University of Tennessee Athletics
Lawson Prepares Vols For Tempo
August 11, 2015 | Football
Aug. 11, 2015
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
The Volunteers were ready for the first two-a-day practice of training camp on Tuesday morning thanks to a long summer of preparation under Lawson and his staff.
"We did a study and about 86 percent of a student-athlete's time is spent with the strength and conditioning staff," head coach Butch Jones said. "He is very, very in-tuned with them and they trust him. They know the program works. You can see monumental changes in our bodies. Your toughness is born in those summer months."
The toughness is more than just the physical gains made in the weight room. It is also the mental toughness developed in putting in the hard work that the staff expects and the leadership that emerges in players as they go through sessions with their teammates.
"He pushes them extremely hard," said Don Mahoney, Tennessee's offensive line coach. "This program is built on pushing guys to the threshold where it's almost a breaking point. They have to mentally fight through it and physically get stronger, but also guys are tested in terms of being leaders. He does a tremendous job of setting the foundation that once we he hit the field, that piece is in place."
Lawson knows what Jones and his staff need out of every player and can tailor workouts to reach those goals in the offseason. They also build the in-season training program to compliment practices and maintain the strength that the players have built in the offseason.
"The thing about Coach Lawson and the workout program and our practices is they go hand-in-hand," redshirt senior offensive lineman Mack Crowder said. "We go fast in the weight room and push tempo and that carries out onto the field."
One of the biggest factors in how the programs work hand-in-hand is the familiarity between Lawson and Jones. Lawson joined Jones' staff at Central Michigan in 2007 and has been at his side every since. With many of the position coaches coming through the same stops, it has made for seamless transitions from practice to workouts and from in-season to off-season.
"We've been together a long time," Jones said. "We know what each other is thinking a lot of the time."
That thinking extends to the intense pace that Jones pushes on the field and that Lawson pushes in the weight room.
"He makes everything fast in the weight room," redshirt senior offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson said. "Every set that we have, we have to complete in a minute and a half. With the fast tempo we have out here, that's preparing us. Every set is like a play. You have be able to do it fast and then get back lined up and be read for the next set, the next play. Him doing that and pushing us very, very hard in weights and sets prepares us."
The Tennessee strength staff is able to tailor workouts to an individual player's needs, both on the field and off.
"Coach Lawson is a great resource," redshirt sophomore running back Alvin Kamara said. "Working with him this offseason, he's tuned-in to what I need to work on to get better. Flexibility, added weight added strength, he's been a great help to me. He is there anytime we need him. He's always there for us."
