‘OK, I can do this.’ UK lineman lost 30 pounds in a few weeks, and is playing like it.
Jeremy Flax, like all newcomers to the football team, came to the University of Kentucky in hopes of making an impact as soon as possible.
The 6-foot-6 offensive tackle was, unlike some new arrivals, realistic about his readiness to contribute right away for a Power Five program. He made cameos in two games last season — UK’s loss to Georgia and its rout of South Carolina — but was not in the right physical condition to play down after down at right tackle. He hovered around 350 pounds, about 30 heavier than he played at in junior college.
Flax has shaved off the weight — he’s around 320, now — and is vying for the open spot at right tackle left behind by Darian Kinnard, who has moved to the opposite side of the line this spring. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen a couple weeks into the short session said Flax had “probably solidified himself” at the position.
“He’s really more athletic than I thought he was,” Coen said at the end of March. “I just didn’t really get to see a lot of tape of him.”
Flax was made available to media during a Tuesday Zoom session, as good an indicator as any that he has continued to impress in practice. He admitted that he wasn’t comfortable about where he was at, developmentally, until spring practice got underway. At the start of spring he was still checking in at 350 pounds.
“I just recently got down to 320, so probably two to three weeks ago my confidence really spiked up and I felt comfortable, I was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’” Flax said. “I’ve been doing this my whole life, I ain’t got nothing to be scared of.”
Eating bad food was Flax’s biggest failing, he said. Sticking to an eating program — and reaching for healthier snacks when a craving for pizza crept up between meals — has made a quick and significant difference.
“Just making sure I’m being consistent, and being truthful with my strength coaches, too, telling them what I had last night when they ask me, just stuff like that,” Flax said.
Flax, who’s originally from Detroit but came to Kentucky by way of Independence Community College in Kansas, was something of a surprise addition to UK’s 2020 recruiting class. He committed to the Wildcats over Auburn and Texas Tech one day prior to the early signing period for that cycle, and then signed with Kentucky the next day.
An unranked defensive end who weighed 270 pounds when he got to Independence, Flax blossomed into the top-ranked player at his position in the junior-college ranks. Defensive passing game coordinator Steve Clinkscale, who has lured several Detroit-area athletes to Lexington in his six years with the program, was a difference-maker for Flax, along with the other Motor City Wildcats on campus.
“I wanted to come here and keep the Detroit pipeline going and play with guys that I knew and guys that I would be comfortable around,” Flax said. “It really just helped coming to a new campus because it was kind of an advantage the other schools didn’t have.”
Flax this fall appears poised to join DeAndre Square and Marquan McCall as a high-impact Michiganders who’ve elevated Kentucky on the field. Those guys have helped broaden the Wildcats’ brand, in turn, as well.
“I know a lot of my friends are starting to watch Kentucky football just because of me, and I tell them all the time that I’m not the only person from Detroit,” Flax said. “There’s 10, 12 other people here and a lot of people from Ohio. They recruit a lot in those up-north areas.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 12:06 PM.
