April 12, 2007
UNM Head Strength & Conditioning Coordinator Mark Paulsen
General thoughts on the night:
“I think we have a mature strength program with the athletes we have. Our players like this. It’s gotten to be a point where if they’re not on this Night of Champions they’re disappointed, and that’s what you want. It’s just another great year in here for these guys.”
On the players’ performance:
“Yeah, when you start seeing multiple guys trying to clean over 370 lbs. it gets to be pretty awesome. When you see a defensive back like Brandon Johnson squatting 560 lbs – you don’t see that very often. Some of these things tonight are things you won’t see, but every five to ten years. It’s a really good collection of lifters.”
On the progression of the Night of Champions throughout its history:
“We tweak it a little bit every year just to make it different, obviously. This is our 15th year and it’s just gotten to a point now where everybody wants to be a part of it. Strangely enough, for a while, a lot of guys were intimated by it, they didn’t want to be up here. Now, it’s a focal point of our program.”
On the progression of the players’ performance throughout the Night of Champions history:
“We are now at a standard where it’s hard to get much better. With the time frame that they have, which is generally only seven to ten weeks, you can only get so strong. I don’t really know where we can go from here but we’re going to keep trying to get better.”
Junior Safety Brandon Johnson
On his record-breaking night:
“First of all I would like to thank God for blessing us as a team and blessing myself to be out here. This is a team thing and if I don’t get better then the team can’t get better. I feel if I get better day in and day out then the team is getting better someway somehow. So if we work as a team we can accomplish one main goal which is to win this Mountain West Conference championship.
On if he set out to break the defensive back squat record tonight:
“It was all fun and entertaining, and I really did not think about it. I feed off my fellow players and the energy they give me. If they say you did that too easy, then that is what I believe and I go up in weight. I was praying the whole time even while I was going up to the bar asking the Lord to be my strength.”
On being involved in the 15th year of the Night of Champions
“Fifteen years is a legacy and tradition and that’s something that I thank God that I am a part of today. I thank God that I am here and that I am part of fifteen years of working and training, lifting, sweat, blood and tears everything you name it I’m proud to be a part of it.”
On how the offseason strength training will translate on the field:
“Well being able to work hard is something that is a mind thing. Work ethic is a mind thing. You have to be able to push yourself to limits that you don’t even think are possible. Once you get out on the field you will be able to transcend your game to be able to have that confidence to know that you can make that tackle, you can make that catch, you can make that play.