JONESBORO — What Nathan Herrold sees when he steps on a scale now is the same as what he saw in May — about 240 pounds.
But less than three weeks away from the start of his senior season, the Arkansas State linebacker said he feels better than he has his entire career, and that’s due to how he spent his summer.
“I kind of sat down with myself and looked at where I can improve and what I needed to do to get there,” Herrold said. “Then I executed it.”
The plan to remake his body had been on Herrold’s to-do list since he arrived in Jonesboro in 2008, but torn knee ligaments at the end of the 2009 season and before spring practice in 2011 made significant change hard to manage.
Instead of stripping off what he called “bad weight” and building back up with muscle, Herrold spent most of those winter and spring months dedicated to strengthening his knee. Any weight gain was just a welcomed accompaniment to his rehab.
“I always got back to where I was, but I’ve never been able to take that other step and get a little stronger,” he said.
Herrold first tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a victory over North Texas in 2009. He tore the same ligament again in February 2011 — six months to the day, he said — before fall practice started.
Herrold spent the spring and summer rehabbing his knee and made it back without missing any games last season. He totaled 66 tackles, the most of any returning player, to earn second-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors.
He spent this past spring on the field rather than the trainer’s room, too, and he exited Jonesboro in May at around 240 pounds.
He spent part of the summer at his home in Ozark, Mo., where a better diet sparked a loss of 15 pounds, before heading back to campus in July. There he focused on leg strengthening and speed training with Ryan Russell, ASU’s director of strength and conditioning.
The result is a new and improved Herrold capable of stopping a run play near the line of scrimmage or streaking toward the sideline.
“Everyone thinks linebackers need to be as big as they can be, but it’s not just plugging the hole anymore,” Herrold said. “You’ve got to be able to plug a hole in the ‘A’ gap on one play, then make a play on the sideline 30 yards away on the next play.”
Herrold heads into his senior season as ASU’s only linebacker with starting experience and one of only three returning starters to a defense that ranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt last year.
“He’s had a great summer,” defensive coordinator John Thompson said. “He’s mature, smart and he’s going to lead this team.”
Thompson is the third coordinator Herrold has played for in three seasons, but he said the transition from Kevin Corless in 2010 to Dave Wommack last season to Thompson has not been difficult.
After Steve Roberts resigned following a 4-8 finish in 2010, Hugh Freeze was hired and replaced defensive coordinator Kevin Corless with Dave Wommack.
Wommack, a three-decade coaching veteran, installed a 4-2-5 base defense that turned into one of the best units in the conference. The Red Wolves ranked second in the Sun Belt in total defense (331.5 yards allowed per game), scoring defense (20.8 points allowed per game) and rushing defense (154.2) last year.
Wommack went to Ole Miss with Freeze during the offseason, and new Coach Gus Malzahn hired Thompson to replace Wommack. Herrold said what could be a tough transition was helped by Thompson’s similarities with Wommack.
The two have coached together — they were both on Houston Nutt’s staff at Arkansas in 2000 and 2001 and Steve Spurrier’s staff at South Carolina in 2005 — and have similar philosophies. The base defense ASU runs under Thompson isn’t much different from what it ran last year under Wommack.
Herrolds said his role is nearly identical.
“It’s really going to be getting out there and playing,” he said.
At a glance
NAME Nathan Herrold SCHOOL Arkansas State CLASS Senior POSITION Linebacker AGE 22 HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-3, 240 pounds HOMETOWN Ozark, Mo. NOTEWORTHY Named to preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team by Athlon and Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook and second team by Phil Steele. ... Leading returning tackler from an Arkansas State defense that ranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference last year in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. ... Had 66 tackles while starting 11 games. ... Named second-team All-Sun Belt last year. ... His 187 career tackles are tops among current players. ... Has played in 37 games with 21 starts. ... Only game he missed came in the 2009 season finale after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Sports, Pages 17 on 08/15/2012