I’ve never heard of a quarterback doing a 430-pound front squat. Linebackers, yes. Defensive linemen, yes. But never a quarterback. Nope. – BYU's new conditioning coach Frank Wintrich said.
Taysom Hill’s freak folder file grew a little fatter this offseason. Quite a feat since he hasn’t played a football game since Oct. 3, 2014, and he spent the holidays limping around with screws in his ankle.
On Aug. 3, USA Today national college writer Dan Wolken’s story on Hill’s summer internship with Pelion Venture Partners included a weight room tale about the BYU senior. Apparently, one day the Cougar quarterback demanded to know who had the best front squat on the team. He was told it was offensive center Tejan Koroma, who could repeatedly squat 425 pounds of dead weight.
Hill walked over and did 430.
How freakish is that?
“I’ve never heard of a quarterback doing a 430-pound front squat,” said BYU’s new conditioning coach Frank Wintrich. “Linebackers, yes. Defensive linemen, yes. But never a quarterback. Nope. ”
Wintrich explained why.
“If you were to convert that to a back squat, that front squat lift would be a 580 to 600-pound back squat. We usually look for a front squat to be 75 percent of a player’s back squat. He did 435 easy one time and we cut him off there. Taysom’s a freak, he really is.”
John Beck, the former strong-armed BYU quarterback drafted in the 2007 second round by Miami spent seasons and weight room sessions there, with the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens and is now with the CFL’s British Columbia Lions of the CFL.
“Anytime I walk in a weight room and see anyone front squat 430, I’m very impressed,” said Beck. “To see a quarterback do that? It just speaks to what a talented athlete Taysom is. He’s freakishly strong.”
Former BYU linebacker Jordan Pendleton, owner of Pendleton Performance, is a personal trainer who prepares collegians for the NFL scouting combine. He called Hill’s lift unusual if not unheard of.
“He really did that?” asked Pendleton.
“Oh, my heavens. That is very unusual,” said Pendleton.
“That is a ridiculous amount of weight, especially for a front squat. Man, a front squat for a quarterback of 430 is unheard of. I haven’t heard of very many linebackers or linemen that can front squat 430 and do it with perfect form.
“After knee surgery? He broke his leg last year and had surgery the year before too? To do that shows what a freak he is and what a workhorse he is and how strong he is. That is impressive. If you are a quarterback and can back squat 430, that is impressive, but to to front squat 430 — which he should need to do – is very impressive.”
On Wednesday, Hill said doing front squats is part of what Wintrich expects in his new workout.
“Before coach Wintrich came I’d say it wasn’t really usual, we’d still do it, but it's all we do now. We might evolve to where we are doing more back squats but right now he wants to make sure we are trained properly and everything is done right from a technique standpoint.
Doing the front and back squat lifts in a weight room have always been one of Hill’s specialties. In other words, it is a natural thing for him to execute it with whatever weight he thinks he can handle.
“I kind of have one speed that I know and that’s to go as hard as I can. If I get to the verge where my form starts to break down and I may risk injury then I stop. But I’ve never had that problem.”
How many reps can he do of 430?
“I don’t know, when I did it that day, I just did one.”
One was enough to send a message to his teammates. Maybe that’s why he did it.
They believe he should wear a cape and tights and jump over Texas Longhorns on demand.
Linebacker Manoa Pikula and receiver Kurt Henderson were getting taped Wednesday morning and began laughing at the fact their quarterback can hoist up that much poundage.
“It really puts you in your place when your quarterback is lifting that much weight,” said Henderson.
“Not only does it show your quarterback is not going to back down from a challenge but that he’s as strong as an ox. When he uses that strength, we’re all behind him but we don’t want him to take that many hits," Henderson said, adding, "He’s the total package.”
File it.
The binder housing these tidbits keeps growing.
Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.