Huckins Ready To Cook Up Successful 2017

BOULDER — He's slimmer, trimmer, stronger and healthier.

Jonathan Huckins is ready to roll as his final season with the Colorado Buffaloes approaches.

"Everything feels good," Huckins declared recently. "Eating healthy has been a huge thing. I've dropped weight that I don't need, put on weight that I'm using in a good way, and I just feel healthier about it. My body feels good, and when you can feel that way and work it at the level that we do, it helps every facet."

Huckins, a senior offensive lineman, and his teammates are ramping up their summer strength and conditioning session, as well as player-led volunteer workouts. Everything is geared toward the July 28 opening of fall camp, which will set the stage for the Sept. 1 season opener vs. Colorado State in Denver (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).

The clock is definitely counting down, and this year, Huckins plans to be a key factor all season.

Huckins has battled injury and illness at times in his career at CU, but has still managed to get plenty of regular playing time. He had 10 starts in 2015 and was expected to battle for a starting spot again last season before a stomach ailment set him back in fall camp.

He still came back in time to play in eight games — including three starts at guard — but he's now being penciled in as the starting center, taking the place of three-year starter Alex Kelley.

He's been doing everything possible to get ready for the opportunity, including changing his dietary habits and increasing his work in the weight room. The result has been a 3 percent drop in body fat while maintaining his weight right below 300 pounds — and getting significantly stronger in the process.

The change has been noticeable to all those around him.

"It's all about eating healthy — it's a huge thing," Huckins said. "I've worked to slim down and get to the weight where I know I can play at a higher level and still get stronger at the same time."

There are plenty of stories about football players changing their diets in order to reshape their bodies. Huckins, though, is a rarity in that he does all of his own cooking and plans his meals accordingly.

"I go grocery shopping every week and cook always cook my own meals," Huckins said. "I've learned what's healthy and I enjoy cooking."

Indeed, if Huckins hadn't received a scholarship offer to play football out of The Woodlands High School in Texas, he had an alternate plan. After working as a cook in a restaurant throughout high school, he seriously considered pursuing the field as a career.

"If I hadn't gotten an offer to play football, I probably would have gone to culinary school," Huckins said. "I've always been interested in culinary arts — and I still think it's something that might be in the cards for me whenever I quit playing football."

Huckins' skills in the kitchen are well known among his teammates. He occasionally cooks for his fellow offensive linemen (a food bill you don't want to consider), and he posts his nightly concoctions on Snapchat.

"For any people who don't know, I have a Snapchat @johnnyhuckins.com," Huckins said with a laugh. "I always put cooking stuff on there, all the things I cook just about every night."

Huckins, who was born in England, even spent spring break this year in England and Scotland and met two men who were working as sous chefs at local restaurants.

"It made me think how much fun it would be to go to culinary school over there," he said. "Food over there is just so influential with so many different things."

But for now, Huckins is content to concentrate on cooking up another big season for the Buffs next fall. While the defense will be replacing a number of starters, most of the offense returns — and the general consensus is that it will be a team strength as CU tries to build on last year's 10-4, Pac-12 South title finish.

"The one thing I think everyone here is aware of is that there's no team anywhere — Alabama, Ohio State, anybody — who can afford to be complacent," Huckins said. "We lost a lot of guys, four guys to the draft. This summer, for our team, is going to be a huge one just understanding that next season isn't going to come as easy as last one did. It's not going to be given to us. We're going to have to work for everything possible just to do the same thing or better."

Certainly the pieces are in place on offense. Four of five starters from last year's offensive line return, as do all of CU's receivers and running backs. While senior quarterback Sefo Liufau has graduated, his replacement, sophomore Steven Montez, showed his potential last season by guiding the Buffs to wins over Oregon and Oregon State in back-to-back weeks.

"Steven Montez is a guy that I can trust," Huckins said. "Everybody saw him last year and how he performed without that much playing time or practice time. Him going through fall camp as the guy or even competing for that position, I think it's going to give him a lot of confidence and experience, and he's going to be even better."

Up front, Huckins will be playing with fellow seniors Gerrad Kough (guard) and Jeromy Irwin (tackle), along with returning starters Tim Lynott (guard) and Aaron Haigler (tackle).

"We have our whole receiving corps coming back, plus Juwann Winfree, which is huge," Huckins said. "Offensive line, we've got all guys returning, starters at every position. Jeromy, Gerrad and myself are the three seniors on the offensive line. That combo can make that group of guys on the offense a powerful thing to be contended with."

And, of course, they'll be opening holes once again for running back Phillip Lindsay.

"I wouldn't want to block for anybody else," Huckins said. "Go back to the Arizona State game — he had one of the best games of the year, probably his career —- and he doesn't think about himself. He comes down to the locker room and tells all the offensive linemen to come up to the press conference. That just tells you something about the guy and his character and how much he cares about the guys trying to help him. When he comes up to you after a long run and says, 'Hey, you made that happen,' it makes you want to work even harder to get him another big run."

For Huckins, the importance of this summer can't be overstated.

"Gigantic," he said. "Going into my senior year, I have to take on more of a leadership role, especially being a center and having to understand that I run the offense up front and keep the tempo moving. I'm really working this summer to get my conditioning right and be that guy who can do those things."

And if all goes well, Huckins believes the Buffs can be ready to move forward with what they began last season.

"This team has the potential to do whatever we want to do next year," Huckins said. "We can get back to a Pac-12 championship if we do the same things we did last year. Stay together, stay focused, don't get distracted by the little things, don't get distracted by the hype or the news or the media telling us we can or can't. We have to as a team focus on one common goal. If we do that and work our butts off, we can have some success."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu