Huskies slim down, speed up on O-line

To some, the growing girth of the Washington Huskies’ offensive line last season was hailed as a brutish badge of honor. Eight of the top nine linemen easily topped 300 pounds. Six of them weighed more than 320 pounds. And one – guard Morgan Rosborough – tipped the scales at 400 pounds. Certainly, they were big – too large, in fact, was the conclusion Steve Sarkisian made when he took over as the UW coach in early December.
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And 41/2 months later, during spring practice at Husky Stadium, there is a noticeable physical transformation in the seven returning linemen from that group.

They bounce around, and not just bounce.

“I know they’re getting there,” Sarkisian said. “I’m encouraged by what we’re doing.”

The new coach had to blink more than a few times when he picked up a UW roster from last season.

Rosborough was the heaviest, but he wasn’t alone. Senior Jordan White-Frisbee was 368 pounds as the starting left guard. Left tackles Nick Scott (337) and Ben Ossai (332), and right guards Ryan Tolar (321) and Matt Sedillo (320) were all well over 300 pounds.

So, Sarkisian put them on a 10-week weight-loss program.

“First thing,” he said, admitting it was his first order of business in charge.

Their diet changed. And Sarkisian implemented more “movement drills” in their workouts.

In those 10 weeks, Ossai said he dropped to “11 percent of body fat, and (lost) eight pounds on top of that.” The offensive line lost a combined 200 pounds.

“You recognize stuff like that (the weight loss) when you’ve seen your teammates before, and you see them after,” Ossai said. “They don’t look the same.

“And we’re running better, we’re moving, we’re getting lower and staying in our position longer. We can do a lot of things longer, better, stronger and faster because we worked hard in the offseason.”

And they slimmed down in time so that when Dan Cozzetto was hired as the Huskies’ offensive line coach for a second time in February, he had something to work with.

“I’m not interested in 365-pound, or 340-pound linemen. You better be able to run, that’s the bottom line,” Cozzetto said. “The one thing I like about all the kids I’m playing right now, they can run. They’re quick. The things we’re asking them to do, they have to be athletic.”

Extra points

As many as 15 players were restricted to little or no activity Wednesday, and that didn’t include a few of the offensive linemen who came down with flu-like symptoms and were sidelined. One of the surprises was starting middle linebacker Donald Butler (knee), who endured some swelling and was held out mainly as a precaution. Linebacker E.J. Savannah (shoulder) did not practice for the second consecutive day, and cornerback Quinton Richardson, who was shaken up at the end of practice Monday, tried to go Wednesday, but couldn’t finish. …

Offensive lineman Allen Carroll and running back Terrance Dailey are no longer in the program, Sarkisian said. Carroll just didn’t want to play football anymore, and Dailey – the 2008 leading rusher with 338 yards – was an academic casualty. … Tight-lipped are players and coaches about the new uniform for the upcoming season, but it will be revealed to the public a couple of hours before kickoff of the Spring Game on Saturday. Rumor is that it will look much like the uniform from the early 1990s, which fits Sarkisian’s return-to-your-roots motto this spring. … Sophomore Alvin Logan spent a second day at free safety, and the former receiver picked off a Ronnie Fouch pass during drills.

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442

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