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It’s well known that Arkansas signee T.J. Hammonds made major gains in athleticism from his sophomore to his junior season after working with Pulaski Robinson strength and conditioning coach Brian Maupin, who also coaches linebackers.
Senator sophomore linebacker-tight end Hunter Swoboda has also made strong strides in only three months of offseason work after finishing up basketball and going from 177 pounds to 210 while increasing his muscle mass.
“We kind of got together after basketball, and Coach Maupin and I just decided I needed to get into the weight room, drink a gallon of water each day along with breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Swoboda said.
The 6-foot, 3-inch Swoboda consumed a massive amount of calories while working out.
“I was just eating whatever I could get my hands on, cheeseburgers, pizza, quesadillas, cheese dip, chips, anything like that ,” Swoboda said. “Probably not the best thing for me, but I just kept working out and drinking a gallon of water every day, and I worked it all off and got all the way up to 210.”
He increased his bench press from 185 pounds to 235, hang clean from 195 to 245 and squat from 295 to 405.
Swoboda recorded 7 receptions for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns while having 119 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 4 pass deflections, 2 recovered fumbles and a forced fumble this past season.
He’s drawing interest from Arkansas, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Vanderbilt and Kansas State. He and several teammates, including Razorback receiver commitment Koilan Jackson, visited the Hogs in April.
“It was pretty cool, got to see a practice and see how big they were,” Swoboda said. “It was really cool to see the tight ends and the linebackers and see how hard they work.”
Hog tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. caught the last half of the Senators' practice on Wednesday. Louisiana Tech was also on hand while Iowa State was at the school earlier in the day.
Swoboda was impressed with the size of Arkansas' weight room.
“We walked in and looked to the right, and all you see is racks, and we look to the left and we see windows and glass and all kind of weights, and we were just all blown away,” he said.
Strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert is known for his intensity and often works up a sweat during recruiting visits while giving a presentation.
“He would talk for about 10 minutes, and he would get his towel and towel off a little bit,” Swoboda said. “He was pretty cool. We could tell he knew exactly what he was talking about.”
The before and after pictures of current Razorbacks highlights Herbert’s success.
“He showed us a picture of Jeremy Sprinkle when he got there and then he showed us a picture of him now and it’s just ridiculous,” Swoboda said. “He had to have gained 30 to 40 pounds and he’s all muscle. It was crazy.”