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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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| | Email this article • Print this article | Hoese strives to be 240-pound fullback
A COLUMN
by Lee Ostrom
During his final (2006-07) school year at Glencoe-Silver Lake, Jon Hoese amassed 2,386 yards of total offense and scored 30 touchdowns while helping the Panthers win a Class AAA state championship in football; come the spring, he was his section's champion sprinter at 100 meters, and he ran second leg on GSL's best-at-state 4x200-meter relay.
Not quite three months later, after being named outstanding offensive player for a victorious Outstate team at the 2007 Minnesota High School Coaches All-Star Game, Hoese walked on the University of Minnesota Gophers football team weighing 205 pounds.
Since then, he has become one of head coach Tim Brewster's big men.
Hoese, still a whisker short of his 20th birthday, now is a "true junior" at the U, weighing in at 235 pounds. Not only that, he has earned the right to wear a shirt that lists the numbers 330, 350 and 450 on the front and makes the statement IT'S A BIG MAN'S GAME on the back.
To qualify, Hoese had to meet Brewster's weightlifting specifications for big men at his fullback position: a power-clean lift of 330 pounds, a bench of 350 and a squat of 450.
Despite all the added muscle, Hoese says his 40-yard times are as fast as when he arrived in 2007. And he is not quite done getting bigger, either.
"They want me to be playing around 240 pounds," he says.
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When the Gophers open their 2009 season at Syracuse on Sept. 5, and then christen the U's new on-campus stadium against Air Force on Saturday evening, Sept. 12, Hoese expects to be Minnesota's starting fullback.
Coming out of spring ball, where he was named Minnesota's most improved player on offense, Hoese topped the depth chart at his spot.
"It's going really, really well," he says, emphasizing how much he likes being back on offense - the side of the ball he played exclusively as a three-year regular at GSL.
Recall that when Hoese first walked on, Gophers coaches placed him with the defense, specifically at a strong safety. That is where he remained throughout his freshman season, when he saw most of his action while on special teams.
His transition back to offense, as a fullback, began in 2008 training camp. Eventually, Hoese would cap his sophomore season in the Arizona desert, scoring on two touchdown plunges - in his first three carries - at the 2008 Insight Bowl.
In his first two seasons as a Gopher, Hoese has appeared in 18 games and made one start, collected two letters, and twice earned scholar-athlete recognition. Last year, he also was an Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection.
Now, he's looking for more starts and more snaps under new coordinators Jedd Fisch and Tim Davis.
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Read the remainder of Lee Ostrom's column in The Chronicle's July 1 edition.
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