Corvallis Gazette-Times

Great expectations follow one of the most successful seasons in Oregon State football team history.

It has turned this into an important offseason.

While the coaches are busy finishing up this year’s recruiting class and getting a jumpstart on the next one, the players are left to the strength and conditioning staff to begin preparations for the 2007 season.

Workouts have been voluntary since the start of winter term. Structured training begins today and takes the team into spring practice in April.

“There will be individual workouts based on what each guy needs to improve on, but in general it will be overall development of strength and speed, and in some cases in size,” coach Mike Riley said.

The Beavers go into their third consecutive offseason with a different strength coach. OSU revamped the department during the summer right before the season began with new hire Jeff Macy, from the Chicago Bulls.

He oversees the entire 17-sport program, while advising the four assistants who work directly with the teams.

Macy isn’t directly in charge of the two major sports. Bryan Miller runs football, Brendon Ziegler men’s basketball.

“What you don’t realize is there are other things to look over than just the team’s training,” Macy said. “In the past the football guy oversaw all the other sports. And you can’t do that well.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the minute-to-minute grind of that (football) job. It’s my job to not get caught up in that. It’s one of the things I can do in my position. Bryan worries about the day-to-day and I can take a step back and look at the philosophical issues.”

The new structure was put in place in July when the football team was getting ready for the season. Miller tried to keep the status quo in the weight room so players could concentrate on football.

Every two weeks he added to the workout plan with techniques or concepts to ease the players into the new system. Macy and Miller believe it could take up to two years before everything is in place.

“He’s really good,” Riley said. “This team bought into him a long time ago. They trust him. I was really worried about that because it was a late addition. But Bryan Miller did a great job.”

Miller looks forward to working with the Beavers in his first offseason to help improve their ability. There are many overall goals, but the primary objective is to improve flexibility and mobility.

Macy and Miller met with Riley and his assistants throughout the season, so they knew what the coaches wanted. Each position and grade level has customized workouts; some athletes need individual attention.

“With winning comes additional responsibility,” Miller said. “If we want to get back to that level, we have to increase what we are doing here. Everything is an extension of what coach Riley wants. Coach Riley always says we want to practice fast and play fast, so that’s how we are going to train.”

Miller’s offseason workouts call for four days of lifting and four days of running each week. There’s a day to work on straight-ahead speed, conditioning, agility and all of it together with an intense station workout.

Each day Miller asks athletes to reach a higher level. They won’t always attain it, but the idea is to make them strive to be better every day and not slide through the offseason.

During spring practice in April, and into May, there won’t be any running. The players get that in practice. They just lift.

In June and July they return to running and lifting with an emphasis of being ready to go full speed the first day of fall camp.

“Philosophically we are trying to marry up the idea of injury prevention with performance,” Macy said. “They are two extremes, but you have to marry the two and balance both. And the message we send is we insist goals and standards are met, and it’s our job to assist them to meet it.”

An added feature to the new departmental structure is that while Miller is in charge of football, everybody on staff helps supervise to give motivation and advice. In the past only one person worked with all 100-plus players.

“I think the quality has been improving,” Macy said. “The ones who could hide before, can’t.”

Another long-term difference should be noticed with last year’s 30 redshirts. Typically when the team leaves for road games or goes into lockdown in a hotel for home games on Fridays, the strength coach goes with the team.

The redshirts were left on their own for two days. Last season there were workouts for them on Fridays and Sundays because of the extra help.

“It has gone well and taken a big step forward,” Miller said.

Early offseason training has been busy. Forty players were in the Valley Football Center lifting the first week back during the voluntary period, and the number grew the second week.

That impressed Macy since the team just came off the longest season in OSU history.

“The expectations around here are being raised every day with what baseball, softball, football and wrestling have done,” Macy said. “You have to show up to camp ready to go and we are excited to be here and get to work.”