Some interesting comments surfaced recently in an interview that Locked on Syracuse aired with Syracuse football defensive lineman Steve Linton’s high school coach. Towards the back half of the conversation, hosts and former Fizzers Matt Bonaparte and Brad Klein asked a question to Roger Holmes, the head coach at Dublin High School in Georgia, regarding how Linton can get better ahead of his senior season. Here are some of the things Coach Holmes had to say:
“I ask Steve, how many meals are you eating, what are they doing to help you put on the mass and the things you need.”
“He’s insinuating to me that they have a training table meal one day a week, or excuse me one time a day. And that quite frankly was a little bit of a concern to me that a lot of the places you’re eating the pre-planned meals three times a day at the division one football level.”
“For Steve, for him to be the best football player he can be at your level, I think his body needs to be in the 245 (pound) range. Don’t lose any of that explosiveness and that speed but you go through two a day camp and you go in at 222, you’re coming out of it probably at 215. What he can put on during this offseason when I talked to him, I really felt like that would be a key to his success next year.”
“If you’re not getting enough, you gotta do what you gotta do to help put it on. Again, I have no judgments on the University of Syracuse other than it did concern me when he told me that during the offseason, the football players are basically getting what’s considered a football meal one time a day.”
This is very concerning to hear regarding the Syracuse football program. Think about all the other power five schools and the resources those players are given. Yeah, it’s tough to compete with some multi-million dollar facilities like they have at Clemson and in the SEC. One thing that should be well within SU’s confine’s is feeding its players and getting things right from a nutrition standpoint.
It goes further than just one player in Steve Linton. Here’s what Mikel Jones had to say regarding the nutrition program at Syracuse.
“I feel like the nutrition program can be better. I feel like we’re behind compared to a lot of people. Nutrition is important for a lot of dudes coming out of high school and not knowing how to take care of their bodies moving at the level we move at all year long like through the offseason, through the summer, through the training camp. I feel like a nutritionist could take this program to the next level.”
I asked Jones if Syracuse had a dedicated nutritionist, he said “No.” I followed up asking if he would want one for the program, he said “Yes.” As you can see this is something that could contribute to the Orange not being able to hang in the ACC on a perennial basis. Other players and parents of athletes seem to agree.
Former Syracuse tight end Aaron Hackett, freshman defensive lineman Kevin Jobity, and Kelly Carney, the mother of SU women’s lacrosse player Megan Carney, have all liked this tweet which seems too mean they agree. Perhaps we will see a change in the nutrition department in the future but for now, it’s something that is hindering Syracuse football and Syracuse athletics as a whole.
