Klein On the Line

Defensive tackle Kory Klein's first season in Norman coincided with Bob Stoops' 1999 coaching debut at Oklahoma. Klein is set to begin his senior year in a Sooner uniform on Saturday. In this O-Zone interview, Klein discusses his defensive line teammates, a football player's unique college experience and what he'll do when he runs out on the field in the expanded stadium on Saturday.

O-Zone:
Explain some of the areas the defensive tackles have been focused on during practice.

Klein:
We worked a lot on our pass rush this summer. We can do some things better with our technique and recognizing situations -- like other team's efforts to block us up front and their schemes. During two-a-days, it's something we really concentrated on -- not just at the defensive tackle position but the entire defense.

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O-Zone:
Physically, where do you feel the line has improved?

Klein:
We really worked on speed and flexibility. We did a lot of quickness drills with our feet and hands. Flexibility will go a long way in keeping you injury-free. It keeps you from being as sore after a game. As the season goes on, your body doesn't get worn down as much. You always work on your strength -- trying be as strong and as physical as you can be up front. You want to be able to dominate the line of scrimmage but you also want to have the speed and conditioning to run down quarterbacks. Going into my last year -- as a group -- I think this is the strongest and fastest that we've been as a defensive line. It should show up in game situations.

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O-Zone:
Your name is usually at the top of the lists when the strength and conditioning testing results are released. How does weight room performance translate on the field?

Klein:
We try to coordinate everything we do so that it will show benefits on the field. Sometimes, you have big, strong guys that don't do anything on the field. We know that putting up numbers in testing is great but the bottom line is that it's supposed to help you be a better football player. You've still got to know your assignments for each defense and offense. You have to know your responsibilities and you have to be able to line up and actually play. All the lifting and conditioning is just a supplement to add to your performance.

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O-Zone:
Is there any certain exercise that seems to help you more than anything else?

Klein:
You can't over-train any part of your body. Some guys might be great at bench but their legs are weak. You can't have one without the other. I think the explosion lifts are most important for me. The cleans and snatch. You can work on some things with your bench press and squats to help you explode off the line.

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O-Zone:
How much have you physically improved since high school?

Klein:
My senior year at Union, I played defensive tackle and the most I weighed was 250. I slowly put weight on and it's taken me a long time but I got up to 285 this summer. You're talking 45 pounds. It was a slow process. Some guys can put it on faster but you've just got to watch and be conscious of what you eat so you're putting on good, solid weight. Your freshman year, you have all three of your meals in the cafeteria and its a buffet. You can go back for seconds (laughs). That helps because you're doing so many things. You've got to have that gas in your tank so you can go all day. You get up early to practice in the morning and stay up late studying. It was a slow process for me. We take body fat measurements and its not a big deal but you want to look at it and try to eat right. You don't want to become a big, slow fat guy (laughs).

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O-Zone:
What's going through the heads of all the new freshman football players?

Klein:
It's not too overwhelming but at the same time, you're glad when school starts so you can do something other than football all the time. Probably like a lot of people, I didn't really have a good idea of what major I wanted to focus on right at the beginning. I liked the start of classes because you can see some different faces -- even if it was a boring class. But, before you know it, it's two o'clock in the afternoon and you've got practice. It gets kind of repetitive. You try to figure out when you can get some down time -- just time to relax. The coaches do a good job of putting together efficient practices. We get what we have to get done and we don't drag around.

Interview continues on the O-Zone...

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