Tuesday, October 22, 2013

UGA's injury situation: bad luck or coaching?



For those of us who are Georgia fans, we are clearly not watching the same team that beat South Carolina and LSU. Some are blaming the offensive coordination, some are blaming the defensive coordination, and some are blaming the injuries. All three are to blame to some degree, but out of these, the injuries seem to have impacted UGA the most, despite the unbelievably mediocre defense Grantham has been fielding.

If injuries are in fact the major culprit for UGA's decline, then the coaches should be off the hook, right? Not necessarily. In this piece, I would like to further explore part of the coaching staff that is behind the team we see on the field.

A good and esteemed friend of mine, Bo Mann, brought the following piece on reddit to my attention:
http://au.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1oy4n5/thoughts_on_ugas_injuries_and_bad_luck_from/.

Bo, Jeremy, and I (sometimes JD) typically like to analyze the causes behind the effects in sports. That is, with the recent influx of injuries, some may just say it's bad luck, but others like to dig deeper and explore.

The piece from reddit basically promoted the notion that strength and conditioning coordinators should have some kind of Kinesiological (exercise science, physical education, etc) background or experience in the area. Further, the author challenged UGA's coach staff for this lack of experience. The reddit piece prompted me to dig a little deeper...

I examined the programs I consider to be UGA's peers - the other 5 traditional SEC Powers, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Tennessee - to assess the qualifications and experience of their strength and conditioning coaches.  Below is a chart with information from the school's official athletic website:


School
Coach
Degree(s)/Experience
Alabama
Scott Cochran
B.S., Kinesiology (LSU)
M.S., Sport Management (LSU)           

Asst Strength Coach (New Orleans Hornets)
Asst Strength Coach (LSU)
2008/2011 S & C Coach of the Year (Samson)

Auburn
Ryan Russell
B.S., Exercise Science (West Liberty State)

Director of Athletic Performance (Ark State)
Strength and Conditioning Internship (Pitt)
Strength and Conditioning Internship (L’Ville)

Professional certifications: CSCS, SCCC, SNC

Florida
Jeff Dillman
B.S., Exercise Science (Appalachian State)

Head of Physical Conditioning (IMG)
Director of Strength and Conditioning (App St)
Asst Strength and Conditioning (LSU)
Asst Strength and Conditioning (La-Monroe)

Member of Collegiate S & C Coaches Assc

Georgia
Joe Tereshinski
Degree not listed

Asst Strength and Conditioning (UGA)
Asst Offense Line and Special Teams (UGA)
Video and Game Analysis Coord (UGA)
Walk-on Program Director (UGA)
Annual Football Gala Director (UGA)

LSU
Tommy Moffitt
Degree not listed

2000 Football S & C Coach of the Year (Professional Football S&C Coaches Society)
Head Strength and Conditioning (Miami)
1998 Big East Strength Coach of Year
Assoc Strength and Conditioning (Tenn)

Tennessee
Dave Lawson
B.S., Physical Education (West Va Tech)
M.S., Physical Education (West Va)

2009 Master Strength and Cond Coach
Asst AD, Dir of Sport Perf and S & C (Cin)
Director of Strength and Condition (Cent Mich)
Head Strength and Conditioning (East Mich)
Asst Strength and Conditioning (West Va)

Certified S & C Coach


Unfortunately, Joe Terenshinski, UGA's strength and conditioning coordinator, seems to fall significantly behind his peer coaches.  Let me be clear: the point of this article is not to point a finger and blame a coach for all of UGA's injuries. Injuries are an inevitable part of football. However, it does raise the question: why does UGA have such a relatively unqualified strength and conditioning coach? 

Further, while Terenshinki cannot prevent all injuries, would a more qualified and experienced S & C coach reduce the number of ACL/season-ending injuries happening to UGA players? 

What are your thoughts?

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