Jordan Whittington's efforts, on and off the field,
have him hopeful for a standout junior season
In his three years as a Texas Longhorn, Jordan Whittington has suffered three injuries that either derailed his season or cut it short altogether.
Exiting 2021 and entering 2022, Whittington made a concerted effort to take better care of his body. He practices yoga and does other workouts with the purpose of physical maintenance. He improved his diet. He is constantly in Moncrief receiving treatment that will help him remain a threat to opposing defenses.
Through the first week of UT’s training camp, his hard work has drawn praise from coaches and teammates alike.
Growing up in a family of athletes had Whittington around weights from a young age. He said Tuesday he was doing lifts like the bench press when he was 10-years-old.
Those years of training near the Texas Coastal Bend and the rigors of carrying the load for the Cuero Gobblers took a toll.
When Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin in 2021, he brought with him Torre Becton to implement a new strength and conditioning philosophy for the former top-50 player in the On3 Consensus. They had a plan for Whittington from the start.
“I would say the difference would be more mobility, not as much strength and stuff like that,” Whittington said of their blueprint for him. “Me, I had a lot of operations, so just staying open, staying loose, staying mobile is something that we worked on.”
That change helped him avoid soft tissue problems through the first six games of 2021, but football is a violent sport and collisions happen. Treatment and conditioning doesn’t do a whole lot when it comes to collarbones, and a broken clavicle is what cost Whittington four games last season.
Whittington said Tuesday he shows up early prior to practice in order to get treatment, almost living in the UT training room. Recent facility renovations have helped in this regard, as some of the treatments Texas players used to have to go off campus to receive are now in the fully redone Moncrief athletic facility.
Expectations for Whittington are high, and no one has higher expectations than Whittington himself. On Tuesday, the fourth-year junior said he was especially motivated because this is his “last year,” hinting at his professional aspirations.
[More at IT]