Running back Cyrus Gray gained 20 pounds in the offseason. Wide receiver Howard Morrow shed 27. Seemingly, every Texas A&M football player is in better shape to help put last year's 4-8 season in the rear-view mirror.
Few, though, talk much about the team's best conditioning effort -- head coach Mike Sherman lost 40 pounds. He probably could play offensive tackle. More importantly, he looks like the leader of a program that's got work to do.
Texas A&M has had physically impressive head football coaches for more than four decades.
Gene Stallings and Emory Bellard were striking Southern gentlemen during their time in Aggieland. The tall, distinguished Stallings was 29 when he was named head coach. The mild-mannered Bellard wasn't big in stature, but oozed confidence as he puffed on his pipe. Stallings and Bellard also had distinctive, infatuating drawls.
Tom Wilson, the former Texas Tech quarterback, had a Hollywood smile and a riverboat gambler approach to the game and people that was attractive. Jackie Sherrill was a natural leader, whether he was helping build bonfires or waving 12th Man towels. His us-against-the-world approach was contagious.
Folksy R.C. Slocum was a perfect fit at A&M. He could talk to anyone and was adored by players and their mothers, which helped make him the school's winningest coach.
Blue-eyed, silver-haired Dennis Franchione -- at first -- seemed to fit the mold of his predecessors. His Gig 'em getting off the plane from Alabama could have been on the cover of GQ.
That's not the image that Aggies remember, though. As the losses mounted, his fashionable image grew stale. To many Aggies, he became the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
That's harsh, but nothing is sacred these days. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was asked if he was a virgin at the SEC Media Days. The question was appalling enough. The sad thing is millions probably wanted to hear details if his answer was no.
A person's appearance matters more than ever, and coaches are aware of that.
A high school football coach in another town not long ago went into the newspaper there and asked the editor if it would refrain from running photos of him from the shoulders down. The editor obliged the coach, who had gained a few pounds.
Even the paper wanted its readers to have good thoughts about their coach. That's understandable. Coaches are the faces of high school and college programs, because even the biggest star players quickly move on.
Sherman never had to worry about his waistline in Green Bay, where Bart Starr and Brett Favre were the folk heroes along with legendary coach Vince Lombardi.
He knew he'd be bigger than life in Aggieland after spending two stints under Slocum. He knew what to expect.
Sherman looked dapper as he walked up to the podium in the Bright Complex on Nov. 26, 2007. But coaching years are like dog years -- they take their toll.
Coaches spend long hours in the office or on the road recruiting, so fast food restaurants suffice. A lack of sleep and exercise confined to hitting the tape projector's rewind button or text messaging a recruit don't burn many calories.
Tim Cassidy, the slim, trim distinguished associate athletic director for football, admitted he even added a few pounds as he drove Sherman around the state recruiting and speaking at Aggie Clubs.
Cassidy, though, isn't the face of the program, Sherman is. And those extra pounds were more noticeable during last season's losses -- especially when his shirttail popped out.
He wasn't the only one who could have benefited by being thinner. Former fullback Jorvorskie Lane reported to camp last year at 290 pounds, about 20 more than Sherman had instructed. Not surprisingly, Lane was a nonfactor in his senior year. He carried the ball only 35 times and had just four catches.
Sherman made it clear to the players there better be no weight issues next year. Little did they know, that included the coach.
"I knew we had to change some things," Sherman said. "I knew this was going to be a season I needed to step up and have a lot of energy and get us going in the right direction."
He led by example.
"I started working out in the morning when the players came in," Sherman said. "It's been healthy and it hasn't been a whole lot of fun."
He walked. He worked out on the elliptical machine. But most of all, he pushed away from the table, even though he has a passion for good food.
He didn't waver, not even at the prospect of facing the media's weighty questions at the Big 12 Media Days in Arlington. A buffet -- including desserts to kill for -- was a Jerrod Johnson pass away. Sherman smartly called an audible. He sent someone to Subway.
That's the kind of determination a 54-year-old needs to lose significant weight without medication or surgery.
Sherman probably has gained back a few pounds since fall camp started. He's liable to add more weight during the season while stressing over how to stop the Big 12 South's lethal quarterbacks. That's OK, though. He prepared for that likelihood.
His team is much more prepared, though, and that started with the head man.
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