'They're fully bought in': Strength coach Justin Tress details first training session, address to Michigan team after promotion

Michigan Wolverines football saw associate head coach and director of strength and conditioning Ben Herbert head to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers with head coach Jim Harbaugh. New U-M head man Sherrone Moore moved quickly, almost immediately promoting Herbert’s former second in command, Justin Tress, to director of strength and conditioning.

Players were disappointed about Herbert’s departure, but they have familiarity with Tress, who spent the previous six years with the program. The 28-year-old was strategic about how he went about his first day in charge of the Michigan weight room.

“The first day, how I chose to address that was, we trained,” Tress said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “I didn’t give them a speech at the beginning; we just trained. And then I brought them up at the end and said, ‘Well, that was so different, wasn’t it?’ And they were kind of looking around like, ‘Is this a trick?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, no. No.’

“My message to them was, the reason why it wasn’t different is because of the standard they have set. They choose to come in and attack each day how they choose to. We help them facilitate their standard, but at the end of the day they make the choice each and every day. They kind of looked at me like, ‘I think you’re right.’”

It’s been that way ever since, Tress said, with Michigan preparing for spring practices that begin March 18.

“As each day progressed from that point on, it was, we’re doing pretty much the same things, the same way with the same detail,” Tress explained. “Now, how can we make it better? How can we tighten down those details? Yeah, they’re fully bought in, they’ve been rocking and rolling just like they have been in the past and it’s been good.”

‘Countless guys’ emerging as leaders for Michigan

Since Michigan lost a record 18 players who were invited to the NFL Combine — nearly its entire starting lineup on each side of the ball — there are not only new playmakers who need to step up, but a fresh batch of team leaders. Without naming names, Tress shared that he’s confident in that happening.

“Just guys that are excited to be the next man to take that role,” Tress said of what he’s seen. “And it’s not a whole big, let’s get on somebody and make this big scene. It’s simply just, ‘Hey, we don’t do that.’ Or, ‘Hey, fix that.’

“And you see that from countless guys. It’s hard to single out any one guy. But just as a group, collectively, the biggest thing is that they’re making the choice to come in and approach the day like they have in the past. And so, I don’t know exactly who all those leaders are going to be yet — I have a good idea — and we’ll let time tell us who that’s going to be.”

Under Harbaugh in recent years, Michigan has started spring practice in late February. But after playing 15 contests, including the Jan. 8 national championship game, and undergoing a staff change, the Wolverines moved the start date back about a month. That has impacted the winter training cycle, and Tress has liked the productivity.

“First off, it felt good because we don’t have to try to squeeze things into a condensed window,” Tress said. “We have time. We have a saying, ‘We have time, but we don’t have time to waste.’ So, it’s one, how can we maximize it? Two, how can I keep it from being monotonous? So, different challenges, different competitions.

“You see it — their bodies are changing. And around that fourth week, fifth week of the cycle, you start to see that. And as the guys are walking around, they’re starting to see it and feel it, the strength gains, the speed. Just how they look, they’re walking around with their chests out, as they should because they’ve been grinding. It’s been very special to just be able to finally have that time with them and get their feet underneath them.”

‘Life-changing experience’

Harbaugh moving on and Herbert going with him sent shockwaves through the Michigan team and community, but continuity remains in place with Moore and his staff, including Tress, in Ann Arbor. Tress didn’t expect an opportunity like the one he has now to come the way that it did, but he’s grateful for the chance.

“That’s a life-changing experience,” Tress said of his promotion. “It was a dream, and for it to come from my mentor, Ben Herbert … to take over after him, that’s something, things you only dream of. Nothing that I had envisioned happening, it’s not the way I envisioned it going. But so proud, so humbled just to be able to take over after him.”

Jansen mentioned that it’s now Tress’ weight room, but the Michigan strength coach made sure to point out the magic that’s been created was done so as a team effort by both coaches and players.

“At the end of the day, we built that thing together, and [Herbert] would say that, as well,” Tress said. “I’ve been with him every step of the way through here. It’s had its days — its ups, its downs. The 2-4 season to winning the national championship — I’ve seen the whole gamut.

“The key is, not a whole bunch has to change, in terms of what we do and how we do it. To put my stamp on it is simply just, I’m myself. Be myself the whole time, who I’ve been since I’ve gotten here; it’s gotten me to this point. And just continuing to build relationships with the players, that’s the biggest thing.”