On Texas Football – State of the Program: Strength and conditioning, athleticism, the truth behind NIL and more
On the latest video episode of On Texas Football, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and Eric Nahlin get us caught up on the State of the Program, including a strength and conditioning update for the football team and a look at a big NIL fundraiser in Houston, among other things.
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Burton referenced a recent feature by Nahlin on the strength gains by the offensive line as well as the impressive early showing of true freshmen O-lineman Connor Stroh and linebacker Anthony Hill.
“Stroh is already one of the strongest guys in the program,” Nahlin said. “He’s basically considered an upperclassman offensive lineman from a strength perspective. That’s not to say that he’s going to be ready to play early because a lot goes into playing offensive line. It’s very difficult position to play. But from a physical standpoint he’s one of the strongest guys on the team already.”
Nahlin was told by a friend who’s an insider that Hill has impressed with his athletic ability.
“There’s a lot of guys that are fast, a lot of guys are quick and a lot of guys that can jump. I feel that Hill can do it all,” Nahlin said. “Normally when you get a guy like Hill, he just ends up in the NFL. He’s just too athletic not to make it, so I thought that was pretty interesting.”
Nahlin also said that many of the linemen from the class of 2022, who have only been on campus since last May or June, have shown noticeable gains.
“The lifting totals are up by 20% across the board with the 2022 offensive line and obviously those guys are playing a huge part of the offensive line this season and the overall offense for Texas,” Nahlin said. “UT has to hit on that offensive line class for the overall offense to take that leap and it sounds like from a strength perspective, they’re headed in the right direction.”
Nahlin said he’s keeping an eye on the interior offensive linemen and Will linebacker in the spring. “And, you know, I’m always curious about the transfers. You know, the guys that you want to hear about hitting the ground running,” he said.
Burton said he was paying close attention to the wide receivers. “How do they all mesh together and get on the field,” he said. “From another standpoint, too, you know how much they’re going to be in 11 personnel versus 12 personnel.”
At the Houston NIL event, Nahlin said Steve Sarkisian, Chris del Conte and the rest of the Texas participants explained that there are plenty of misconceptions about NIL.
“There’s this perception about the players — they are not out there buying cars and doing all these things with NIL,” Nahlin said. “I really liked how clear how clear the presentation was.”
Burton said NIL reminds him of the first days of the internet.
“Those are relationships where the dealership is actually reaching out to the guys, not some other thing and they’re basically giving them the use of a car,” Burton explained.
Nahlin joked that he was surely the “brokest” guy in the room of about 120 at the Houston event.
There’s plenty more on all the above in the video so go take a look at it in its entirety.
