Patience now part of the program

While BYU's football team pounded Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl last month, Austin Collie was in Argentina, wearing a suit and tie, knocking the final doors of a two-year LDS mission.

This week, Collie is huffing and puffing, trying to get into shape, trying to reach deep into his DNA and mine some semblance of muscle memory, timing and skill. He's trying to tap into the natural talent that made him a freshman all-American as a Cougar receiver back in 2004.

His sacrifice for his church proved great. He wouldn't trade it for the world and is humbled to find pieces of himself he may never have discovered if he'd stayed and played. But he left a nimble boy star and returned an out-of-shape mature man.

His shoulders are wider; his frame is larger. Two years ago, Collie played at 196 pounds. He then ballooned to 227 in Argentina, eating a lot of bread, noodles with sauce, fried meats and the festive milanesa. Today, he weighs 209, which he considers natural because of his growth as a man.

When asked how good of shape he's in on a scale from 1 to 10, Collie answered: "I'm about a 3 or a 4."

BYU is looking out for guys like Austin Collie these days. His first week back, he went headlong into wind sprints they call gassers. But on Monday, football coach Bronco Mendenhall and conditioning coach Jay Omer pulled Collie and five other missionary athletes aside and told them to tone it down; they could do the activity, but they shouldn't red line it. In fact, they've created a breakout workout for Collie and other missionaries in this early state of physical reform.

"Basically what they're telling us to do is to have patience," Collie said. "Have patience and everything is going to come as long as I am pushing myself, but not get injured. One thing about all of us, we are competitive athletes, and we went to get back to where we were right now. We need that constant reminder ... patience."

In a serious attempt to fine-tune the conditioning and injury challenges of BYU's football team, Mendenhall, head football trainer Kevin Morris and Omer reviewed their overall program; tweaked offseason workouts; installed specific testing for strength, endurance and speed; and hatched out a separate plan for athletes just back from LDS missionary service. They tailored workouts for individual weaknesses.

After a string of hamstring pulls that decimated Mendenhall's first team (2005), his staff has tried to address the issue of players just off their missions who are getting injured trying to get themselves in shape. These cases include the following: