‘In Shape’ Has New Meaning For Virginia Football

The Virginia football team hopes Taquan Mizzell has a big year.
Virginia’s Taquan Mizzell works on punt returns at practice where the Hoos work at a fast pace. ~ Kris Wright

From the middle of the Virginia football practice field, a voice booms out instructions. At the moment, it’s the start of practice, the ready prep warm-up period that needs to be perfected by every player on the team. That new Director of Football Performance Frank Wintrich is the one shouting at the time is not surprising.

Wintrich continues with air-piercing directives throughout practice, though. His voice serves as a metronome of sorts for a practice that steadily and rhythmically shifts from one drill to the next. A whistle blows. Wintrich barks through some short instructions. Bodies scatter to the next location.

UVA’s players are used to that voice. It’s been ringing in their ears for months. Wintrich, after all, is in charge of the strength and conditioning phase of Bronco Mendenhall’s resurrection efforts with Virginia football. In order to play at the tempo with the effort Mendenhall demands, players must be physically fit.

”These workouts have been the hardest thing workout wise that we’ve done since we’ve been in college and everybody feels unstoppable,” Cavalier defensive tackle Donte Wilkins said. ”The mindset has totally changed. Everybody feels like they can win and everybody knows they can win. Everybody knows that they can beat the guy in front of them.”

...