Tennessee’s Kahlil McKenzie dropped weight this offseason to reach his full potential
Published:
Not many people can claim to be a slim 315-pounds but that’s exactly how Tennessee head coach Butch Jones described his sophomore defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie during his opening press conference before the beginning of fall camp.
After an offseason of hard conditioning and eating right, McKenzie claims he cut McDonalds from his diet, the sophomore is eager to bounce back from a mediocre freshman season that began with an injury during last season’s fall camp.
“It’s a great feeling getting back down to that weight,” McKenzie said according to Wes Rucker of GoVols247. “You just feel a lot better, and you can move a lot better. You’re not winded as easily and things like that.
“I’m not dying by like the midway part of practice. It’s being able to perform at a higher level in practice. That’s really what helped me for the most part, you know? Being able to go full speed at practice. I’ve got guys around me who are always going full speed — you know, the defensive line, the offense.”
Not only did a preseason injury slow the nearly 350-pound McKenzie as a true freshman, but he was coming off a year of missed football after being ruled ineligible after transferring high schools following his junior season of high school football. Now in the best shape of his football career, McKenzie is poised to be a difference maker for the Vols and provide more explosion from the interior of the defensive line.
So how did McKenzie lose the weight? He claims he cut fast food from his diet and become a much more disciplined eater.
“If you put McDonald’s in your body, you’re going to perform like McDonald’s,” McKenzie said. “You gotta just know what to eat, how to train, things like that. Really just conditioning your mind to be able to take that next step, be able to say no to McDonald’s when you know it’s an easy meal, not going as hard in a rep or a sprint in the summer. It’s really just conditioning your mind.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
