The summer is usually when college athletes take a breather from their sport or go home, but the UNM football team found the summer to be a time to get stronger and build team unity.
After a successful spring practice session, which saw the Lobos set many benchmark records in the weight room, players continued the hard work during the summer. The weightlifting and hanging around together also helped build team camaraderie.
Head coach Rocky Long said that the commitment and the intensity the players had in the off-season workouts has shown in the early fall practices.
“This is the strongest team in the weight room that I have been around,” said Long. “They see the value of working hard together and improving their strength, which gives them a better chance to perform well. I think the chemistry that develops from those things is as important as getting stronger. We’re excited as coaches just to see those guys do that kind of stuff.”
The director of strength and conditioning Mark Paulsen said about 80 to 90 players showed up every day for the voluntary weight lifting sessions, which were held five days a week for an hour-and-a-half. Both Long and Paulsen said the number of players that showed up on a daily basis were the most they have ever seen for voluntary workouts.
During spring practice, it is mandatory for players to lift weights and coaches can evaluate the team and run practices. However, during the summer, the workouts for players are voluntary and only the strength and conditioning coaches can oversee the players’ workouts.
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Long said Paulsen deserves most of the credit for the team getting stronger because of the time he gives to each player. He also gives credit to the players for creating an atmosphere that helped the younger players buy into getting stronger physically and mentally.
“The idea of them working out together all summer long adds some mutual respect,” Long said. “If you’re next to a guy and you see him working hard and you’re working hard, a natural bond develops, a natural respect of each other develops. As soon as that starts developing, the chemistry of the team gets better. I think all of them working together has developed our team spirit and team chemistry.”
Paulsen said the familiarity of the off-season program helped the players get going in the weight room faster.
“It was an extension of our spring practices so the transition was easy,” he said. “I was happy with our summer program.”
The routine the players went through were lifting weights for the upper body on one day, then for the lower body on the next day.
Paulsen said when the weight room was full, players would go outside and work on speed, offensive and defensive drills.
“You need players to buy into the program and when you get enough players buying into the program, good things will happen,” he said.
Paulsen said that the biggest improvements were probably from the offensive players. He said that the defense usually does very well in the weight room, but that the players on offense are getting a lot stronger than last year.
Senior offensive guard Jeremy Sorenson said that last year the team got overpowered a few times and wore down in the fourth quarter in a couple of games.
“This year we will be able to hold our own and hopefully overpower some teams,” he said. “The strength, the team unity and having a year under our belts will help us get some wins in the close games.”
Last year, the Lobos lost three games when leading going into the fourth quarter, all against Mountain West Conference foes.
l On Oct. 7, UNM led 14-10 against Colorado State University before giving up a touchdown with 6:23 left in the game.
l On Nov. 4, UNM was manhandling San Diego State University 16-0 at halftime and 16-7 after three quarters, but allowed 10 unanswered points in the final quarter to lose 17-16.
l On Nov. 11, UNM led 6-5 after three quarters over the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and had a 14-11 lead in the fourth quarter before UNLV scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game.
The heart-breaking losses prevented the Lobos from going to a bowl game.
Senior offensive tackle B.J. Long said the players were more focused in the weight room than in years past because of the close losses and that the players helped push each other to do their best.
“This has been a good off-season for us and one of the most productive,” he said. “Everybody has been trying real hard to make big gains in the weight room. Total, as a team, we have progressed a lot.”
Rocky Long said he expects good things for the upcoming season because of all the hard work the team put in during the summer.
“All the hard work they’ve done to now has just given them the opportunity to play well,” he said. “No one is going to give us a game, so we still have to go out and play well. But normally the kind of commitment they’ve given in the summer will show on the field when we start playing games.”
