Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Report: BC to hire John Thomas for S&C

Coachingsearch.com is reporting that BC is set to hire former Penn State Strength & Condition coach John Thomas. Like most staffers under Paterno, Thomas was not retained by new coach Bill O'Brien.


Thomas is of the High Intensity Training school of thought. This is about having guys lean and able to do multiple repetitions. It is probably closer to what Jason Loscalzo taught as opposed to the more stretching and mobility school of thought used under Todd Rice and TOB. Here is a good recap from a guy who trained under Thomas. For those who care, Thomas doesn't like overweight linemen.


I don't know Thomas's connection to Gene or Spaz. My guess is Spaz both are connected enough to Penn State people, so that when these guys were cut lose they could pick them up. Obviously with any Penn State hire, someone will ask "what did this guy know about Sandusky." I don't think it is an issue at all. Thomas is not a recruiter and did not overlap much with Sandusky. Although Sandusky had access to the facilities there have never been any reports that a S&C coach witnessed anything.


Overall, I think this will be a solid hire. BC needs someone who can coach these guys up and get them in shape. As an outside observer, Penn State always seemed to have that area covered.

12 comments:

Big Jack Krack said...

Best of luck with this hire. I am not familiar with the different kinds of strength and conditioning sessions for college football players. Strong and fit, with the appropriate size for the position.

I do hope this HIT coach has a good regimen but doesn't come close to reaching the same level as Iowa last year. I also hope he will be on board with the direction our new coordinators want to go - on board to tailor his approach appropriately, if needed.


Iowa City, IA (AP) - A University of Iowa report says three out of 13 football players hospitalized after intense weight-lifting workouts in January have quit the team.......................

The report does not identify the players, who were hospitalized for several days with a muscle disorder that caused discolored urine and extreme soreness.

The report says all 13 appear to have completely recovered and it's considered unlikely they will develop long-term problems.

Benjamin said...

BJK - I'm no expert, but I think HIT is going to be very good for this team. At the beginning of the season, endurance was the biggest problem.

Overall, I think these have been good off-season hires. Some of the biggest areas for concern have been addressed with coaching changes. What remains to be seen now is if the new coaches can produce.

Benjamin said...

Also, reading PSU blogs, it seems that HIT is the right type of training for the offense we intend to run.

dixieagle said...

Do you think he could bulk up the basketball team a bit, while he's at it? ;)

Big Jack Krack said...

Thanks Ben - this looks like a good hire. As Coach Coughlin once said - "We're going to hit you hard in the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter - and in the fourth quarter we're going to hit you even harder!"

Dixie - the way they train basketball players nowadays, they don't have time to drink beer and eat as much junk food as their peers. :-) Hence, no "Freshman 15 (lbs)".

These BB players won't be able to put on one pound during the season. It's not easy to put on bulk when you're running like these guys.

Big Jack Krack said...

Check out the ACC 3-year average attendance.

Any concerns, Gene? Any positve ideas on how to treat your fans a little better?

Do you find this embarrassing?

I do - and I don't like it. How about driving some positive solutions to fan apathy - and it's more than simply winning a few more games.

I hope our new coaches realize that they signed onto a real project in Chestnut Hill.

JBQ said...

As Ronnie Reagan once stated "Here we go again". Big Jack Krack quotes Tom Coughlin. What has he done lately? I am upset that Markie Mark didn't get to suit up. His left leg has the rod. Which ankle did he sprain so badly? I would like to put a plug in for Mathias Kiwanuka. His grandfather was prime minister, I believe, in Uganda and he was executed by Idi Amin. BC has always been in the forefront of influencing society. As a reminder, David Gordon in replays still is not "wide right" and Gerard Phelan, so far, has not dropped "the pass". There is hope for us all. Enthusiasm is contageous. Semper Fi. Ooh-rah! St. Patrick's Day is upon us even if Hoboken is a bummer!

Lenny Sienko said...

HIT makes sense if we intend to have leaner, quicker linemen, with more endurance. As was noted above, such linemen would seem to fit the introduction of a "spread-type" offense.

The only exception I've seen to this expectation were the Hawaii teams of June Jones, which featured very large Polynesian young men who were quite agile for their size. I always enjoyed staying up to watch their games from Midnight to 3:00AM here on the East Coast.

Maybe June Jones will be available next year. The real "run & Shoot" offense installed at BC would be something to see.

Big Jack Krack said...

Hello - this is Lawrence, Kansas - Is there anyone there?

Jeff said...

Looks like a good hire, hope he does right by our boys.

Sandusky is irrelevant to this hire.

Knucklehead said...

Only Gene would hire someone who was employed at Penn State.

I hope that BC did its due diligence in examining Thomas' background.

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