said. "That's something we've done our best toinstill in the weight room setting and the conditioningsetting."
In order to do that, Wellman said, he and the other coaches putpressure on members of the team every day to perform to theirhighest.
"The exercises we do in the weightroom are not unlike theexercises any other team does," Wellman said. "I think the way thatwe do them are unlike some teams, I think the intensity with whichwe approach the workout is unlike most teams, and I think theexpectations of the kids once they're in this room is unlike a lotof teams."
Members of the team say there is a difference in the programthat they like.
"A lot of things we did really put pressure on your mind, andit's all about fighting through it," sophomore quarterback JoeyLynch said. "Your body doesn't think you can do it, but he's allabout saying your mind can do it.
"By the end of the summer, a lot of guys started buying in andrealized that when your body says it can't do it, you can always goa lot more."
Part of going longer involves finishing, whether it be sprints,sets or just the season. Last season, the Cardinals dropped theirlast four games to close the season with a 4-8 record.
"Our mental toughness is going real good; we're more mentallytough this year," junior wide receiver Dante Ridgeway said. "Thisyear we're going to finish it off, and he's been a big part inthat."
Wellman will maintain the team's conditioning during the seasonand already worked on the mental part of finishing.
"In the course of a conditioning session, we'll do things at theend to mentally test them; finish this session, finish this week,finish this month, finish this summer," Wellman said. "That'ssomething that we've been preaching about since January."
After all that work since January, Wellman said the team istired of conditioning and lifting and just ready to playfootball.
"Coach Wellman's probably been the best thing to happen to BallState in a long time," senior safety Justin Beriault said. "He'sdone wonderful things this summer; we just got to put them on thefield now."
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