Devils Digest recently sat down with Arizona State’s Sports Performance’s Head Coach to discuss the football team’s strength and conditioning program, players who have stood out during the Sun Devils’ workouts and if a weight room warrior often equals to having success on the gridiron.

For some people in Maricopa County, the middle of July is nothing more than the dog days of summer. For ASU football players, this is probably the most important time of the year in their preseason preparations…

Griswold: “This summertime is basically my end season trying to get these guys ready and being as physically fit as they can be especially with our style of play. Knock on wood, trying to be in the Top-5 as far as fewest missed starts. Last year we had three: two by Jordan Simone and one by Demario Richard. So we have done a pretty good job keeping guys on the field. That also obviously has to do with how hard our kids work, as well as our medical staff, and Jerry Neilly and the equipment staff. It also comes down to Coach Graham being an old-school coach and a fundamentals guy and that is also a huge component keeping our guys healthy and on the field.”

The strength and conditioning staff are the ones that spend the most time with players. In essence, you are the first coaches the players will see when they return to campus after the season ends. Did you notice different mindset with the team following the 6-7 season compared to the year before coming off a 10-3 record?

Griswold: “Hard to say because every team is different. We graduated so many kids so this (season’s) team is a lot younger than teams in the past. Our offensive line has four new starters. I know this team is very hungry. They didn't like being 6-7 nor did I. Myself and my staff put a great plan and so far we had a good six months (of workouts).”

When you come off such a rough year, again comparing it to a 10-win season, do you feel that the motivation has come more from your staff or have the players themselves been highly self-motivated?

Griswold: “It’s hard to go back to back 10-win seasons, but that’s what we are obviously striving for, year in and year out, to win the Pac-12 championship. I know they are hungry and they know the level of my expectations from them. So that hasn’t changed.”

Who are some the leaders you feel have emerged through the six months of workouts?

Griswold: “I tell coach (Graham) all the time that we have more leadership across the board and there aren’t a lot of single standout guys. Ellis (Jefferson) and Manny (Wilkins) do a good job. Sam Jones…I think there are going to be more people that are talking on gameday. If something goes bad on defense, you’ll see some guys on offense coming down there and talking to them to pick them up. That’s what happened when Will Sutton was here. Last year was just different.”

How do the winter workouts differ from the summer ones?

Griswold: “In the winter we are still going to get stronger and make body mass changes, but we are not conditioning nearly at the same level as we do in the summer. We still lift in the summer but we add a lot of the running then. In the winter it is more speed development stuff. In the winter and in the summer they train the same: eight hours a week, two hours a day.

“You can’t be in great shape year-round, the body can’t do it and something will break down. The nice thing about college sports is that you have your season, off-season, you have your spring ball, and after a break in May you have your summer workouts.

The in-season program obviously has to be scaled back, what does that entail?

Griswold: “During spring ball I have to scale some, but not a lot. Practices are still hard but we are not trying to get them ready for gameday. In the season, the freshmen go three times a week and the veterans go twice.”

Even though you have only been here five years, Aside from DelVaughn Alexander you are the only member of the coaching staff who has been with Todd Graham at ASU since he first arrived following the 2011 season. What are some the strides that the strength and conditioning program has made in these five years?

Griswold: “The fact that we have been in the Top-5 in keeping guys on the field ever since we got here. Salamo Fiso, knock on wood, hasn’t been hurt his entire career. D.J. Calhoun came in at 184 lbs. and now he’s at 230. In previous years we were able to put some guys on the ‘freaks list’ a few times which is kind of fun. The changes we have made to the weight room have been successful.

“When you stay at one place long enough you are able to see the development of some of these kids. Since being at Utah State this is the first time I've ever been at one place for five years. It’s nice to see the kids that you recruited, taking them until the very end of their college career. When you’re at one place long enough you have to make sure the program is still evolving. We have our core values of what we do, but you still have to keep it fresh for our guys. Salamo’s workouts are tailor made this year so he can go into his senior season NFL ready and make progress. Now come testing time you won’t see huge jumps, you won’t see him gain six inches in his broad jump from his junior year to his senior year. But you still want to see him gain that half inch or that extra rep at 225 lbs”

There is always a fine line on the field between over coaching and letting your players play to their abilities. As strength and conditioning coach, do you find yourself at times stepping back and scaling back the coaching when you have a weight room freak like a Carl Bradford or a Christian Westerman?

Griswold: “No, you still have to coach because there is so much to it. Guys like that or like a Tim White, are wired differently. Even though they are so strong and so explosive you have to make sure you have the right program for them. Every player has their own program tailored to their strengths and also to their position.”

There is a lot of excitement over the stadium renovation project, and the new Football Operations building which will be completed in 2017 is just as significant as the upgraded seating and amenities. What are some of the benefits that the strength and conditioning component of the program will realize once that facility is built?

Griswold: “The weight room will be will be bigger than what we have now and it will be more of a rectangular shape. It will be two stories and it’s all glass and will overlook the north side of the stadium. It will have 17 (weight) racks and we will have a unique rack we’ll talk about more when we open the building regarding Pat Tillman. It’s ordering all new equipment, everything from clamps to benches to bars, it’s a big process.”

You talk about always evolving as a strength and conditioning program and not being stagnant. I would have to think that being just a year away from a brand new weight room would naturally help here…

Griswold: “Oh absolutely. Anytime you get to design something like this, you only have one shot at it. You want to make sure that it’s unique. We’ll have a cardio deck on top…it will be one of the best in the country, until someone builds something newer. It’s just the way that it goes.”

It’s probably impossible to overstate the recruiting benefit of this facility. From a strength and conditioning perspective, what are some of the stuff that will be implemented to make that element attractive from a recruiting standpoint?

Griswold: “We will have a mural wall with the hammer and break the rock and we will have some other things that will put our twist on it, showing what my values are and what coach’s values are.”

The Fit Bit wristband is a popular sports science device for people who want to stay in shape or monitor their physical activity. Do you use a similar device, which is probably more enhanced for the players, during workouts or even during games?

Griswold: “We’re just in the process of getting this. It’s called Catapult and it’s a GPS tracking system. We used it a little bit in the fall, we used it on 12 kids during spring ball and now we’ll have 24 units in the fall. It goes into their shoulder pads and the players would never feel it or know it’s there. It gives us yardage, top speed…as much as you want to get out of it. It will help me help with the coaches when you can talk about who can return to play from an injury. Sometimes you have to watch kids’ yardage like Tim White, who was over 7,000 yards in a bunch of practices. You worry that if you’re doing that in November and stress isn’t infinite, something will break.

“It’s a really good tool to evaluate daily what we are doing.”

You mention Tim White’s 7,000 yards in practice. What are some other impressive numbers you have seen players post?

Griswold: “It was interesting seeing the kids come down and take a look at their yardage, their explosive movements, and their top speed. People say Demario Richard isn’t fast; he hit 20 mph during one of the practices. So you can’t say he isn’t fast. The proof is right there.”

Even though the team has a nutritionist, as the strength and conditioning coach you probably also have some involvement in the nutrition aspect…

Griswold: “The nutrition part is something that we have to keep ramping up and we have to do a better job of it. During the school year they get a lunch upstairs and during the summer they get a meal here. We have (nutritional) bars and shakes; three different kinds of chocolate milk…some guys get hand-make shakes tailor-made for them that have 800 calories.

“Because it’s collegiate (regulated) there is only so many options because it has to be in compliance, and there are some products we like and some we don’t. So it isn’t hard to choose what to use, and if your kids don’t like you won’t use it. If there is something that kids like and we can use, we tend to add it.”

I always get this question from fans: who is the fastest player on the team?

Griswold: “I would say Cam (Smith), Gump (De’Chavon Hayes), (Kalen) Ballage and Tim (White). It just depends on how far you will run them.”

Is that something you deliberately evaluate?

Griswold: “I don’t time them in the 40 (yard dash). I wouldn’t do it in the summer time because I would be afraid I would get someone hurt. People pull hamstrings all the time doing that. In the winter time when we are doing the Tour of Duty with the coaches, their legs are shot and they are not ready to run and if you do you’re asking for trouble.

“But we have competitive races, a lot of top-end speed work in the summer. So you can tell who’s fast.”

When playing at such a high tempo on both sides of the ball, does it really put the onus on the player to make sure he’s achieving an acceptable level of speed, something that may be the biggest motivating factor in workouts?

Griswold: “If you’re not in good shape – you can’t play. If you can’t think because you get tired, you won’t be a productive player and that goes on both sides of the ball. We play our starters on special teams so you have to be in good shape.”

Who in your opinion are the strongest players on the team?

Griswold: “Sam Jones is our top power clean guy, and Quinn Bailey is right there too in the 350’s. Demario hits 330 on the power clean which is impressive. Benching wise, Renell Wren and Christian Hill are both well over 400 lbs. benchers. When it comes to squatting Sam and Demario are really good.

“So you see a lot of guys making progress and we are a young team without a lot of seniors.”

I know you’ve said in the past that there are naturally different workout programs for newcomers and veterans, but are there also challenges in implementing different workouts among the different players in each group?

Griswold: “I would say yes and no. We are with these players so much that we do know their bodies almost as well as they do. Last week we ran really hard on Wednesday after the 4th of July weekend, and on Thursday they came in and started to do power cleans and it just didn't look good. So I scrapped that and we went to the pool to do recovery workout. Friday we had a big conditioning day and we could see that it (Thursday’s workout) was the right decision and we ran really well that day.

“So you always have to adjust your workouts just like a coach would make adjustments in a game.”

Is it typical for you to review game film just like the coaches do, and rather than identify assignment errors, etc., you identify where a player may be lacking in strength and/or conditioning?

Griswold: “During the season we talk to the coaches almost daily about that stuff. We watch a lot of film just like the kids do on their iPads. It’s just one more thing in your toolbox to make these kids the best they can be. I’m always a big part of watching recruiting film.”

So when it comes to recruiting do you rely more on the film, or the in-person meeting with a prospect when it comes to your evaluation?

Griswold: “For me, it’s much easier to see them in-person. I don’t watch recruiting film like the coaches watch it. Coach Thomsen will ask me to look at a recruit and tell him if he can get to a certain size and I’ll tell him ‘yes he can, it may two years.’ Then you have someone like Quinn Bailey who came in and already had girth and size, so I know he’ll be ready sooner.”

It seems like yoga is becoming more and more a popular workout for football players on all levels. Is that something you give your blessing to and do those players partaking in yoga show improved performance in their workouts?

Griswold: “There are guys that like to do it which is fine. It’s definitely not going to hurt them. We do a ton of flexibility work here too, but some of that stuff…you are what you are. It’s not going to suddenly make you super limber if you’re not super limber. If you want a fast team, you have to give me fast kids. We can’t take a kid that runs a 4.9 and make him run a 4.5. It doesn’t work that way.”

You've only had a couple of weeks to work with the newcomers. Who are some of the first-year players that have been standing out to you?

Griswold: “Deion (Guignard) the junior college safety has been doing pretty well. N’Keal (Harry) is obviously a freak and works extremely hard. Those two have been phenomenal and it’s been fun watching them work every day.”

Do you feel that in recent years there is more awareness by true freshmen to have their own strength and conditioning training program take place before they even step foot at ASU?

Griswold: “It’s really hit and miss. It depends on the kid and on the high school. The Latu boys – it’s not their fault that the high school really didn't have a (strength and conditioning) program.”

In your experience, is there usually a correlation between a player having a monster January through July workout session and having a highly productive season in the fall?

Griswold: “You’d hope that would be the case. I tell players all the time, just because you’re extremely dynamic and very strong in here, doesn’t mean you can play good football. Most times, your best football players aren’t great here (in the weight room). We just try to the bridge the gap between the two. Sometimes you get a Christian Westerman or a Jamil Douglas that are excellent here and excellent out there. And then you have Tashon Smallwood who had his injuries last year and still played at a high level last fall. This year he had seven months of training and is doing really well, so we’ll be able to see if he can translate that and be even better.”

Funny you mention Smallwood because he may not be the physical specimen like other players on the team…

Griswold: “That’s what I’m saying. People think that you have to look like a freak to be a good player and that’s just not true. Some guys are just really good dang football players.”

Now one physical specimen on the team is Cam Smith. While he was rehabbing his knee injury and was limited in his lower body workouts, he really went to town developing his upper body…

Griswold: “Absolutely. He is very disciplined in what he does nutrition wise. The other day when we are in the pool and he has his shirt off, you can tell how hard he trained. He wants to be a bodybuilder when he’s done playing so that’s part of it too.”

When listing the concerns of the team going into the season, an inexperienced offensive line comes up often. From a strength and conditioning perspective, what have you seen from this group the last six months?

Griswold: “I’m extremely happy with this group. They haven’t lost a lot of weight but they have really leaned up. Quinn Bailey, Sam Jones, Stephon McCray, Steve Miller…all of those guys have looked great. Evan Goodman is having the best summer he has ever had. I’m very happy with where we are with this group.”

Is this offensive line following the NFL trend and really toeing the fine line between being physical yet athletic enough to run a fast-paced scheme?

Griswold: “Yes. This is a good group. They’re obviously young, but we have a lot of players that can play multiple spots. Even if we were a pro-style offense, I still would condition the way I do, because most teams you play are up tempo. If you don’t condition to play at a high pace, some teams will run right through you. In the college landscape, I think you really have to be in good shape. In the NFL it’s different. Not that the college game isn’t physical, but the NFL game is really physical.

“I talked to Jamil Douglas (second-year player for the Miami Dolphins) and he told me that there were days he couldn’t even walk. It’s a grown man’s game.”

We all marvel at what Tim White has done not only as a junior college transfer excelling both as a wide receiver and a kick returner but also competing in the triple jump at such a high level even though he wasn’t training full-time with the track and field team. With White seemingly being spread so thin, how did you handle his strength and conditioning regimen?

Griswold: “Between my assistant Chris (Desrosiers) that works with the track program and Coach Kraft we did some different things. So in the winter if Monday was his big jump day, I wouldn’t have him squat the next day. We would scale back the running if he had an event that weekend. After spring ball we just let him do the track program.

“I don’t worry about Tim because he is such a unique athlete. He hasn’t been running as much as we (the football team) have been running, but he’s such a different caliber athlete. Just the way he bounces, he’s just wired differently. I’m not concerned about him being in shape. I’m more concerned about how we manage him in October and November, playing special teams and if he plays both ways…there were times last year where he was playing over 80 snaps. It will be interesting to follow him on the GPS device (Catapult) and see if on gameday he’s still as powerful and strong. Is he still dynamic and is he recovering the right way? We have to make sure that we are managing that.”

JoJo Wicker had a strong freshman year and a solid spring for that matter too. I know you said there isn’t always a correlation between being a standout in the weight room and displaying improved play on the field, but as someone who is going through his first full strength and conditioning program, there is probably a good chance Wicker is one player who could elevate his play to a higher level this year…

Griswold: “He has had a great winter and a great summer. As a true freshman he wasn’t very strong and now he’s stronger than he has ever been. He’s training hard and it will be interesting to see how much better he can be.

“He’s leaned out quite a bit and he’s happy at his body weight which is about 270 lbs. He’s a speed guy and when you watch him run, for a defensive lineman he can flat out scoot. He has a different motor. I think we have helped with some of that just getting him stronger. That will help him with the pass rush. He’s someone that can play sideline to sideline.”

You mentioned D.J. Calhoun earlier, and just to see his before and after pictures from his freshman to his junior year, you can’t help but be impressed with the body transformation he has made…

Griswold: “And that is why we take those profile pictures every year. We take it so the NFL can see it because a picture is worth a thousand words as the old adage goes. And the kid can see it too because even they can’t really see the changes and they look at themselves in the mirror every day. But when they look at a picture, it’s like ‘wow.’

“The pictures also help us with some injury stuff. Like Malik (Lawal) who was coming back from a knee injury. We look at the picture and you can really see that his one quadriceps isn’t as big as the other, so that told us that we had to add extra (workouts) for him so he won’t hurt that knee again.”

I picked Laiu Moeakiola as an X-Factor player this year, but for him to improve this season he’ll have to come into the season 100 percent healthy. What have you’ve seen from him in strength and conditioning sessions?

Griswold: “He has had a real nice summer. He’s power cleaning and squatting really well again. With benching, we’ll take our time since this is his second shoulder surgery. My biggest thing for him right now is getting him in shape and getting him as strong and explosive as possible, getting him to be healthy through his senior season.

“Him not being on the field – that changes a lot of stuff. There’s no question.”

Were they any veterans you would describe as surprises during the summer workout program?

Griswold: “Not really. Our expectations of those guys are that they will be great in everything they do. Manny Wilkins has gained a lot of strength in his upper body. Jalen Harvey had a very nice winter and summer which is great coming off the broken collarbone from last fall.”

The preseason media Pac-12 poll came out and it placed ASU 5th in the South division. I know Coaches and players don’t pay much attention to that poll and already knew what the outside expectations of ASU are. As the strength and conditioning coach do you feel the team can be improved from last year?

Griswold: “Absolutely. I feel very good at where we are at right now. That part I’m not concerned about at all. I rather not be picked first anyway.”