One new condition

When fans go to watch spring practice they might be surprised to see extra activity on the sideline. What fans see are Marshall football players getting in more conditioning work with weight work and running drills.

And the man behind those conditioning drills helped in the development of University of Florida players who won two National Championships.

After five years at Florida, Frank Piraino jumped at a chance to work with head coach Doc Holliday at Marshall.

"It's great to be here because coach Holliday is here," Piraino said. "When he first called me I was in a pretty good situation down in Florida, so I thought twice about what I was going to do, if I was going to come or not. But once I got talking to Doc, knowing how he does things, I knew he was going to win here."

And when Holliday talked to Piraino, he was the first coach that was contacted about joining the new Marshall staff.

"Frank's the best strength coach in America," Holliday said. "The first call I made when I had the opportunity to get this job was to Frank to find a strength coach. He's the most important guy on the staff."

Piraino coached with Holliday at Florida, and when he came to Marshall, the passion from not only the fans but from Holliday was apparent.

And now that he is here he said the decision to come to Marshall was the right one.

"There is a great following here. Great tradition. We've got great facilities, and the people here treat us great," Piraino said. "They love Marshall football here, so a lot of people want to reach out here and do stuff to help us." 

When he was named strength and conditioning coach in January, Piraino wasted no time in getting his team ready for the season.

And for Holliday, he knows that with Piraino it's not just about getting his team stronger physically, but also getting stronger mentally.

"The job he did while he was at the University of Florida was just unbelievable and he's carried it over to here," Holliday said. "With him our strength program isn't all about strength, it's about discipline. It's about developing toughness, accountability, doing the right things and he challenges those guys every day in the weight room in all those areas and he does a great job of getting results."

And getting results is what Piraino has done. Defensive tackle Brandon Bullock entered the start of spring practice having lost 32 pounds.

He said that it was the constant watching and discipline from Piraino that pushed him to lose the weight.

"It was just discipline, watching what I eat and hard work," Bullock said. "He made sure I came in two times a day to make sure I eat the right things. He always told me if I had a question of what not to eat, to just give him a call."

And as spring practice concludes with the Green and White game on Saturday, Piraino's work is just getting started.

When spring semester is over players are allowed to go home for the month of May, but then return in June for five-days a week workouts and summer school.

But as Piraino works with the team for the summer, he is focusing on more than just strength. He focuses on changing the attitude of the players.

"Coach Holliday put it best in our first team meeting, the thing we have to change most is the culture." Piriano said. "The culture here over the last five years here has not been focused on winning. You have to create a winning attitude more than any conditioning aspect."

And with the players they are more than willing to except what the coaching staff is trying to teach them.

"We've more bought into the system," Bullock said. "The way we practice and the the tempo we practice at in the weight room with off season conditioning is as hard as it can get. But we fought through it and we're going to get better. Us as a whole, we're trying to be better and trying to win a championship."

Kyle Hobstetter can be contacted at hobstetter@marshall.edu