The Texas Longhorns are starting their rebuild in the weight room this offseason.
After getting overpowered along the line of scrimmage last season, it appears second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian has reevaluated his team’s strength and conditioning philosophy.
Last season, strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton attempted a new training strategy that essentially focused on lifting lighter weight for speed. Becton’s creativity resulted in weaker, leaner, and slower offensive and defensive linemen.
Paul Waddlington of Inside Texas shed light on potential pitfalls of the Longhorns’ 2021 strength and conditioning routine in his “Everyone Gets a Trophy” podcast from last year.
In the podcast, Waddlington discusses how powerlifting helped Barry Sanders (28:30) and others maximize their athletic potential. If Texas wants to return to prominence, it will need more from its strength program.
It appears that the message was received by Steve Sarkisian as Texas aims to get back to lifting heavier weight. The change in programming should make the biggest impact for interior defensive linemen, who appeared less powerful than normal last year.
If Texas makes a leap this season, expect strength and conditioning to play a major role.
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