Is your workout format any different than it has been in past years?

Pat Ivey: "Basically, it's the same format. We reevaluate everything we do every day. Monday's still our speed technique day, Tuesday's still our lateral speed and agility day, Thursday's still our acceleration day, Friday's still our anaerobic conditioning day. None of those things have changed . Our warm-up's still the same. Virtually nothing has changed. Every year, the program has evolved, but nothing has changed."

But you are doing all your workouts in the morning this year, skipping the afternoon sessions.

PI: "The reason why we do that is because we're in a facility without air conditioning. Usually we had a morning group of 7 and an afternoon group at 130. If we went at 130, what that would mean is we would run outside for an hour, we would come in here and lift for an hour and then they would have to go 7 on 7. You're looking at a total, from start to finish, by the time they finish seven on seven, you're looking at about five hours in the heat. That is not possible to rehydrate yourself enough if you're in those conditions. If we have a string of 90 degree days, they would not be able to rehydrate themselves. We would probably have to give those guys IV's just to train. We thought it would be cooler in the morning. Something we always have done is on Fridays, go 630 and 9 so we thought we would just make that Monday, Tuesday and Thursday also, just like we've always done on Fridays."

How long are these guys working out then?

PI: "It's up to them. What we have on paper is about an hour and maybe five minutes left or five minutes more. But if you're talking about Brad Ekwerekwu, he's gonna keep up with Tommy Saunders. We have to tell Tommy to get out of the weight room. Those wide receivers, the standard is pretty high. They know, if they're going to compete with guys like Tommy and Ek, they have to put in extra, so they ask us all the time, 'Coach, what can I do to work on my form, what can I do to work on my speed, my explosiveness.' When you're done with the workout, come see me, we'll do some extra stuff."

There has been a lot of talk in speaking with some of the guys, about the incoming freshman class and how impressive those guys have been early on. Is this as good a group of newcomers as you have had?

PI: "That's also, I think, a testament to the leadership and the attitude that's on this team. If there wasn't good leadership, if the environment wasn't as positive and intense as it is, they would not be held to that standard. They wouldn't know what the standard was. Yes, we have a very talented group. In my opinion, coaches did an excellent job of recruiting a very good group of character guys first and athletes as well. Those guys have come in and done a real good job. They're in great cardiovascular shape and they're very athletic."

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