Vaalyn Jackson leads Cowboys in onslaught of weight room records
Jackson now holds four himself
http://mcneesesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/073007aab.html
July 30, 2007
Vaalyn Jackson has returned to the McNeese State football team with a mission and he proved some of that in the weight room during the summer.
"That's exactly what I think he's on," Cowboy defensive line coach Jake Morrison said. "I think that his time off (he was academically ineligible to play last season) gave him a chance to reflect and get himself right."
Jackson was a starting tackle for the Cowboys two seasons ago and this past spring stepped right back into his first team role.
http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/mcne/sports/m-footbl/auto_action/1261549.jpeg
He's come back leaner and maybe a little bit meaner, now tipping the scales at 285 pounds and running a 4.89 in the 40.
The Sulphur native also made shambles of the weight room records posted by the school's defensive tackles.
He set records in the power clean (360 pounds) and the squat (750 pounds) and then ran the 40 in 4.89, also a record.
Morrison is looking for Jackson to become the big man in the middle of the defensive line for the Cowboys.
"He plays our shade (playing over the center) and he demands doubled teaming a lot of time which will then free up our linebacker," Morrison noted.
"He does everything at full speed and does it the right way and this season we're expecting him to become the all-conference player that he is."
Jackson, who also holds the defensive tackle record for vertical jump with a 33-5 mark, wasn't the only Cowboy setting weight room records during the past summer but he did set the most.
Brandon Broussard set a pair of records for tight ends with a 625 pound squat and a 4.64 run in the 40 yard dash.
Toddrick Pendland went 39.5 in the vertical jump for a record among running backs, both Steven Whitehead and Immanuel Friddle power cleaned 305 to set a mark for wide receivers while Chad Davis benched 325 for another mark.
For the quarterbacks, Derrick Fourroux set a record with a 310 bench press and Bart Crader went 38.5 in the vertical jump and ran a 4.39 in the 40.
David Turnage led the linebackers with a record setting 435 pound bench press, Allen Nelson had a 39 inch vertical jump and Geremy Pilate ran a 4.44 in the 40 yard dash.
Records set by the defensive backs came from Josh Quayhagen with a 320 point power clean and from Marcus Brown with a 4.26 clocking in the 40 yard dash.
And, those were just the records set this past summer.
Bryant Mason leads current players who set records in other years. Now playing defensive end, Mason holds the quarterback records for squat (525 pounds) and power clean (292 pounds), the defensive end records for squat (695 pounds) and power clean (335 pounds) and the linebacker record for squat (665 pounds).
Cowboy weight room record holders are: (kneeling left to right) Darrick Brown, Bryant Mason, Marcus Brown (standing) Vaalyn Jackson, assistant strength coach Chris Smith, head strength coach Zeb Hawkins and Steven Whitehead
Eman Naghavi has the offensive lineman record for the squat with 760 pounds, Whitehead is tops with a 600 pound squat for wide receivers and
Quinten Lawrence for speed with a 4.19 clocking in the 40.
Bryan Smith is the leader in vertical jump (38 inches) and in the 40 yard dash (4.52) for defensive ends while Marcus Brown is also on the board with a 42 inch vertical jump for defensive backs.
