Football
Bollman Likes his Lineman Lean, but not Necessarily Light
By John PorentasAs the grind of fall camp reaches its halfway point the members of the OSU offensive line seem like they are having an absolute blast despite the two-a-day practices and lockdown conditions of camp.
For starters, the linemen themselves simply feel a whole lot better this year than they have in previous years. That's because they are in really good physical shape this year and able to withstand the rigors of camp without feeling like somebody beat on them with ball bats. That goes for veterans and newcomers alike, but especially applies to the vets like Steve Rehring and Alex Boone.
Jim Bollman
Photo by Jim Davidson"Those guys are in the best shape they've been in during their careers," said offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jim Bollman.
Both Boone and Rehring are big men who have been able to remake and reshape their bodies during their OSU careers. Both say they are lighter and stronger, and both say they are quicker and have more stamina.
Bollman for one is a fan of lean offensive linemen.
"There's signs all over my room that say 'The leaner you stay the longer you'll play.' About four of them to be exact," said Bollman.
While Bollman likes lean, he does not necessarily like small. Size according to Bollman is a necessary asset for an effective offensive lineman in Big Ten play, especially when it comes to pass blocking.
"Really what weight is necessary for is a ballast in pass protection," explained Bollman.
"Suppose a guy could bench 600 pounds but if he only weighed 250 pounds, in this league people would pick his 250 pounds up and throw him all over the place. An individual has to have enough weight that he can sit down (in his pass protection stance) and not get thrown around and be able to act as kind of a wall in that pass protection," Bollman said.
Bollman says that there is no single ideal weight for an offensive lineman, that that magic number varies from player to player. The important thing is to know what that number is for each player and then make sure he doesn't go over it.
"When you start going over that magic weight, which is different for everyone, then it just becomes excess baggage that you're carrying around. That all varies," said Bollman.
"It's interesting that the longer our guys play and then go into the NFL, there's not any of them that come back here any heavier than when they left. They all go to the NFL and get a little lighter.
"I think they've (current offensive line group) done a better job for the most part than ever of trying to get in that spot (the magic perfect weight). Most of them are where they were last year or a little bit lighter," Bollman said.
Hard work is part of the method for achieving that, but the other part is self discipline in the form of eating right even when you quite frankly might want to do something else. For Rehring, it isn't quite so hard, because Steve has a taste for something good for people trying to control their weight, fish.
Steve Rehring
Photo by Jim Davidson"I moved in by myself and rent is a little more expensive when you do that. I started eating at home more and I like cooking fish, fish is easy to cook," said Rehring.
"I don't eat much red meat and chicken gets old after a while, so I eat a lot of fish."
Rehring doesn't just like fish, he REALLY likes fish, so much so that he and a group of friends make an annual trip to Florida to catch his favorite species of eating fish, grouper. You might say they are the grouper groupies. Whatever you call them, they catch grouper, and then they eat them, and that suits Rehring just fine thank you.
"Me and the guys I came in with go fishing every June if Florida and catch grouper. My favorite is fresh-caught grouper. We eat them as soon as we get them," said Rehring.
The ones they don't eat right away on those fishing trips to Florida go into the freezer for later consumption. The bad news is that not one ounce of fish is usually left over for that purpose.
"They're gone as soon as we get them," said Rehring conjuring up visions of large young men eating grouper sushi on a beach in Florida.
Rehring enjoys fresh fish when he can, but sometimes budgetary concerns force him to turn to the freezer department where he shops to try to save a little money. When that happens his taste changes from grouper to salmon.
"Sam's Club has those little packets of Salmon that's already marinated. I usually do two four-ounce fillets of salmon at a meal," said Rehring.
It seems to be working for Rehring. After weighing as much as 360 pounds in his Buckeye career the 6-7 left guard is now down to 337 pounds, just seven pounds over his target weight.
"That weight feels good," Rehring said.
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