FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas offensive tackle Grady Ollison gained and maintained over the summer.
Ollison, a redshirt sophomore from Malvern, has added more than 30 pounds to his 6-5 frame since the end of spring practice, but he is continuing to move the way he did at the lighter weight so far in fall camp, according to offensive line coach Sam Pittman.
After Tuesday’s practice, Ollison said he weighed 304 pounds. He was at 270 pounds in the spring.
“You can tell he’s got a lot more power to him, and he didn’t lose any quickness that I’ve seen to this point,” Pittman said. “It doesn’t happen that often. That’s why it’s a story.”
Ollison and Pittman credit Ben Herbert, the Razorbacks’ strength and conditioning coach, with making sure Ollison added weight the proper way.
“You give a lot of credit to Ben Herbert, but you give a lot of credit to the kid, too,” Pittman said.“He’s obviously worked hard and eaten right. He did a great job with it.”
Ollison, who is working at first-team right tackle after playing in five games last season primarily on special teams, said adding weight was a gradual process over three months.
“It’s not like I just picked up 15 pounds one week and 15 pounds the next week,” Ollison said. “It was two or three pounds every week, and working out with Coach Herb and conditioning week in and week out, you get used to carrying the weight.”
The football coaches aren’t allowed to work with players over the summer, and Coach Bret Bielema said he was amazed by the transformation he saw in Ollison when practice opened Monday.
“Grady Ollison? Looks like a different human being,” Bielema said. “When I saw him I just couldn’t believe it.”
Bielema said Ollison’s increased strength has been evident in blocking drills.
“They were doing some combo blocks and you could just see the power that he has there,” Bielema said. “We all knew he was a good athlete. I know Sam Pittman is a good O-line coach, so hopefully that’s a tandem that keeps getting better.”
Ollison’s teammates are excited about how he has transformed his body.
“It’s good to have him on my side, right next to me,” junior right guard Brey Cook said. “He’s definitely a lot more fun to work with now that he’s gotten bigger and stronger.”
Senior center Travis Swanson said Ollison is a “raw talent” and still got a lot to learn but stressed the importance of his weight gain.
“For him to be an SEC offensive linemen, he had to be close to that 300-pound range, if not more,” Swanson said. “So him being able to do what he needed to do over the summer to get his weight up is really going to help him out.
“You know, with time, he’s going to be a great player.”
Ollison played offensive and defensive tackle at Malvern High School. He began his true freshman season at Arkansas at defensive end, then moved to offensive tackle and redshirted. Last season he worked at fullback, guard and tight end when the Razorbacks had depth issues at those positions because of injures. He moved back to tackle after Bielema was hired in December.
Since last spring, Ollison has worked exclusively at right tackle. The new coaching staff liked Ollison’s size, athleticism and long arms for blocking on the edge.
“It’s a lot easier on the brain,” Ollison said. “Instead of worrying about what you have to do when you’re at this position or that position, you can just worry about that one spot.”
While Ollison never has played tackle in a game for the Razorbacks, he said the position fits him well.
“I feel really comfortable there,” he said. “It’s a position that came really natural to me in high school.”
The key for Ollison to being an effective tackle in the SEC was adding weight before this season. He said the first time he weighed in at more than 300 pounds - 300.2 to be exact - in late July, it was a cause for celebration.
“I texted my mom, texted my dad, let them know that, ‘Hey, this is where I need to be,’ ” Ollison said.
It also was exciting for Herbert.
“We’d been doing a lot of squatting, a lot of leg lifts,” Ollison said, “and he slapped me on the legs and said, ‘Yeah, it’s getting there.’ “
Ollison said he doesn’t have a specific number of calories he tries to consume every day, but a typical intake will include a six-egg omelet for breakfast, two sandwiches for lunch, protein bars for an afternoon snack, then a chicken dinner with a lot of fruit and vegetables also on the menu.
“I try to limit my diet to healthy stuff, but at the same time stuff that is going to help me put on weight,” he said. “A lot of carbs, a lot of protein.”
Pittman said that along with Ollison’s added weight and strength, he gained a better understanding of the offense over the summer.
“He did a nice job of watching film,” Pittman said. “Plus, any time you get a little extra weight and get a little more power, you’re going to have more confidence. He’s playing faster now.”
In practice Ollison goes against defensive ends Chris Smith - a preseason All-SEC first-team pick - and Trey Flowers, who have a combined 30 starts.
“Going every day against possibly two of the best defensive ends in the SEC, it feels a lot more assuring being 304 rather than 270,” Ollison said.
Pittman said now Ollison looks like an SEC offensive tackle.
“I know he moves like one,” Pittman said. “But we’ve still got to put him in the fire and see what happens.”
Ollison said it’s exciting to anticipate making his first start for the Razorbacks in the opener against Louisiana-Lafayette on Aug. 31.
“A lot of guys come up here from Texas, from Oklahoma, and they represent where they’re from,” Ollison said. “I like to represent Arkansas as best as I can.
“For me to be an Arkansan out there playing for my home state means everything to me.”
Grady Ollison glance
CLASS Redshirt sophomore HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-5, 304 pounds POSITION Offensive tackle HOMETOWN/HIGH SCHOOL Malvern
NOTEWORTHY Listed as first-team right tackle going into fall camp. ... Added more than 30 pounds over the summer but has maintained his quickness, according to the coaches.
... Split work between fullback, guard and tight end last season while playing in five games, primarily on special teams. ... Came to Arkansas as a defensive end but moved to offensive tackle as a true freshman, when he redshirted. ... His uncle, Tony Ollison, played defensive end for the Razorbacks and lettered in 1987-1990.
Sports, Pages 19 on 08/08/2013