Michigan Football Senior-Led Walkthroughs Begin Today
The 2020 Michigan Wolverines have reported back for voluntary workouts, and they haven’t wasted time getting back to work. Senior defensive end Kwity Paye, speaking with former U-M All-American offensive lineman Jon Jansen on a recent podcast, shared some of what’s going on at Schembechler Hall.
Players are working out in small groups of seven, and the administration has taken every precaution to make sure they’re safe in the time of COVID-19. They get their temperature taken when they enter through one set of doors, Paye reported, maintain social distancing and can never go back where they came from, only forward.
Each group is assigned one strength coach — not only does he have to wear a mask, but he also has to add other protective gear if he is going to provide a spot.
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“I feel really comfortable walking into the building and leaving the building,” Paye said. “I feel they’ve done a great job keeping everyone safe.
"We really want a season this year. People are going to start coming back to campus so [players] will want to have fun, but we have to keep away from all that because we have a season to prepare for and don’t want any setbacks.”
Clemson, Houston and other programs have had significant numbers of players with Coronavirus, and Paye said he and his teammates have taken notice. U-M has only had two to date, and they want to keep it that way.
It was tough at first to get used to the “new normal,” Paye added, but he and good friend Luiji Vilain, who is ready to impact this year after battling through injuries and waiting his turn, found a way. They stayed in Ann Arbor and found ways to not only stay in shape, but also excel.
"It was kind of sad [at first] because the town is usually full of life, lots of fun,” Paye said. “It was dead. Nobody was really here. It was kind of depressing at first. We just had to keep a good mind and keep working out and stuff.
“At first when they first shut everything down it was hard because everything was closed. We weren’t able to get to a field, weren’t able to go to a weight room, stuff like that. We had to just find stuff. At first, we were at the playground doing pull ups on the monkey bars, stuff like that.”
Then they got in contact with former teammate Berkley Edwards and found a gold mine.
“We went to his house almost every day. He had a good set up there, so we were doing all our lifting there and would go to a hill and get our hill workout in, sprinting and stuff like that,” Paye said. “Me and Luiji haven’t really dropped off any.
“I feel good. We just made sure we were staying in shape because we knew once we came back, we were going to lose a little time. We lost spring ball, but as far as conditioning we didn’t feel like we lost a lot because we get much of May off (anyways).”
And now they’re back in the building and preparing with their teammates.
“It feels great just to be able to come back with the boys, lift with them,” Paye said. … “Although we’re still doing social distancing, it’s good to see our guys in the weight room lifting and training together again.
“With the quarantine, we’re just making sure we’re all in the playbook and guys know all their plays so when we get on to the field, there’s no time to teach because they already know their stuff. Making sure they know it front and back is key for us. When we start [Tuesday], the senior leaders on defense will like do walkthroughs so they all know all their stuff, go through the motions.
"Learning the playbook is one thing; doing it on the field is another. It will be huge for them.”
Paye is optimistic there will be a season, and they’re preparing like it starts tomorrow.
“I can’t wait until we get to play that first game and get out there with my brothers and do what we do best — playing ball,” he said. “It will be so much fun again.”
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