Summer doesn't go to waste as U transfer keeps training
Article by:
PHIL MILLER, Star Tribune
Updated: August 23, 2012 - 7:29 AM Ex-Buckeyes center Brian Bobek is growing into his future Gophers role.
So how did Brian Bobek spend his summer in preparation for joining the Gophers football team in two weeks? By breaking NCAA rules.
Well, at least it could sound that way.
"I'd say I'm definitely doing more work with a strength coach than the NCAA would allow," said the former Ohio State center, who transferred to Minnesota and is slated to be able to play in 2013. "It's about all I do."
The catch is, the coach is his father, Jeffrey, a former Iowa offensive lineman, and the workouts are at his suburban Chicago home, not as part of a university program. Totally legal, in other words -- and by Bobek's estimation, entirely effective.
"He's got me doing work on the field for agility. He's got me doing a lot of conditioning out there. He's got me lifting all the time," Bobek said of his bigger-and-better program. "I'm stronger than I've ever been."
Bigger, too, which may come as a shock in Columbus. According to the Columbus Dispatch, new Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer believed that a 270-pound center wasn't big enough for his offense. But Bobek has put on more than 15 pounds this summer, can bench press 480 pounds, and believes he will report to Minnesota for fall semester at 290 pounds, at least.
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