BYU TE Matt Bushman Using Chad Lewis’ Old Jugs Machine To Prepare For Season
May 12, 2020, 1:56 PM | Updated: May 28, 2020, 3:07 pm
BYU tight end Matt Bushman poses for a photo at the Indoor Training Facility at BYU in Provo on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
PROVO, Utah – An unlikely item has helped BYU’s senior tight end Matt Bushman stay in shape and hone is craft during these past few months of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: an old jugs machine used by his father in law Chad Lewis.
Lewis acquired the machine during his time playing and training in the NFL. Once his career came to a close, he donated it to Orem High School.
“It’s a little bit run down,” Bushman said on Cougar Sports Saturday. “It’s really run down actually. The high school doesn’t use it anymore. Someone dropped it off and we’ve been trying to fine-tune it. It will shoot some crazy knuckleballs at me.”
Great interview with Matt Bushman last week on Cougar Sports Saturday. Well worth a listen #BYU fans! @kslsports https://t.co/IhK5qlZ6JT
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) May 12, 2020
Emily Bushman posted a video of her husband catching passes from the old Jugs machine that looks like it’s straight out of an NFL films video. All the video needs are some classic tunes from Sam Spence.
Whipping out the old jugs machine. I’m obviously a big help to the process. pic.twitter.com/zJnJlWjrwl
— Emily Bushman (@em_bushman) April 11, 2020
Matt Bushman Staying In Shape At Home
Bushman is motivated to do whatever it takes to stay in shape and get work in during these unprecedented times. Thanks to this old jugs machine and home gyms, Bushman has been able to stay in shape.
One thing that’s unique about the BYU football program right now is that head coach Kalani Sitake is allowing the players to work out on their own, rather than following a strict program from the strength staff. The onus is on the players to be prepared to play this fall.
Later we learned Strength & Conditioning coach Nu’u Tafisi gave individual workouts to each player upon the closure of practice amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Initially, there was a two-week plan put in place to help players continue working out when the football facility was closed. Since then, weekly meetings are held between players and strength coaches to determine what regime is best for each individual player based on circumstances and equipment available.
It’s a collaborative effort between players and coaches. Ultimately, the onus is on the players to be prepared to play this fall.
Jeff Grimes echoed a similar sentiment on a recent interview which you can find on the Cougar Sports Saturday podcast feed.
“You can easily get really strong with the strength staff that we have, but sometimes it’s not as personalized to exactly what your body needs,” said Bushman. “I’ve been able to focus my time on things that I need to get better at, things I can focus my body on to get stronger, so I can succeed.”
Film study over Zoom is been recently allowed by the NCAA. It seems college football is becoming more of a reality this fall.
Staying Inside with BYU Football
The BYU Football twitter account has been posting a series of pictures with various football players in which they answer five questions.
One of the questions has been “favorite movie.” There have been some curious answers.
Jaren Hall says his favorite movie is “50 First Dates”. Solid movie, but not one of the best Adam Sandler movies, in my opinion.
Clark Barrington says his favorite movie is the live-action Aladdin remake. His position coach Eric Matoes was quick to chime in.
BREAKING: Clark Barrington has been cut from the BYU football team. Favorite movie is highly suspect. https://t.co/D9UdQ1o5a0
— Eric Mateos (@CoachMateos) May 8, 2020
Matt Bushman said his favorite movie was Star Wars. Mitch Harper and I asked him which one was his favorite and we learned something interesting about the twitter Q and A.
“The question was a little bit skewed,” Bushman told us last Saturday. “They asked me what my favorite movie was during the quarantine.”
That makes much more sense now.
Matt and Emily watched the entire Star Wars series in order from the Phantom Menace to the Rise of Skywalker, which was recently added to Disney +.
“It made me like those movies more,” said Bushman. “I can see why so many people love them so much.”
His favorite movie in the series was the “Return of the Jedi”.
You can hear Cougar Sports Saturday each and every Saturday on KSL Newsradio from 12 until 3 pm MST.
