When the seven early signees to the Indiana football program enrolled in classes and stepped foot on campus last month, they did so with the hope of getting a jump start on their career.
That includes strength and conditioning, and by all accounts, the seven players -- Vincent Fiacable, D.J. Matthews, Joshua Sales, Jordyn Williams, James Evans, Zach Carpenter and Ryder Anderson -- have succeeded.
Indiana strength coach Aaron Wellman recently met with the media and said he has been "impressed" with the mindset of all seven and how they have attacked the program.
"These guys have been outstanding. All seven of these guys came in ready to go. They're all hard workers. Great additions to our program. Great fit culturally, great work ethic on these guys. I've been pleasantly surprised how they came in," Wellman told the media.
Wellman noted the seven early enrollees are doing the same exact workouts that seasoned veterans doing and noted that all players start in January a little more general than they would in June.
“We're all coming off season, we all came off a bowl game, and two to three weeks off. So the program for those guys started general like our players did, until we were with them for a week, seven to 10 days.”
After doing workouts for a few days, Indiana's strength staff is able to individualize strength and conditioning programs to individual players.
“We were able to get some performance measures and find out where to direct their training,” Wellman said. “So they started off very similar to the rest of our players when they got here in January."
The individual plans answer several questions specific to an individual athlete, Wellman said.
“What are your deficiencies? What are the greatest limiters to performance, speed, strength and power? Isometric strength, eccentric strength, whatever that is, we identify it very quickly. Early in January we take two-three weeks to address those issues,” Wellman said.
Wellman added each athlete needs an individualized approach, due to many different factors.
“That is the basis of our program. We have the ability to give our athletes exactly what they need. Ultimately, we want them to be a better player because they are in our strength program, not just a better lifter or stronger,” Wellman said.
Indiana will begin its spring practice on March 9 and Wellman understands the importance of having the players ready mentally and physically.
“All we can do is push forward,” Wellman said. “We have spring ball here in two weeks. Every day is so valuable. I tell our players all the time that we do not have the luxury of wasting time and wasting a day. We have to be locked in every day that we come in. We have had a great four weeks, but we have to get a lot done in the next couple weeks.”
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