Senior offensive tackle Fahn Cooper didn’t have much time to prepare before being thrust into the starting right tackle role last season after transferring in from junior college. Now with a year in the SEC and a full offseason under his belt, Cooper said he feels much more comfortable.
“Last year I didn’t have spring ball, I just had June and July then we were playing ball,” Cooper said. “Having gone through that whole spring and being around the guys and watching extra film has made it a lot easier.”
While Cooper seemed comfortable at the right tackle spot when he had to move to left tackle in relief of Laremy Tunsil, Cooper struggled and wasn’t nearly as effective, pointing out the Auburn game as a time when he struggled at left tackle. Cooper thinks he improved after spring practice and summer workouts. Cooper talked about “the switch” he plays with as an offensive lineman, but that shouldn’t be an issue like it was last year.
“I was working a little bit at left tackle, a little bit at right and just making sure the transition is a lot easier, as opposed to last year,” Cooper said.
Perhaps the biggest change in Cooper from last season to this season is in his weight, as he dropped down to about 300 pounds.
“Last year I was about 325, now I’m back into having my body feel right, and it makes everything else and the mental part a lot easier,” Cooper said.
With the fast-pace offense that head coach Hugh Freeze likes to run, it’s important for the offensive line to be in top shape and slimmed down when it comes to properly executing the offense. Not only did that factor in for Cooper, but there were other motivations as well.
“After the season, I really thought about it and I really feel like I’ll be a much better player if I can get my weight back down to how I was when I was a sophomore,” Cooper said.
Cooper put a lot of effort in maintaining a healthy diet and nutrition plan in order to be in top shape. He went into further detail about how he was able to get in better shape for the season, and it wasn’t just him.
“A big part of it was talking with our nutritionist, eating right, staying after to do extra stuff in the weight room, stuff like that,” Cooper said. “The biggest part of it was that I wasn’t alone. On the offensive line there was a group of about six, seven or eight guys and we all had to lose weight, and we all did.”
Cooper estimated that the group lost around 200 pounds all together.
“We all were working and pushing each other to do extra stuff so we could lose the weight and run this no huddle offense efficiently,” Cooper said.
With head coach Hugh Freeze’s offense based heavily around getting the play off quickly moving fast in between snaps, the offensive line losing so much weight should help with the speed of the offense and the conditioning that will be necessary to run long sets of plays in a row without breaking for a huddle.
Cooper said the tempo was definitely a lot faster, and explained how this improved speed would pay dividends on the field next season.
“If you can get lined up faster, you can get the plays off faster and it makes everything easier for the quarterback and it just causes chaos for the defense,” Cooper said.
