Published: Friday, October 2, 2009
Blame bad luck, not Seahawks’ strength, conditioning program
RENTON — As the injuries mount up for the second straight year, it’s tempting to start pointing fingers.
Why can’t the Seahawks stay healthy, people ask. Who is to blame for this two-year run of injuries?
So as the team limps into October, there are those who see the injuries piling up — again — and assume something must be wrong with the team’s strength and conditioning program.
That’s not the assumption to be making.
“I think it’s natural to ask those questions,” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. “We ask them, certainly. I feel like we have the finest strength and conditioning coaches in the National Football League. Certainly I’ve been lucky to be around a lot of good ones and these are right at the top of the list. And I think our training staff and our medical staff is outstanding as well.”
No offense to those who do want to hand the blame to strength and conditioning coach Mike Clark, but if he was the problem, wouldn’t NFL-level executives and coaches have identified that as an issue after last season and made a change? In a league as cutthroat as the NFL, don’t think for a minute that Tim Ruskell would have a hard time dismissing Clark and his staff if the Seahawks president and GM felt something was wrong.
And don’t get me wrong. The injury situation is bad. I mean, did anyone ever think there would be a week this season when a big concern would be whether or not Brandon Frye would be ready to start at left tackle? But it’s not like Clark, who has been with the team for six years, suddenly forgot how to do his job.
After a long career in college football that included two Strength Coach of the Year awards, Clark was inducted into the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame (bet you didn’t know that existed). When the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl four seasons ago, Clark was named American Football Monthly’s NFL Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year (again, who knew?).
But outside of a magazine I hadn’t heard of until reading Clark’s bio in the media guide, I don’t recall hearing Clark and his staff getting a lot of credit for that Super Bowl run, so let’s not all assume the bad times fall on their shoulders.
“It’s football,” said defensive tackle Craig Terrill, who is in his sixth year with the Seahawks. “It’s a physical game and it’s a contact game, and sometimes when you get injured you get injured a bunch, and sometimes you’re completely healthy. It just kind of comes in waves, and it doesn’t have anything to do with our conditioning program. The six years I’ve been here I’ve had the exact same strength and conditioning staff, so that’s not the problem.”
A good conditioning program isn’t going to help Matt Hasselbeck when a 240-pound high-speed projectile named Patrick Willis puts a shoulder pad into his back. When Leroy Hill exerts so much torque trying to make a tackle that he requires surgery on his groin, well, that’s not a conditioning issue as much as it is the result of a freakishly strong man pushing his body past what a human body is meant to withstand. Being fit won’t prevent the high ankle sprains suffered by Sean Locklear and Josh Wilson, and certainly wouldn’t keep time and wear and tear from catching up with Walter Jones’ knee.
If a dozen players were all out with similar leg pulls, then yeah, maybe it would be finger-pointing time. But that’s not the case for the Seahawks.
“This is a violent game and sometimes things happen and sometimes they come in bunches,” Mora said.
So blame incredibly bad luck if you need an answer for these injuries. Blame age when it comes to players like Jones or guard Mike Wahle, who retired before training camp because of a bad shoulder. Just don’t look at a team going through an unusual stretch of injuries and assume the strength and conditioning program is the problem.
“For some reason for this team that’s been our issue for the last year. . . .” Mora said. “Just to reiterate, our strength and conditioning staff is outstanding. Our trainers and medical staff are outstanding.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Why can’t the Seahawks stay healthy, people ask. Who is to blame for this two-year run of injuries?
So as the team limps into October, there are those who see the injuries piling up — again — and assume something must be wrong with the team’s strength and conditioning program.
That’s not the assumption to be making.
“I think it’s natural to ask those questions,” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. “We ask them, certainly. I feel like we have the finest strength and conditioning coaches in the National Football League. Certainly I’ve been lucky to be around a lot of good ones and these are right at the top of the list. And I think our training staff and our medical staff is outstanding as well.”
No offense to those who do want to hand the blame to strength and conditioning coach Mike Clark, but if he was the problem, wouldn’t NFL-level executives and coaches have identified that as an issue after last season and made a change? In a league as cutthroat as the NFL, don’t think for a minute that Tim Ruskell would have a hard time dismissing Clark and his staff if the Seahawks president and GM felt something was wrong.
And don’t get me wrong. The injury situation is bad. I mean, did anyone ever think there would be a week this season when a big concern would be whether or not Brandon Frye would be ready to start at left tackle? But it’s not like Clark, who has been with the team for six years, suddenly forgot how to do his job.
After a long career in college football that included two Strength Coach of the Year awards, Clark was inducted into the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame (bet you didn’t know that existed). When the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl four seasons ago, Clark was named American Football Monthly’s NFL Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year (again, who knew?).
But outside of a magazine I hadn’t heard of until reading Clark’s bio in the media guide, I don’t recall hearing Clark and his staff getting a lot of credit for that Super Bowl run, so let’s not all assume the bad times fall on their shoulders.
“It’s football,” said defensive tackle Craig Terrill, who is in his sixth year with the Seahawks. “It’s a physical game and it’s a contact game, and sometimes when you get injured you get injured a bunch, and sometimes you’re completely healthy. It just kind of comes in waves, and it doesn’t have anything to do with our conditioning program. The six years I’ve been here I’ve had the exact same strength and conditioning staff, so that’s not the problem.”
A good conditioning program isn’t going to help Matt Hasselbeck when a 240-pound high-speed projectile named Patrick Willis puts a shoulder pad into his back. When Leroy Hill exerts so much torque trying to make a tackle that he requires surgery on his groin, well, that’s not a conditioning issue as much as it is the result of a freakishly strong man pushing his body past what a human body is meant to withstand. Being fit won’t prevent the high ankle sprains suffered by Sean Locklear and Josh Wilson, and certainly wouldn’t keep time and wear and tear from catching up with Walter Jones’ knee.
If a dozen players were all out with similar leg pulls, then yeah, maybe it would be finger-pointing time. But that’s not the case for the Seahawks.
“This is a violent game and sometimes things happen and sometimes they come in bunches,” Mora said.
So blame incredibly bad luck if you need an answer for these injuries. Blame age when it comes to players like Jones or guard Mike Wahle, who retired before training camp because of a bad shoulder. Just don’t look at a team going through an unusual stretch of injuries and assume the strength and conditioning program is the problem.
“For some reason for this team that’s been our issue for the last year. . . .” Mora said. “Just to reiterate, our strength and conditioning staff is outstanding. Our trainers and medical staff are outstanding.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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