Kalani Sitake believes BYU made inroads in strength and speed

Bigger. Faster. Stronger.

This is the wish triad of every football coach at every level for the players they put on the field, and it’s been that way from the beginning.

Has BYU’s roster improved in these categories since last summer?

We will know in September when there’s a kickoff and an actual game.

In the meantime, head coach Kalani Sitake believes so.

His defensive coordinator, Jay Hill, also believes there has been a progression in players’ strength and conditioning gains over the summer.

Defensive lineman Blake Mangelson declared that there’s no question the team is stronger and tougher.

“We’ll be better,” Sitake said last week. “Our players have worked hard this summer and it shows in how they look and move.”

Getting in shape, maintaining physical fitness, endurance and speed is an ancient philosophy going back to the gladiators of Rome and Greek Olympians.

To feel the part, you need to look the part. Walking the talk is necessary in football, where the most important fashion is conquering the science of being rather than seeming.

BYU revamped its strength and conditioning staff after the first year in the Big 12, a disappointing two-win league season.

The director of strength and conditioning, Ryan Phillis, is in his second year at BYU, but brought in his own staff this season. Phillis is from Big Ten country with experience in the SEC and ACC, including stops at Louisville, Purdue, Virginia, Mississippi State and Indiana.

According to an interview with Jake Hatch on his “Locked on Cougars” podcast, Phillis has seen impressive gains by players in the weight room. One lineman Hatch spoke of added 70 pounds to his squat lift and is now over 600 pounds.

BYU’s new nutrition program is utilizing 17 Traeger grills to cook 250 pounds of meat a day. The high-protein meals include New York steaks, salmon and chicken with rice and veggies.

Phillis explained he is following a culture model established by head coach Sitake and he simply echos that to his new staff and it trickles down to the players.

“They’ve bought in and that is the key,” he said.

Phillis’ staff includes Tanner Maher, Christian Tupou, Tim Ismail and Zach Shaw. Maher worked at Kansas, Florida, Mississippi State and New Mexico State. Tupou, a former USC defensive lineman, has coached weight-room techniques with NFL players with the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and San Diego Chargers.

“I’m calling out coach Phillis and our sports scientists,” said Hill.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job. It’s playing out on the field. We’re more athletic than we were and I think we’re faster and more fluid and — knock on wood — we’ve been healthy.

“All those things are playing out the way they should with a great offseason.”

Hill said many guys have put on muscle weight and have added to their personal weight lifting totals over last season. He said offensive lineman Bruce Mitchell put on 30 pounds.

Mangelson said Hill reviewed weight-room numbers with the defense the other day and declared numbers are up.

“I feel like the strength of the D-line has gone up for sure and I’m just excited for this year,” said Mangelson, who called the strength staff “game changers” for the football team.

Mangelson’s weight in spring practice was 265 and now he’s pushing 280. His bench press effort went up by 50 pounds.

“Clearly they’ve been awesome. They pushed us this summer. Which turned out to bring up our mental toughness.”

Game changer?

“They’ve made us tougher. They pushed hard. Throughout the weeks in their programs we worked on being finishers, pushing past the breaking point where we felt like we’d reached our limit and stop. It helped all of us gain more mental toughness and how to work together when adversity strikes,” said Mangelson.

Folks in the BYU camp believe they have made strides, progress necessary to compete in the Big 12. After one circuit as a Power Four team, plenty of players and staff took note of where they were left wanting and what needed to be done to get on the right side of a hit, tackle or chase down the field.

In less than four weeks, the moment of truth will hit this team.

Are they ready?

We’ll see.