Braylan Shelby starts his morning with five scrambled eggs, waffles, Powerade, and fruit. The USC defensive end especially likes parfaits and bananas. It's only the first of up to five meals he consumes each day.
Each bite is a step toward transforming USC's maligned defense.
The Trojans gained weight during their offseason training program, hoping to execute first-year defensive coordinator Danton Lin's vision for a revamped unit that requires bigger bodies and physicality up front. there was. Coach Lincoln Riley called the offseason structure a “philosophical change” for the program that will be tested in the physical Big Ten Conference next fall.
“The whole defense, [we’re] “Just having that mindset of going out there and messing things up,” said Shelby, who gained 20 pounds this offseason and is listed at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds. Ta. “We're going to go out there and cause havoc. … That's what we have to do this year, that's what we need to change, that's why we need to do things differently this year. .”
Although the Trojans finished the season on a high by dominating Louisville in the Holiday Bowl, they did so with the understanding that the team's lack of size, especially on offense and defense, was the “elephant in the room.” We have entered the off-season. defensive end Jamil Muhammad said.
“I heard a lot of voices saying I was too small or too weak,” said Muhammad, who had 10.5 tackles for loss and a team-leading 6.5 sacks last year. “So I took it personally.”
Like Shelby, Muhammad also eats four to five times a day during the winter, which helps the 6-foot-1, 255-pound redshirt senior gain 9 pounds of muscle. did it. Just his second day into spring practice, Shelby noticed how much stronger he felt coming off the edge. Even without his pads on, Muhammad marveled at the University of Southern California offensive lineman.
“It seems different in training,” Muhammad said. “Things look different when you replace practice with practice field and team periods. So far it's been great and I can't wait to see the progress.”
The goal of going big up front is nothing new for the Trojans. Riley said the same thing heading into last season, when USC focused on transfers on the offensive and defensive lines. In addition to Muhammad, USC welcomes Bea Alexander, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds last year, Kyon Bars (6-2, 290) and Anthony Lucas (6-5, 265) to the defensive line. .
However, the makeshift transfer did not produce any miracles. USC allowed 186.5 rushing yards per game, ranking 116th in the country. The offensive line, which tried to add three transfers to the starting unit, never wavered.
USC defensive lineman Bea Alexander celebrates after tipping a pass against Stanford in September.
(Wally Scully/Los Angeles Times)
Strength and conditioning coach Benny Wiley and University of Southern California sports nutrition director Rachel Suba went back to the drawing board with Riley's instructions to bulk up. A focus on nutrition, rest and recovery is the biggest change to the offseason program, Muhammad said.
“No matter where you are in the country, for the most part, you weigh the same,” the former Georgia State transfer said while drinking a protein shake immediately after practice. “What's really important is buy-in. I once had an old coach who told me that everyone does the same thing for about two hours, and it's just the other 22 guys doing it. That's what we do as a team. I think it’s gotten better.”
Strength staff diligently weighed every player every day. If someone was absent, additional conditioning was provided. Shelby said it has been fun to watch the numbers steadily increase.
The defensive line added a total of 340 pounds, Riley said this week on USC's “Trojans” radio show. Freshman defensive lineman Elijah Hughes made the biggest leap, landing on USC's spring roster at 285 pounds, 15 more than last year when he showed his potential by recording six tackles in eight games off the bench. Pound heavy. According to USC's official roster, Alexander gained 13 pounds and Lucas gained 10 pounds.
Size mandates extend beyond the weight room for current players. The Trojans expanded their goals in line with their coach's recruiting philosophy, adding taller players in the transfer window, including 6-foot-2 cornerback John Humphrey and 6-3 DeCarlos Nicholson, who replaced Lynn from UCLA. Targeted defensive backs.
Nicholson, a transfer from Mississippi State, lined up with the No. 1 defenseman at cornerback during the walk-through period of Thursday's practice. USC has to replace four of its top five defensive backs from last season, so Jacob Covington, who started two games last year, is the other starting cornerback.
