PB&J's helped Lawrence get better this offseason
CLEMSON—Apparently even the scales at Clemson bow at the wishes of quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said that Lawrence fought for the scale to hit 220 pounds at the Tigers' annual weigh in—it was a number that Lawrence wanted.
"Trevor was 220, he fought for that 20," Swinney said. "(The scale) wasn't quite settled in and they were about to say 219 and then it clicked to 220. So he was really, really happy about that."
Unlike the majority of the fans that will be sitting in the bleachers or at home on a sofa or in a recliner, Lawrence has struggled to gain weight his entire life.
But Lawrence has found a system that works for him to gain weight–eat four meals and two crunchy peanut butter and strawberry sandwiches.
"I like crunchy, I'll do both, but I like crunchy. Strawberry," Lawrence said. ""Always been PB&J, it's the easiest one. Just make a few of them and eat them throughout the day..I'll eat like three or four meals then eat, like, two of those on top of that."
The reason that it is so important for Lawrence to gain the weight in the offseason is that over the course of training camp and a, potentially, 15-game season he is bound to lose weight—which makes it tough to take the hits that a quarterback takes.
"I think just my whole life that's been something I've worked on is just trying to gain weight—every offseason just trying to gain as much weight as I can," Lawrence said. "That was the same thing this year. I've always been lean and kind of skinny, so I just try to put on a few extra pounds. The season is long, it can wear on you—some hits—and you want to last as long as you can. So gaining some weight helps a lot."
If there is any quarterback out there that struggles to gain weight, Lawrence understands the trials of gaining weight.
"I feel your pain, it's hard eating all day and don't feel like you're making any progress, but it's been good," Lawrence said. "I gained a little bit of weight, probably going to lose a lot during camp 'cause it's tough, but I feel like we're in a good spot."
Now that Lawrence has put in the work with his body, which was much needed, Swinney believes that there is still more for him to improve on this season—as a leader.
“I think the number one thing was physically taking another step and he has done that,” Swinney said. “He looks great. He has really done a nice job with his body. He was not in a bad place. He was ahead of most freshman, but now you can just tell that physically he is in a much different spot.
“Then he has to assert himself as the leader. This time last year, he was just trying to get in line and go win a job. Now we need him to be a leader.”
