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June 11, 2000

Marotti maintains stronghold on Irish

By TOM MOOR

Irish strength and conditioning coordinator Mickey Marotti makes his presence felt in the weight room and on the practice field (ISR Photo/JOE RAYMOND)

Mickey Marotti has always thrived at doing things his way.

His way or no way.

And his athletes have responded.

Marotti, in his third year as strength and conditioning coordinator for all 26 Notre Dame varsity sports, brings a fresh and inventive approach to lifting weights and gaining strength. While some athletes don't always enjoy Marotti's workouts, the end result is what matters.

"I'm not here to make any friends," Marotti said. "I'm here to train guys. I enjoy doing this."

And the athletes seem to respect that attitude.

Realizing that each sport is different at Notre Dame, Marotti caters to each individual sport's needs. He tries to attend practice as much as he can to get a feel for how each individual is practicing and what can be done to make that athlete stronger.

He knows weight training is just one aspect of sports, but an important aspect at that.

Are his ways unorthodox? Well ... maybe just a little.

When Marotti first came to Notre Dame, he introduced various exercises to the athletes that probably led them to believe he was half crazy.

From the walk of doom, to the tire flip, to gassers, Marotti spices things up.

"I don't know if they (athletes) will ever get used to the workouts," Marotti said. "We like to add a little variety to the program. At Notre Dame, we want to be a little different--a little unorthodox."

The walk of doom involves an athlete carrying 130-pound dumbbells in each hand and walking as far as he can. A tire flip is just how it sounds, pushing a tire over and over. A gasser is four sprints across the width of the football field. Marotti would consider that a nice warm-up.

When the athletes return to South Bend for summer school and summer workouts, Marotti will be waiting for them --maybe not with a smile, but probably with a list of workouts.

On a normal summer day the football players arrive at the weight room around 7 a.m., and work out throughout the day. Or workout until they can't move anymore, whichever comes first.

It's probably a toss-up. At least the athletes will go home knowing they did something productive with their day.

"Mickey does a great job," said nose guard B.J. Scott, a fifth-year senior. "At first, his workouts were a little new and different. He's been around a couple of years and I'm used to it now.

"Marotti's workouts have been known to make some athletes puke--I guess that comes with the territory of being a Notre Dame athlete," Scott continued. "However, they will benefit from them when it comes time to compete."

Marotti has been active in sports his entire life. He played football at West Liberty State, an NCAA Div. II school in West Virginia, where he majored in exercise physiology. From that point on, he knew he wanted to stay in athletics.

He admits that being strength and conditioning coordinator is more than a full-time job. He doesn't have time to work out when the athletes are working out, because he's the one making sure they're doing what there supposed to.

Although he can't lift as much as senior guard Jim Jones, who can lift more than 500 pounds on bench press, he admits being able to hold his own still.

"I got challenged by someone to a bench press contest," admitted Marotti. "You see how many times you can lift 225 pounds."

With Marotti's determination and intensity, anything is possible.