Cultivating Success Through Competition

Photo by: Mike Mattina/MSU Athletics

Cultivating Success Through Competition

August 07, 2022 | Football

By: Logan Lowery, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State started training camp this past Friday but competition within the Bulldogs' football program has been building the entire offseason.

Head strength and conditioning coach Tyson Brown and his staff made certain every rep was counted, quantified, ranked and posted publicly to ensure that players treated every workout with the same level of intensity expected of them each Saturday this fall.

"The big thing we tried to breed that coach (Mike) Leach wants around here is competition." Brown said. "We competed in any and everything we did. We competed, ranked it and posted it all around the facility on all the TVs in the locker room and right when you walk in the building so guys were able to see where they stood in whatever metric we were testing. It really just breeds competition in the locker room. Guys get fired up about that stuff."

Workouts extended well beyond the weight room as well. From Leach Beach to voluntary 7-on-7 drills and yoga sessions, the Bulldogs began the process of galvanizing what the identity of the 2022 roster will be during the summer months.

"We wanted to come together as a team and I felt like we did that through the competition, working hard together and getting uncomfortable," Brown said. "We spent a lot of time in the sand pit during the first half of the summer and that set the tone for the rest of the summer."

Brown and his staff of Dan Kistler Jr., Chad Traver, Markell Clark and John Graves have their tried-and-true methods of training. But this summer, they added a new wrinkle to the mix by adding Perch 3D cameras to the training stations that tracks and measures every movement made by the student-athlete which in turn gives them yet another way to compete.

"We're big on velocity-based training and what that does it gives instant feedback to how fast the bar is moving in the weight room," Brown said. "For us, it brings a speed component to the weight room. I can't shut them up when we get that going. Guys are going rack to rack seeing who is moving it faster or who is jumping higher. That was one thing for us that really lit that fire. They're competing in velocity instead of only in strength so that really gasses that up."

Brown stated that they finished the summer with 22 "Iron Dawgs", guys who went above and beyond what was required of them. Some of the players that stood out the most to him are Nathaniel Watson, Jordan Mosley, Jaden Crumedy, Jo'quavious Marks, Cameron Young, Dillon Johnson, Randy Charlton, Austin Williams, Collin Duncan and De'Monte Russell.

There was one player, however, who not only put in the extra work but led, motivated and set an example for the rest of the team throughout – quarterback Will Rogers.

"He's a guy that leads from the front," Brown said. "Not only does it do it vocally, but he does it with his actions. Actions over words is big for us and he lives it."

Another success story the strength and conditioning staff had was the transformation of Percy Lewis. The 6-foot-8 offensive tackle arrived from junior college in January tipping the scales northwards of 370 pounds but has trimmed down to 330 to start training camp.

"Coach Brown is a good guy and is going to push you for sure," Lewis said. "He's one of the reasons why I lost that weight. Coach Traver helped me out as well by putting in the extra time on the bike, jump rope, box steps – all the extra stuff after a workout. That helped me out too and I was able to drop that weight really fast."

The efforts put forth during the offseason strength and conditioning program certainly paid off. When MSU returned to the practice fields last week, the focus was solely on football thanks to the sweat equity that had been accumulated during the summer months.

"That's a credit to the guys and their hard work," Brown said. "We put the program in front of them and they believed in it. They're the one that executed it and that's something for us as a strength staff to be proud of.

"I'm just so thankful to put on the Maroon and White everyday and work with this group of players. They are such a great group of young men that I am proud to coach. I also couldn't do it without the hard work of our assistant strength coaches. Those guys are absolutely awesome and I'm thankful to work beside them."