2008 Coaching Staff (NEW).indd - MGoBlue.com

Strength Training
and Conditioning
Mission Statement
We aim to provide student-athletes with the knowledge, extrinsic motivation, discipline
and training required to reach their potential athletically and personally.
Student-athletes are offered the opportunity to train in one of the nation’s finest
facilities with an elite staff of professionals.
Physical development and dominance have been traits that are equated with
Wolverine football. The U-M student-athletes, self-confidence and unwavering dedication
have driven them to national prominence.
This has been made possible through the unique relationships between the athletes
and staff. The Strength and Conditioning Staff is committed to enabling its athletes
to achieve their goals and dreams.
Winners ...
Some people set higher standards for themselves;
They come out early and stay late;
Funny how they’re usually the winners.
Philosophy
The Strength and Conditioning Staff at the University of Michigan is dedicated to
developing the student-athlete both mentally and physically. We aim to improve
athletic performance, prevent injuries, promote a positive self-image and develop
confidence and mental toughness.
Our training cycles transcend all aspects of physiological development. Studentathletes
are trained in areas of: speed, agility, quickness, explosive training,
Olympic weightlifting, conventional weightlifting, band training, injury prevention
movements, plyometrics, core, balance, functional training, bioenergetics
related to the individual sport, nutrition, flexibility, medicine ball training,
proprioception, swiss ball training and various other practices.
Through the use of these tactics we develop speed, agility, strength,
power, force, acceleration, deceleration, mobility, top speed, explosiveness,
reaction, conditioning, balance, core stability, confidence,
mental toughness, good nutrition habits, kinesthetic
awareness and proprioception. All these dimensions of training
are adapted and phased regularly for the individual student-athlete’s
needs and the demands of the specific sport. This is accomplished
through the use of periodization.
It is our belief that providing an all encompassing, sport specific, individualized program
will enable athletes to reach their physiological potential. With positive reinforcement
and a structured, disciplined atmosphere we elicit confidence and the
mental strength to ensure success in all of life’s endeavors.
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36 professional athletes have spent the
summer working out with the strength
and conditioning staff
The Iron Wolverine Award, presented to the best
all-around conditioned athletes from three position
groups after completing a series of physical tests,
were Stevie Brown (skill), Austin Panter (middle)
and David Molk (linemen).
2008 Iron Wolverine
Award Winners
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What they are saying about
Mike Barwis...
Mike and his staff are the best in the business. They have been an integral part of our success
on the field.
Rich Rodriguez
The style of training that Mike and the staff have introduced to the Michigan program is
going to be great and pivotal to their success. Mike is one of the great strength coaches in
the country and I have made great strides in my speed, strength and explosiveness in the
time that I’ve trained with them.
Victor Hobson, NFL Player and Former U-M Linebacker
Mike is a high energy, high spirited type of guy. He is very intelligent and very knowledgeable.
Everything is geared toward maximum performance. I haven’t worked like this since
... well ever.
Braylon Edwards, U-M’s all-time leading receiver and Cleveland Browns All-Pro Wide Receiver
I have seen a drastic change in my conditioning and core strength in a short period of time
working with Mike and the staff.
Mike Hart, U-M’s all-time leading rusher
The facilities, combined with the experience of Mike and his staff, provide Michigan with
the best training facility in the country.
Ryan Mundy, Former U-M and WVU safety
The staff has helped me increase my speed and agility. This is an elite staff with the nation’s
finest football weight room.
Jamar Adams, Former U-M Safety
I have worked with Mike and his staff for 10 years and know that they are the best in the
business. I left my family for three months to work with his staff.
Avon Cobourne, WVU’s all-time leading rusher
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162 SUPPORT STAFF BIOGRAPHIES
Strength & Conditioning Staff
Director of Strength and Conditioning
Mike Barwis
Mike Barwis is in his first season as the
Director of Strength and Conditioning
with the Michigan football program. He
oversees a staff that includes five full-time
assistants, one part-time assistant and
multiple interns.
Barwis worked at West Virginia
University for 14 years and coordinated
every facet of the department’s athletic
sports conditioning program during
that time. He spent five years as the
strength and conditioning coach for the
Mountaineers’ football and men’s basketball
programs (2003-07). Barwis also worked with Olympic athletes in 18
different sports during his tenure and was the school’s director of strength
and conditioning for varsity sports prior to his appointment with the football
and basketball teams.
Barwis has coached 22 National Strength and Conditioning (NSCA)
All-Americans since 1999, and was one of 10 coaches to receive the 2002
Bronze Award from the NSCA certification commission. He has trained
professional, Olympic, national and international competitors and medalists
in wrestling, track and field, soccer, football, basketball, baseball,
motor cross, cycling and rifle during his career. In addition, Barwis has
been published in numerous journals, magazines and newspapers.
A Philadelphia, Pa., native, Barwis earned his undergraduate degree in
exercise physiology from West Virginia University in 1996 and his master’s
degree in athletic coaching with an emphasis in strength and conditioning
in 1998. He also completed course work in the area of anatomy
and physiology at Temple University, and is a Certified Strength and
Conditioning Specialist by the NSCA.
Barwis and his wife, Autumn, have one son, Ray. Autumn was the associate
strength and conditioning coach for West Virginia’s entire athletic
department.
Dir. of Skill Development / Assoc. Dir. of Strength and Conditioning
Chris Allen
Chris Allen is in his first year with
Michigan football. He is the Director of Skill
Development and the Associate Director
of Strength and Conditioning.
Allen spent the past five seasons as
a member of the West Virginia strength
and conditioning program (2003-07). He
worked with the football, men’s basketball,
wrestling, track and crew teams at WVU.
Allen spent two years working in
Internet technology support in Atlanta,
Ga., prior to joining the Mountaineers
staff. He was a volunteer strength coach at
Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Ga.
A sprinter on the West Virginia track team from 1997-2000, Allen graduated
in 2000 with degrees in accounting and MIS. He also has a master’s
degree in athletic coaching education.
Allen is a native of Kingston, Jamaica.

COACHING & SUPPORT STAFF
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Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
Parker Whiteman
Parker Whiteman is in his first season
as a Coordinator of Strength and
Conditioning with the Michigan football
program. He comes to Ann Arbor after
spending two seasons with the West
Virginia program.
Whiteman was appointed a full-time
assistant strength coach at WVU in 2007
after working as a graduate assistant during
the 2006 season. Prior to joining the
Mountaineers staff, Whiteman spent two
years as an assistant strength coach with
the Baltimore Ravens and worked as a performance
coach for Velocity Sports Performance.
He received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and health
from Shepherd (W.Va.) University, where he played football in 2006.
Whiteman completed his master’s degree in exercise science from
McDaniel College.
Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
Kentaro Tamura
Kentaro Tamura is in his first season as a
Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
with the Michigan football program.
Tamura was hired as a full-time assistant
strength coach at West Virginia in 2007,
working with the Mountaineers’ football,
men’s soccer and rifle teams. He also
served as an intern in 2004 and was a
graduate assistant for two years (2005-06).
A native of Kanagawa, Japan, Tamura
received his bachelor’s degree from Nihon
University in economics and earned his
master’s in exercise physiology from West
Virginia. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and holds
CPR and AED certifications.
He has previous experience as a researcher and intern strength coach
at Tokai University Research Institute of Sports Medical Science in Japan.
Tamura and his wife, Hiroko, have a daughter, Yuna, and a son, Kazushi.
Assistant Strength Coach
Jesse Miller
Miller resides in Ann Arbor.
Assistant Strength Coach
Dennis Murray
Jesse Miller is in his first season as an
Assistant Strength Coach for the Michigan
football program. He spent two years
as a graduate assistant at West Virginia
University (2006-07) before joining the
Wolverines.
Prior to obtaining his position with the
Mountaineers, Miller worked at Velocity
Sports Performance in Ashburn, Va.
Miller earned a master’s degree in
exercise physiology from WVU (2006) and
a bachelor’s degree in health and human
performance from Concord College (2004).
Dennis Murray is in his first season as an
Assistant Strength Coach for the Michigan
football program. Murray spent two years
working as a graduate assistant at West
Virginia University prior to commencing
his work at Michigan.
He earned a bachelor of science
degree in exercise physiology (2006) and
a master’s degree in athletic coaching
(2007) from WVU. Murray is a certified
strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS)
and a member of National Strength and
Conditioning Association (NSCA).
Murray and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Ann Arbor.
Assistant Strength Coach
Josh Ison
Josh Ison is in his first season as an
Assistant Strength Coach for the Michigan
football program.
Ison came to Ann Arbor after spending
five seasons as the linebackers coach at
Fairmont State University (2003-07). In
addition to his coaching responsibilities,
Ison was the head strength coach for
the football team for two seasons and
became the athletic department’s director
of strength and conditioning for his final
three seasons.
He also spent one year working as a
graduate assistant in the Health Works Rehabilitation & Fitness Center at
West Virginia University (2006-07).
In 2002, he was named to Don Hansen’s Football Gazette Division 2
All-American team while playing linebacker at Fairmont State University
(1999-2002). Ison earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from
Fairmont State (2005) and a master’s degree in athletic coaching education
from West Virginia (2007).
Ison and his wife, Erin, reside in Ann Arbor.

Schembechler Hall
Home of Wolverine Football
Beginning its 17th year as the home of the Michigan
football program, Schembechler Hall provides the
Wolverines with one of the finest strength and conditioning,
dressing, training care, meeting and coaching
facilities in the country.
• The facility was completed in 1991 at a cost of $9
million through donations.
• Michigan’s practice facility includes one full-size field
and two 60-yard fields.
• Oosterbaan Fieldhouse, connected directly to
Schembechler Hall, is a full-size artificial turf
practice field.
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Indoor Football Building
Construction on the new football facility began in January 2008 behind Schembechler
Hall along S. State Street. The approximately 104,000 gross square feet will include a fullsize
football field with 15 yards from sideline to walls all the way around the surface. The
ceiling will reach a peak of 85 feet in the center.
In addition, approximately 3,000 gross square feet of space in Schembechler will be renovated
as part of the project. The expanded area will include a new full-team locker room
and additions to the weight room and the coach’s offices.
Jickling Lyman Powell Associates designed the $26.1 million facility that is scheduled to
be completed prior to the 2009 season.
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