He switched majors a few times at West Virginia several times, but never away from something that let him have an impact on kids' development.

He completed his undergraduate program in the school of medicine, majoring in exercise physiology. Over the summer, he interned with the West Virginia University hospital and with the football team’s strength and conditioning program.

He decided to pursue a career in strength and conditioning because he felt he could influence kids’ lives the most in that field.

Being able to reach kids

There are about 100 players on the Michigan football team. Within a few months of his arrival, each one of them had bought into Barwis’s conditioning system.

For some, committing to the program occurred the first time they met. They saw his intensity and how much he cared.

For others, like Taylor, it required a more personal approach.

But he found a way to connect with every player.

“He’s a great motivator,” Greg said. “That’s an absolute gift. He could get you to do things that you yourself didn’t believe that you were able of accomplishing.”

For Mike, the key is building a kid’s self-esteem.

When he worked at West Virginia, Judy coached high school field hockey. She didn’t like what she was seeing out of her team, so she called the best motivator she knew — her son.

Mike told her to continue to build up her team’s self-esteem because taking a negative approach to the situation would only make it worse.

“ ‘A lot of the high school and junior high coaches need a course in sports psychology,’ ” Judy recalled Mike saying. “We always tried to build our boys’ self-esteem and not humiliate and embarrass them.”

Through Barwis' positive approach, players see his genuine desire for them to achieve their potential. If they sense he's being unauthentic with them, they'll have trouble connecting.

“You can fool an adult, but you can never fool a kid in terms of how you feel about them,” Judy said. “It’s a given that you can take a child and put them in a situation and they can tell who’s faking and who really cares.”

Between his genuine attitude and his ability to read what works for each player, Mike is able to get them to buy into his system.

Actually, Greg can only think of one person who hasn’t been fully motivated by Barwis’s conditioning program — himself.

“I’m probably his only failure in life that he hasn’t gotten his father in the same shape he has gotten his athletes in,” Greg said. “I’m 60 years old, and I’m sure, given a little time, he could probably whoop me into shape.”

The Price

Pay the Price to run faster

Pay the price to get stronger

Pay the price to jump higher

Pay the price to stay the same.

This message is on a sign above the door from the Michigan weight room to the practice fields in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.

His parents have paid this price.

His father worked 16-hour shifts in construction — often through the night. His mother would stay at school five hours after it closed.

Early on, Mike learned the importance of putting in the necessary effort.

“No matter what he was engaged in, he gave 110 percent,” Greg said. “He was raised that way, that you only got out what you put in.”

In academics, he graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia.

Over the summer in high school and college, he either worked construction with his father to earn some money or took classes.

During college, he would work on the weekends or take jobs that required him to wake up at 5 a.m.

At Michigan, Mike regularly works 15-hour days. But if a player needs help with anything, he won’t hesitate to stay even longer.

Whether it be in the training room, movement science homework or assisting with their personal life, he doesn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand.

“The kids see that, and so they are willing to give everything they have because he sacrificed for them,” Autumn said.

At the end of the day, Mike comes home from work and spends time with his 16-month-old son, Ray.

“I’m not going to be the guy who goes home at night and looks in the mirror and says I let anybody down,” Barwis said. “That’s not going to happen.”