Justin Tress appeared on this week’s episode of “In the Trenches” to discuss what it’s like being Michigan’s newest leader in the weight room.
Ben Herbert leaving for the Los Angeles Chargers was a bit of a shock to the Michigan football community, considering he was at Sherrone Moore’s introductory press conference a couple days before he left. However, Moore acted fast by elevating assistant strength coach Justin Tress to take over.
Tress joined Michigan in 2018, coming over from Arkansas alongside Herbert. He has progressed through the ranks over the years as Herbert’s trusted right-hand man, and now has the opportunity to carry on the culture that was established over the last several years.
However, Tress is still a bit of a mystery to those outside the program. Appearing on this week’s “In The Trenches” podcast with Jon Jansen, Tress tried to help answer some of those questions and discuss his new role with the team.
“That’s a life-changing experience,” Tress said of his recent promotion. “It was a dream, and for it to come from my mentor, Ben Herbert, to take over after him, that’s something — things you only dream of. Nothing that I had envisioned happening, it’s not the way I envisioned it going, but so proud, so humbled just to be able to take over after him.”
It would be completely understandable if you expected or thought that Tress would try to be a carbon copy of Herbert, since it worked so well for so long. And while Tress doesn’t plan to change a whole lot, it sounds like the only thing that will change is the person running the show.
“The key is, not a whole bunch has to change in terms of what we do and how we do it.” Tress said. “To put my stamp on it is simply just, I’m myself. Be myself the whole time, who I’ve been since I’ve gotten here; it’s gotten me to this point. And just continuing to build relationships with the players, that’s the biggest thing.”
Herbert joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff was met with disappointment by many, and rightfully so. When asked how he chose to discuss such a meaningful departure, Tress painted no pictures of tearful goodbyes or sad sights in the weight room.
“The first day, how I chose to address that was, we trained,” Tress said. “I didn’t give them a speech at the beginning — we just trained. And then I brought them up at the end and said, ‘Well, that was so different, wasn’t it?’ And they were kind of looking around like, ‘Is this a trick?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, no. No.’
“My message to them was the reason why it wasn’t different is because of the standard they have set. They choose to come in and attack each day how they choose to. We help them facilitate their standard but at the end of the day, they make the choice each and every day. So they kind of looked at me like, ‘I think you’re right.’ And as each day progressed from that point on, we’re doing pretty much the same things the same way with the same detail. Now, how can we make it better? How can we tighten down those details? Yeah, they’ve fully bought in, they’ve been rocking and rolling just like they have been in the past, and it’s been good.”
When asked what he’s seen from Michigan’s current roster following departures via the NFL Draft and transfer portal, Tress described the excitement and accountability that’s been displayed by some of the players.
“Just guys that are excited to be the next man to take that role,” Tress said. “And it’s not a whole big, ‘Let’s get on somebody and make this big’ scene. It’s simply just, ‘Hey, we don’t do that,’ or, ‘Hey, fix that.’
“And you see that from countless guys. It’s hard to single out any one guy. But just as a group, collectively, the biggest thing is that they’re making the choice to come in and approach the day like they have in the past. And so, I don’t know exactly who all those leaders are going to be yet — I have a good idea — and we’ll let time tell us who that’s going to be.”
With the offseason lull coming to a close ahead of spring ball, there is plenty of opportunity for additional training and conditioning ahead. Tress discussed what the last several weeks have been like leading up to the start of spring practices.
“First off, it felt good because we don’t have to try to squeeze things into a condensed window,” Tress said. “We have time. We have a saying: ‘We have time, but we don’t have time to waste.’ So, it’s one, how can we maximize it? Two, how can I keep it from being monotonous? So, different challenges, different competitions.”