MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his thirteen years on the strength and conditioning staff at WVU, Mike Joseph has seen coaching staffs come and go and training methods evolve with regularity.
Working through the effects of a pandemic with players scattered across the country is a challenge on another level. The Fairmont State graduate and former WVIAC Player of the Year is the assistant athletic director/head coach for strength and conditioning with the Mountaineers. His virtual communications with WVU football players in many ways mirror those of the rest of the football staff.
“Myself, my staff and obviously Coach Brown with everything he has laid out, the biggest thing is communicating daily and health and wellness of the guys,” Joseph said.
“As long as they are having a routine, you can get them in the right direction. That’s getting their academics taken care of, which they are finishing up this week and guys have done a very good job.”
With in-person workouts shutdown since mid-March and most of spring practice canceled, Joseph is tasked with tailoring workouts to players based on what types of equipment they may or may not have available to them.
“We have an app called ‘Team Builder’. Say we are doing a leg workout — if you can’t do a regular barbell squat, you can do different type of squat with dumbbells or kettles or bands. There’s options for every scenario possible.
“There’s always pavement or concrete. You can run in a field, up a hill or whatever. Just make sure you are active.”
Joseph expects that when team members return to Morgantown, some could be at different stages of readiness. And that’s not necessarily the fault of those who may be trailing behind.
“When we come back, there’s probably going to be guys at different levels. There will be guys that have been working at the best facilities at some part of the country without issue. There will be guys in the middle, doing a little but not a lot. And there will be guys that are very limited, so they’ll be on a very modified program.”
.@WVUFootball head strength coach Mike Joseph joins @TonyCaridi, @BradHowe07, and @HunterWvu88bgn to discuss keeping players in shape from a distance. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/R8JD8SoYtb
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 6, 2020
While strength training remains a key focus of offseason work, Joseph says getting in ‘playing shape’ can be a tougher challenge.
“The hardest part is getting the guys in running shape or cardiovascular shape and be able to handle the stress of running, jumping, change of direction. That’s the biggest thing. As long as they are running and staying in shape, it makes it a lot easier.
“We have yoga as part of our online stuff. A lot of our workouts incorporate their abilities. We have a lot of functional movements, a lot of core and stability.”
When the team reassembles, presumably late in the summer, Joseph hopes to find a balance in getting the team in proper condition, while recognizing the limitations forced by an unconventional offseason.
“We have to find that right formula to not do too much too fast. But it will definitely be going back to the days where part of football in August is going to be conditioning. There’s a give and take of when to push and when not to.
“I won’t know until they come back and do a condition test. Or we are hands-on and are talking to them and interacting with them to see where they are at. You can look at videos, you can look at different things they post. But you can’t really judge.”
Many coaches on the WVU staff have said they plan to keep some aspects of virtual training learned this spring in offseasons to come.
“It has made me a little bit better in how I communicate with the guys outside of the weight room, outside of the training environment.
“All this communication we have been doing alternatively, it has made me a better coach in how to try to reach guys.”