Sports

USC Football Players Underwent Mind-Boggling Body Transformations By Adding 1,400 Pounds

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USC Football Weight Gain
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With the landscape of college football set to look completely different in 2024, USC spent the offseason getting prepared for the physicality and brutality of the Big Ten. The Trojans stayed in the weight room!

Head coach Lincoln Riley revealed that his team put on a lot of muscle during the offseason.

USC put on 1,400 pounds as a team since January— not including the coaches. If you do the math based on 85 scholarship players, each individual athlete added 16.4 pounds. If you do the math based on 120 total roster sports, each individual added 11.67 pounds. Either way, that’s a significant increase!

Admittedly, I do not know if this is more, less or equal to other college football teams around the country. I have never seen an offseason training program contextualized in this way before. It’s pretty cool.

With that being said, for Riley to tout that 1,400 number in the way that he did must mean that he, too, is impressed with the offseason gains! And it’s not hard to see why. The Trojans have been putting in work.

The work has clearly paid off! Running back Woody Marks and soon-to-be superstar wide receiver Zachariah Branch highlight an impressive group of offseason transformations.

It is fascinating to see the change in each players’ physique, as well as a breakdown of their body composition. Some of them didn’t put on all that much weight but they look completely different.

This was a big point of emphasis for USC, clearly. Not only do the Trojans need to be able to handle an 11-game schedule with opponents like Penn State and Nebraska instead of Washington State and Cal, they begin the year with LSU.

There is an expectation that Riley will get his team back into the College Football Playoff picture after an 8-5 season in 2023 with Caleb Williams at the helm. That could be a tall ask, but 1,400 pounds of muscle will definitely help— some.