Wisconsin football has been known for its strength and conditioning program for several years, getting the most out of its athletes. For many years, Ben Herbert was the coach responsible.
Herbert followed Bret Bielema from Wisconsin to Arkansas, and now he’s officially bringing his talents to Ann Arbor. As first reported here, Herbert has joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff.
Harbaugh did not renew former strength coach Kevin Tolbert’s contract after a disappointing season.
"We've been emphasizing [strength]. We need to do that," Harbaugh said after a loss to Ohio State. "We need improvement, and we need to get stronger. We need to get better. That's our mission."
Tolbert was with the team through the Outback Bowl, but Herbert takes over for winter conditioning. He was strength and conditioning coach for 11 years at Wisconsin and was at Arkansas for five years.
“He was a very big part of the physical development of those Bret Bielema teams during the three-year Rose Bowl run at Wisconsin,” BadgerBlitz.com’s John Veldhuis said. “At the time, when he left for Arkansas, Barry Alvarez was hoping they could get him to stay. The SEC money down there … they could afford to pay him more.
“He got a lot of the credit for building up, in particular, those offensive lines where they had all but one guy go to the NFL, and the last guy was too injured to go. Those guys were guys Ben Herbert developed in the weight room.”
There was a noticeable difference under head coach Gary Anderson, he continued.
“By the end of their run in 2014, the weight room philosophy changed enough where the Badgers weren’t able to physically match up against Ohio State in the 2014 title game,” he said. “They felt that was a big reason they got smoked in that game. Wisconsin never had the same athletes as a team like OSU has, but in the past they were able to physically stack up and beat them. They could not in those two years after Ben Herbert left.”
In his 15 total seasons at Wisconsin, Herbert was part of 14 bowl appearances and five Big Ten championships. The Badgers won three straight Big Ten titles and became the first Big Ten team to appear in three straight Rose Bowls since Michigan following the 1976-78 seasons by making the trip to Pasadena following the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Herbert helped develop 41 NFL draft picks, including six first-round selections. Defensive end J.J. Watt and offensive tackle Gabe Carminiwere both taken in the first round of the 2011 draft, and offensive guard Kevin Zeitler was picked 27th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012.
The Badgers outscored opponents 435-309 from 2009-12, and Wisconsin was 15-5 in games played in the month of November or later during Herbert’s four years as head strength and conditioning coach and outscored its opponents 856-442 in games played in November, December and January.
A native of Pittsburgh, Herbert earned his bachelor’s degree from Wisconsin in 2002. He is a member of the (NSCA) National Strength and Conditioning Association and the (CSCCA) Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
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