Nevada out to toughen image
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
RENO, Nev. — The Aloha Spirit can be found at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, where former Hawai'i resident Georgia Oshima apologizes for dealing herself a blackjack at the Reno Hilton & Casino.
It is in the WWF-styled men, covered in leather vests and Crayola-colored tattoos, who embrace and share pictures of their true love — their Harleys, which they will ride in this week's street festival.
It is in the Motor Lodge sign, which boasts of such ammenties as "HBO, A/C, happy people," and in University of Nevada sports information director Jamie Klund, who smiled graciously when a visiting reporter marveled at the quality of Mackay Stadium's field. (Note: The grass is artificial.)
But everyone knows where nice guys finish, and that is why Nevada football coach Chris Tormey, whose team finished 2-10 last year and is 0-2 this season, is trying to ditch the good-neighbor policy.
"We need to develop a tougher attitude," said Tormey, whose team plays host to Hawai'i tomorrow.
As the Wolf Pack players entered Mackay for yesterday afternoon's practice, hip-hop music blasted from the stadium scoreboard.
Several players wore T-shirts that read: "The Law of the Jungle."
"We're trying to become a stronger and more physical team than we were last year," Tormey said.
Last season, Nevada's first in the Western Athletic Conference, was a 12-week hazing. Twelve freshmen were on the two-deep chart; there were five seniors. Strength was not the Wolf Pack's strength.
"There was not an urgency of the players to be in the weight room," said John Archer, the team's conditioning coach.
Archer was hired just prior to the start of last season, too late to help a team in which only two players could bench press 400 pounds.
"We had guys who weren't physically ready to play the game of football," Archer said.
At the end of the season, Archer implemented a conditioning program he used when he was an assistant at Nebraska. He focused on two types of lifts — hang cleans, in which the weights are lifted from the knees to the chest, and squats, in which a lifter must rise to a standing position while securing the bar on his back and shoulders.
Instead of running 220-yard distances, the Wolf Pack players worked on sprinting for 10 yards, pausing, then sprinting another 10 yards. The drill is designed to boost a player's "explosiveness."
In the summer of 2000, six of the 60 players in town worked out daily. This year, 47 of 67 worked out.
"We went from dragging people into the weight room one year to, 'OK, you've done enough today,'" Archer said.
Archer said there now are 12 players who can bench press 400 pounds. Two players can squat 600 pounds.
"Out of 33 (school) strength records, we broke 28 this year," Archer said.
Defensive tackle Horacio Leyva has made the greatest improvement. At the end of last season, Leyva could bench press 360 pounds. Now, he can bench press 415. He also can squat 540 pounds.
"Last summer, he skimped out on us," Archer said. "When it came to game time, he was gasping. But this offseason, he showed up every day. He did the program. He's a complete player."
While the goal is "to win now," Tormey said, it probably will take a few more years before Nevada has the overall strength and depth comparable to the WAC's top-tier programs. Nevada has filled 75 of the 85 available scholarships.
"We're building with freshmen, and we might have to bite the bullet," Tormey said.
NOTES: Hawai'i defensive tackle Mike Iosua did not make the trip because of a hyper-extended right knee. Defensive end Houston Ala will replace Iosua at left tackle, Joe Correia will start at right end and Keani Alapa will open at strong-side linebacker. ... Mackay Stadium has FieldTurf, the same type of artificial grass that the University of Nebraska and St. Louis School have installed.
