McCoy coming back for more of 'Mount Schmitty'
Published: 6/24/2010 11:18 PM
Last Modified: 6/24/2010 11:18 PM
When players leave the Oklahoma football program, the knee-jerk reaction of some fans is to blame Jerry Schmidt. He's the strength and condtioning maven whose offesason workouts are notorious.
I sort of thought something Bob Stoops said leading up to the national championship game two years ago might change those opinions.
"It's pretty much spoken around here that if you have a problem with 'Schmitty,' don't go see Coach," Stoops told the New York Times. "I'm always in his corner."
Now, an OU player has come strong on Schmidt's behalf. A pretty vaulued one at that.
Tampa Bay first-round draft pick Gerald McCoy told the St. Petersburg Times he is returning to Norman. There, he will join current Sooners in Schmidt's boot camp.
"A lot of people have heard how intense our summer workouts are," McCoy told the paper. "I’m going to go back and get involved with those to get me in shape so when I come back I’ll be in shape in camp.
"Our workouts are so intense. Our strength coach, he’s built a little hill called 'Mount Smitty.' The hill is like torture. He’s like a military-based trainer. He’s been with coach Stoops for a long time."
From the beginning. Stoops has sworn by him since. He still does. And now McCoy does as well.
"You’ve never seen Oklahoma lose a game because we were out of shape," McCoy said. "We’ve lost games because we played badly or got beat. We never lose a game because we’re out of shape. That’s due to the strength and conditioning program."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
