Attitudes have changed as well. When I think back to the old days, a fat kid, I'm not sure he even stayed out for football. When I was at Oklahoma in the '60s, we bragged about how our football team lost so many thousands of pounds. It looked like we were on the Battan death march. That doesn't happen any more.
Strength coaches understand body fat, vitamins and weight lifting.
Houck stresses that being big isn't enough for a player to succeed. He has to be able to run. He has to have the right attitude. He has to be an athlete. If not, teams would just load up on sumo wrestlers.