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Steve Martin interviews John Baranowsky
Interviewed on: Saturday, May 5th, 2007 Steve Martin: Hey thanks for calling back, John. It's great to hear from you. John Baranowsky: No problem. Glad to do it. SM: Let's start by getting some of the basic scoop on you, physically. How tall are you and what do you weigh right now? JB: I am 6'2", and I weigh 285. SM: What is your forty time? JB: I run in the 4.9s. SM: How many bench reps can you do? JB: 30. SM: Wow, very nice! And what about you max on the bench? JB: 410. SM: What is your best power clean? JB: 350. SM: Squat? JB: 600. SM: Very good stuff, John. Any idea what your vertical might be? JB: 31" SM: Do you know what your broad jump might be? JB: No. We haven't tested that. SM: What are your parents' names? JB: John and Louise. SM: Do you have any brothers or sisters? JB: Yes, I have a brother Paul who is a student at Virginia Tech. SM: Wow... how's he doing? (Note: this interview was conducted shortly after the Va Tech shooting took place.) JB: He's pretty tough mentally. He's doing fine. SM: Any other siblings? JB: Yes, I have a younger brother and sister, Michael and Amanda. They are both still in high school. SM: I know you went to school up in the Boston area, but which school was that? JB: Lincoln-Sudbury. SM: OK, sure. I've heard of that school. How big is it? JB: We had about 1500-2000 students. SM: Would that be the biggest classification for football in Mass then? JB: No, we were in Division II. SM: Tell me about when you first started playing organized football. How old were you? What kind of a league was it?... that kind of thing... JB: I was in the third grade. I started in a Pop Warner program. SM: What position did they put you at that very first year? JB: I played mostly defense line... defensive end... In fact, that is what I played all the way up through 8th grade. SM: What position did you play as a freshman? JB: I actually played linebacker throughout high school, starting in 9th grade. I also played running back my freshman year. SM: Was that on the freshman team? JB: Yes. SM: When did you move up to varsity? JB: I was a starter on varsity for the next three years. I was named an all-conference linebacker after my sophomore year. SM: How big were you during your first year of varsity football, John? JB: I was about 6'0", 190 as a sophomore. SM: Did you win any other honors like all-conference during high school? JB: After my junior year I was named Defensive MVP of our team, and I was all-conference again. I actually played a little bit of TE that year too. Then I was named All-State and All-Scholastic my Senior year. I was also on the All-Boston Herald eam.
SM: Did you play any offense your senior season? JB: No, just all at linebacker. SM: Do you remember any of your stats as a senior? JB: Ummm... I know I had over 100 tackles... probably like 60/40. I had about 10 TFLs, and somewhere between 5-7 sacks. SM: How big were you coming out of high school, John? JB: I was around 6'2" and 240. SM: What schools did you hear from coming out of school? JB: I heard from a bunch of IA schools, but I decided to go to Hargrave Military Academy for a year. SM: Oh... ok... I didn't know that. Did you play football for them? JB: Yes. That was in the fall of '03. SM: Where is Hargrave? JB: It's in Chatham Virginia... we were ranked as the #1 football prep school in the nation. SM: Now, I know you went to Connecticut that next year. Did you redshirt there at all? JB: No. I did get in to a game as a true freshman. They had me at defensive end that year. SM: When did you start putting on the weight? JB: I'd say it started that year. Once I decided to play d-line and began eating more and bulking up, the weight just kept coming. SM: How did things go at UConn in '05? JB: Well, I got into seven games. I played mostly as a 4-3 d-tackle that year, and was in the rotation. I played about 10-20 snaps per game... I ended up with 11 tackles, a TFL, and a sack. SM: So what led to your decision to transfer to JMU that following summer? JB: I transferred for team reasons... I actually got dismissed from the team... things are fine between me and the coach at UConn now though. I ended up leaving on good terms. SM: You know, we talked a lot with Ben Patrick (Delaware grad--'07) who made the same kind of transition you did from a IA program to the A-10. He told us that there was really no dropoff in talent or level of competition at all. Did you find the same thing to be true for you? JB: Oh yea... I remember Ben very well... I'd say definitely. I could say right now that 3 of our defensive linemen here at JMU would start if they were at UConn. There is really no dropoff. SM: Well, you certainly made last year your best by far... 35 tackles, full time starter... 7.5 TFLs, 6 sacks... To what do you attribute that increase in production? JB: Well, I have gotten bigger and stronger, but I also have gotten an awful lot of good coaching here. Of course, getting a lot more snaps helps... I'd say that is the main difference... certainly not any drop in the level of competition or a great deal of personal improvement on my part. SM: What do you see as being your main strong points as a collegiate d-tackle? JB: I would say my ability to learn fast and to think on my feet. I also take coaching really well. SM: Do you guys runs a base 4-3 at JMU then? JB: Yes, that's right. We do switch into a 3-4 sometimes, especially with our blitz package. SM: What is something you are still focusing to improve on? JB: I'd say my hand usage. I've been so used to using my forearms and shoulders. SM: What do you attribute getting those 6 sacks to? JB: Just making the quick first move... listening to my coaches' advice... SM: What moves do you have? JB: I have a variety. Like, in the Delaware game against Ben Patrick...(laughing)... I remember I got two sacks. One of them came on a swim move, and the other was on just a straight bull rush... SM: Where does football rank in your list of life priorities? JB: I'd say after God and family, it's right there at the top... I mean, I am definitely one of these guys who eats, drinks, and sleeps football. SM: Are you one of these guys who sets personal goals for himself coming into a season? JB: I do, but I don't get hung up in setting statistical goals... I mean that would drive you insane. SM: How is the JMU defense looking coming into the fall? JB: Well, we got 2 of our 4 starters back on the d-line.... a DE and me... so I think we'll be solid. We have a couple freshman DEs that may help us right away. SM: Has your team talked about goals for this next season yet? JB: Actually, we did just have a team meeting... We didn't get too specific about our goals for next year yet though. SM: What is your major, John? JB: It's business and economics. SM: What's your GPA? JB: Well, at UConn I was getting about a 2.6-2.7, but the first semester here I was a 1.8. I know I'm doing a lot better this semester though... I am hoping to have my overall GPA up to a 2.3 by the end of this summer. SM: Are you on course to graduate on time? JB: Well, some of my transfer credits are putting me behind... I might be a little behind. I should graduate some time during the 2008-2009 academic year. SM: Well, thanks for taking the time to interview with CDS, John. We'll be keeping an eye on you this fall... best of luck. JB: Thank you very much. |