Stronger
SCSU has an effective strength and conditioning coach in Thomas Stallworth
By THOMAS GRANT JR., T&D Senior Sports Writer
Sunday, July 16, 2006
An unsuspecting visitor to the Oliver C. Dawson Stadium weight room might initially confuse South Carolina State strength and conditioning coach Thomas Stallworth for a student-athlete.
It's been six years since Stallworth last played a down for the University of Tennessee, where he was a member of the 1998 national championship team. The 27-year-old former linebacker keeps himself in playing shape and the 500-pound squat lifts and 405-pound bench press he performs are similar to his high marks achieved in college.
"You look at him -- he's got that 'Mr. Clean' look," SCSU head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough said. "He's built like Gibraltar and those guys sees that and they try to emulate it. He's makes them measures up."
Once Stallworth's booming voice begins to shout instructions in the weight room over the booming hip hop music blasting from his beat box, it's quickly evident who's the instructor. Having gained the attention of those athletes in attendance for their daily workout, Stallworth demonstrates the proper way to complete a three repetition exercise which involves lunging forward while holding upright 100 pounds of weight equipment.
"It's not about the impact of the foot," Stallworth tells the players before starting their first reps. "It's about your foot speed, so I shouldn't here you all stomping! That's not the objective! It's about working on your first step!
Stallworth continues to yell instructions and provide encouragement as he closely watches the players going through their reps to makes sure they'll utilizing the right muscles. He does not hesitate to admonish a player who's not fulfilling the objective of this particular exercise, which like most of Stallworth's workout sessions, focuses primarily on strengthening the leg area.
"I always emphasize leg strength and leg endurance because all sports revolve around your leg -- strength, leg use, speed of the game, agility, quickness, all of that," Stallworth said. "No game is played with the upper body. It's all played with the lower body."
"It's a tough job," said Pough about being a strength and conditioning coach. "It's not a job where you generally can be real friendly. You have to make people do a lot of what they don't want to do sometimes. But he fits that role perfectly."
FROM ROCKY TOP TO BULLDOG COUNTRY
Such diligence is why Pough saw Stallworth as a good fit to fill the vacant position of school strength and conditioning coach. Despite no previous experience, the Lathonia, Ga. native and Volunteers' graduate assistant made a strong impression during the interview two years ago with Pough and athletics director Charlene Johnson and has quickly done the same with the SCSU student-athletes.
"He came over with high recommendations," Pough said. "One of our coach's son (running backs coach Gerald Harrison) who's involved in that staff up there (UT administrative assistant/high school relations Gerald Harrison Jr.) who kind of got both of us together. We got him down here and got him in front of Mrs. Johnson because he's technically a hire for the entire department and they hit it off."
Along with the recommendations, Stallworth brought a rich pedigree from Tennessee in the form of knowledge acquired from a slew of associate coaches such as Chris Carlisle (Southern Cal), Tommy Moffitt (LSU) and Noel Durfey (Ole Miss) who are now strength and conditioning coaches at other Division I-A programs.
"Coming from Tennessee, it was a program that's always had a bloodline for developing credible strength and conditioning coaches," he said. "I've been blessed to have been trained by a lot of credible guys that bought an enjoyment and enlightenment to me about the field. So once I found that, it made me want to do it."
'AN ATHLETIC STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH'
Once Stallworth arrived at SCSU, he found specifically with the football team a high number of players with "overdeveloped" physiques which left them ill-suited to have success in their particular sport. Implementing a training program which focuses on making weight room strength translate to the playing field, Stallworth alternates weekdays between lifting weights and working on agility and coordination drills.
"You can have some guys that are strong in the weight room, but don't have it on the field," he said. "It's more about a confidence and a motivational thing."
While Stallworth said offensive lineman James Lee, quarterback Cleveland McCoy, running backs Deshawn Baker and Jo Jo McFadden, BANDIT Marshall McFadden and linebacker Tony White are among the team's strongest players, he still finds himself on occasion having to re-establish his own physical prowess.
"There are times where guys jokingly challenge me to something and I get out there and perform it, whether it's conditioning, lifting weights or what not," Stallworth said. "The ability to show proof in your work is important because this generation of athletes now that they believe that you have to show some kind of credibility for them to perform. I always tell them that I'm not going to do anything that I've never done and I'm not going to ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself."
Stallworth does cater his workouts towards certain positions as quarterbacks are more opt to focus more arm strength and speed rather than offensive lineman. Regardless of the position and sport, Stallworth makes sure the demands are met equally.
"He's an athletic strength and conditioning guy," Pough said. "He understands speed. He understands conditioning. He understands strength. He understands the different kids of exercise that it takes for the different sports. He knows what part of a body needs to be strong for an individual in their sport. He has the whole package and in football, it's no different than the rest of our sports. Our guys know that when they go in there that he's going to be proficient in what particular style of what needs to be done and our team is different because of it."
'HE STAYS ON YOU'
Under Stallworth, the SCSU football team has gradually improved in overall strength and durability the past two seasons, according to Pough. He also sees a team which now measures up physically with the Hampton's and Bethune-Cookman's.
"We've been, in the past, a little bit of a sloppy-looking football team and we're starting to look like a much better football team. They're aren't very many fat cats out there and they know that they can't hang if they're fat cats. They've got to be able to make it through those workouts and if they do, then they'll much better because of it."
Stallworth's style is more than appreciated by SCSU offensive linemen Clyde Reed and Raymond Harrison, two players who earned All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors last season.
"He stays on you, Reed said. "He makes you finish your reps, makes you give you're all and do your best."
"He never lets you slack up," Harrison said. "He always keeps the pressure on you when you work out. He tries to get the best out of you."
With the entire team attending voluntary workouts with Stallworth during the second summer session, the Bulldogs are hoping to continue to build from last year's voluntary workouts which produce a more physically imposing and durable squad.
"My upper body has gotten way stronger since I started working with him," Harrison said. "It's easier to move people around."
"Coming from Tennessee, he brings something new to us that we've never done before," Reed said. "So everybody is taking heed to it and getting stronger and getting better and getting into shape."
If SCSU needed any added motivation, Stallworth has been known as a last resort to pull out his 1998 Volunteers' national championship ring. He did this in 2004 when SCSU tied with Hampton for the MEAC regular-season title, but Stallworth now believes the best way he's helping the school is by getting all the student-athletes into championship shape.
"Every person has a right to their own legacy in some way," he said. "My time as a player is over, now it's my time as a coach. So, I want to create a legacy of sorts with that."
T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at
[email protected] or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT&D.com.