Early Entry Review: Forsythe dropped weight, added muscle this spring
Throughout his childhood, offensive tackle Stone Forsythe grew up dreaming of playing football for the Florida Gators as the Winter Garden, Fla., native lived only a few hours from Gainesville. This spring as an early enrollee, Forsythe finally got a start on the experience he long anticipated.
Overall, his father, Ray Forsythe, felt spring ball went well for his son.
"I was very pleased with his progress," said Ray Forsythe, a former UCF standout along the offensive line who was on the Cincinnati Bengals' roster in 1995.
"I think he was pleased with the results he ended up with as a high school senior participating in spring practice. There was a little gratitude that was appreciated there. He got the gratification of participating in spring practice at the college level, and at the same time I think it was a wake-up call. He's like, 'Wow, college is so fast now.'"
A big goal for Forsythe, a massive offensive tackle who stands at 6 feet, 7 3/4 inches, when he first arrived at Florida was to add strength and muscle to his frame. After weighing at about 330 pounds in January, Forsythe has since dropped about 15 pounds but has added considerable about of muscle in the process, according to his father.
As a standout at West Orange High School in Orlando before he arrived in Gainesville, Forsythe played primarily at left tackle. However, throughout the spring the Gators had the three-star recruit playing right tackle - for the most part as a third string as tackles David Sharpe and Fred Johnson handled first-team duties while Kavaris Harkless and Andrew Mike were often with the second string.
Ray Forsythe felt playing on the right side of the line was a smooth transition for his son, as he picked up Florida's offensive playbook very quickly.
"Stone is very smart," Ray Forsythe said. "That's an advantage that he had in high school, that he knew the offense, he knew the cover, he knew what the linebackers were doing. He was very football intelligent."
During spring practices Forsythe often sought the advice of Sharpe and Martez Ivey, who was sidelined from practice after undergoing off-season surgery, to gain further understanding of UF's offensive schemes. Ivey, who was quite familiar with Forsythe stemming back from their high school rivalry days as Apopka and West Orange often squared off, is one of Forsythe's roommates along with fellow early enrollee Jordan Smith.
"Sharpe and Ivey are talking to him," Ray Forsythe said. "Sharpe works with him and participated in his interest in learning the offense. They want to see him succeed. They're serving more as rode models. Sharpe helped him out with footwork and learning plays and so forth. It was a good relationship."
With fall training camp less than three months away, Forsythe's father sees his son's main goals as aiming to continue adding more muscle mass and power while improving his stance.
"He needs to improve on his stance, his three-point, two-point stance, but other than that it's been great reviews from [offensive line coach Mike Summers]," explained Ray Forsythe.
"The only thing Stone and Coach Summers discussed with me was work on his stance, work on his stance, work on his stance. That’s really what our mission was over this two-week break. When I say work on your stance, I think it's more differential between two-point, three-point, pass block, run block. As an offensive lineman, you should be able to do run block or pass block out of the same stance. I think that's what he means by work on your stance. If you put too much weight on your fingers, they know it's a run block. Not enough weight on your fingers, they know it's a pass block. It's more of having a consistent stance for run block or pass block."
Outside of Sharpe, Florida's depth at offensive tackle is surrounded by plenty of question marks heading into the 2016 season. Johnson struggled at times with the first-string offense in pass protection during the spring, while backups Harkless and Mike also had their share of slip-ups on the edges in practices and the spring game. Where Florida chooses to primarily play Ivey this fall when he returns - still at guard or instead at tackle - remains to be seen.
With some uncertainty at the tackle spots for the Gators, Forsythe hopes he could prove enough moving forward to warrant some early playing time this season, according to his father.
"Big body, quick feet, strong punch - I mean, the coaching staff is looking for him to participate early as a freshman," Ray Forsythe said. "I don’t think we’re looking for a redshirt. They made that very specific with him coming up early. Stone’s doing the things that he’s supposed to. He’s in the weight room, he’s eating right, he’s trimmed up. I’m looking for a great season out of Stone. Even the coaching staff, they’re looking for a great season out of him.
"He's confident that he’s going to have some playing time at that position. At least that’s what the coaching staff has told him from his spring play and his ability and his willingness to learn."
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