Ryan Dunleavy

Staff writer

The new star of Rutgers football is worth more than $400,000 and quickly climbing.

First-year coach Chris Ash's immediate prioritization of overhauling the team's strength and conditioning program has shed an unparalleled spotlight on the weight room at the Hale Center athletic training complex.

Rutgers football players already have gone through a grueling early-morning boot camp as well as an intensified one-day workout dubbed the "Valentine's Day Massacre," an idea that Ash and strength and conditioning coach Kenny Parker brought with them from their previous stop at Ohio State.

Ash's passion about the importance of strength and conditioning and his vision for improving it led longtime booster Ron Garutti to donate $1.25 million earmarked toward the project.

MORE:Rutgers booster offers $1.25M vote of confidence to Chris Ash, Pat Hobbs

Where will that money go?

Rutgers is only in the beginning stages of the overhaul – it should be completed by the start of training camp – but already has spent $411,503 on weight room upgrades since Ash was hired in December, according to purchase orders obtained by Gannett New Jersey through an Open Public Records Act request.

"The mental development and the confidence and the belief and the training we put these guys through is going to be probably more important than the physical development," Ash said.

"The adversity that (Parker) is going to put them through to see how they respond, the competitive environment that he's going to create both in the weight room and in the off-season drills, on the practice field, is going to be extremely important for us."

Nearly 25 percent of the first wave of expenses ($99,572.64) was spent on the Life Fitness Hammer Strength line of products.

"Hammer Strength has been building athletes for more than 25 years," according to the description on the company website. "Not just elite athletes, but those with the focus and determination to want to train like one.

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"It is rugged performance strength-training equipment that takes what athletes dish out and helps exercisers get to where they strive to be. Hammer Strength moves the way the body is meant to move and rewards hard work with results. Results that elite athletes have been relying on for nearly three decades."

The second-largest expenditure ($53,638.80) was on mats for football drills. Here is a look at the itemized recent purchases, sorted largest to smallest with vendors in parentheses:

$99,572.64: Hammer Strength (Life Fitness)

$53,638.80: Mats for football drills (POV's Wearhouse)

$31,981.65: Treadmills (Woodway)

$30,925: Power plates (Biodensity)

$29,071.65: Non-motorized Slat Belt Treadmills (Woodway USA)

$26,370: Versaclimber & Shuttle MVP Pro (M-F Athletic)

$23,093: Benches & racks (Powerlift)

$21,625: Miscellaneous equipment for weight room (Powerlift)

$17,225: Pendulum hip press (Rogers)

$15,076.35: Office furniture for weight room (Commercial Furniture)

$12,500: Pendulum 4-way neck machine (Rogers)

$10,994.43: Hurdles, timing system, mats (Alpha Dog Sports)

$6,939.38: Bars & chains (Elite FTS)

$5,114: Weight room install brackets for vests (Facilities)

$4,991: Weight room carpet (Gillespie Group)

$4,990: Versaclimber (M-F Athletic)

$4,408.45: Bands/straps for strength and conditioning (Bill Jacobs)

$4,438.00: Shrug and curl bars (Bill Jacobs)

$2,875: Pendulum leg curl (Rogers)

$2,520: Manilla Rope (Frank's Hardware)

$1,562: Bone Dummy (Suples)

$832: Defibtech (Life Savers)

$758: Step up boxes (Powerlift)

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com