Dean's Weight Is Over

FRESHMAN WORKING TO DROP POUNDS FOR HOG POSITION

Arkansas tight end Demetrius Dean had to wait a year to join the Razorbacks after failing to earn a qualifying score on the ACT, but he enrolled in January and is eager to make up for lost time.
Arkansas tight end Demetrius Dean had to wait a year to join the Razorbacks after failing to earn a qualifying score on the ACT, but he enrolled in January and is eager to make up for lost time.

— Demetrius Dean can’t remember the last time he had McDonald’s.

He does know he hasn’t eaten at the fast-food chain since he started school at Arkansas in January.

“I haven’t had time,” Dean said. “The day I got here is when I started losing the weight. I’ve been on the treadmill running, trying to lose it.”

The 6-foot-3 tight end from Fayetteville arrived on campus weighing about 275 pounds. He dropped more than 15 pounds over the next seven months and weighed in at less than 260 for the start of fall camp.

“For a guy like him who likes to eat, it’s probably more work to lose that,” graduate assistant tight ends coach Joseph Henry said. “He’s made leaps and bounds. His body weight was way high when he got here and it’s come down quite a bit.”

Dean’s weight and academic eligibility issues cast doubt on whether he would make it to campus a year ago. Prior to fall camp, the NCAA ruled that he failed to academically qualify because of two classes he took at Fayetteville.

The ruling left Dean without a scholarship to attend the college across the street from his high school. So he started driving to Bentonville to take classes at North-West Arkansas Community College.

That didn’t last long.

Shortly after he started classes, the eligibility issue was resolved, freeing him up to enroll at Arkansas for the spring 2012 semester. The news couldn’t come quick enough.

“I was thinking, ‘I need to be playing football’ while I was at NWACC,” Dean said.

Even when Dean got on campus, though, his weight and conditioning were concerns. He was a highly touted 225-pound receiver when he verbally committed to Arkansas as a high school sophomore, but ballooned up to more than 250 pounds his senior year.

“It got crazy,” Dean said. “I was eating a lot.”

Once on campus, Dean started working with coaches and training staff to get back into playing shape.

He participates in extra conditioning drills after workouts. Henry receives a weight report each week and Dean is part of “The Farm,” a group of players whose training table meals are monitored.

“They don’t eat too many unhealthy foods,” Henry said. “A lot of salads and lean meats. Any training table meals, his plates are monitored, trying to control portion size and content as well.”

Dean showed his potential in the passing game as he got back into playing shape early in the spring.

“He started out spring ball on fire, then his body got banged up and shut down because he wasn’t used to the speed of practice,” off ensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “He has an ability to make catches you would never think a kid that big would make.”

Dean is part of a group of tight ends vying for playing time behind preseason All-Southeastern Conference senior Chris Gragg, who has been a help to Dean as he tries to learn the off ense.

“The playbook is huge,” Dean said. “Chris is really good about helping me learn the plays. If you mess up on a play, he’ll take you to the side and tell you why you messed up and make you get it right.

“It’s going to help me get on the fi eld quicker.”

Gragg had 518 yards and two touchdowns receiving last season. His graduation will leave a void for a passcatching tight end next year, a reputation Dean earned while racking up 2,134 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns in three years at Fayetteville.

“He just has to keep improving and understanding the offense,” Petrino said. “I probably threw too much at him in the spring. This year he’ll probably have a couple packages. His big goal is by the time Chris Gragg’s gone, he’s ready to go.”

For now, Dean is happy he found a way back to his hometown school after an uncertain fall 2011.

“The Arkansas coaches just told me don’t worry about the academic issues and let it work out,” Dean said. “They did what they said they were going to do. I always wanted to come here. So I didn’t really look anywhere else.”

Upcoming Events