LSU Strength and Conditioning Coach Tommy Moffit Says Program Expecting to Have Freshman On Campus June 1
With LSU football athletes potentially on the brink of a return to campus, Tigers strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt said Wednesday morning the program is expecting to have incoming freshmen arrive first.
In an interview with "Off the Bench," Moffitt said he'd ideally like to give the freshmen a base conditioning test but said ultimately what restrictions the NCAA and SEC decide this week is what the program will abide by.
It's been reported that the NCAA will elect to end the moratorium of on-campus activity Wednesday and that the SEC will do the same on Friday. While the details are a little bit murky on what the athletes will actually be able to do when the restrictions are lifted, it's a start.
Whether the SEC allows to end the moratorium on June 1 or June 15, Moffitt said either one of those dates would see the freshman class arrive.
"A lot of it is going to have to do with our reporting date, we're planning for June 1 and then it will also be determined largely in part what the NCAA and SEC will allow us to do," Moffitt said. "I want to give them a conditioning test, I think it's important."
One of the reasons Moffitt said the conditioning test is so important is because it makes the athletes mentally tougher. It's a challenging workout that involves 26 reps and tests the players mentally, physically and emotionally Moffitt says.
People often ask Moffitt why do so many reps and it's because of that character and mental depth that each player must go to in order to complete the test. Moffitt is of the belief that the 2019 team wouldn't have had the success it did had they not been prepared physically, mentally and emotionally for the grueling 15 game schedule.
"It's more than just a conditioning test, it's a character test, you're testing more of a person's will power and intestinal fortitude and that plays a huge role," Moffitt said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do some form of that. I think it's important for our overall development."
The training staff is in daily communication with the players making sure they're doing everything they can to stay in shape. Moffitt said the main thing he's learned throughout this process is how resilient the players in this program are.
"The videos that we've gotten from these guys and the imagination that they're using to do things has been phenomenal," Moffitt said. "Hats off to these guys, I keep my fingers crossed and I worry about them but then when I see what the vast majority of these guys are doing to stay in shape, it has been unbelievable."
