By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Baylor football’s Gavin Byers has built a reliable reputation on and off the gridiron. Byers’ teammates know they can rely on the senior offensive lineman in position and behind-the-scenes.
Redshirt offensive lineman Tate Williams said Byers’ special talent is that he can eat a lot, and head coach Dave Aranda wasn’t surprised to hear Byers was the primary source for a diet story.
“Gavin’s one that he’ll eat anything,” Aranda said. “And so it’s probably the reason why you’re doing the story on him.”
Standing at 6-foot-5 and 318 pounds, Byers possesses an imposing frame that a typical offensive lineman at the power conference level needs. But there’s more to it than just taking in a lot of calories. There has to be a proper balance, rather than “too much.”
“I’ve definitely had troubles with it in the past,” Byers said. “I think it is hard to find that balance, but you have to listen to your body. … You know if you’re overdoing it.”
Although not super often, when Byers feels like getting a “cheat meal” in, he said his favorites are pizza, wings and a trusty Caniac Combo from Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.
Byers said his usual process of dieting starts at the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center, which sits across from campus on University Parks Drive. Nicknamed the “BANC,” it serves as the go-to spot for athletic meals.
An omelet usually pleases Byers in the morning before he grabs something quick for lunch. If he has more time, he ventures to Chipotle with his position group. Otherwise, the BANC gets Byers refueled for the second half of the day.
Before practice, Byers said he likes a healthy amount of food, with his preferences being a pair of deli sandwiches or a couple of bananas.
Dinner follows evening practices, and this grub is usually filled with proteins, meats, potatoes and vegetables, according to Byers. Three meals won’t cut it, though, and Byers said he will “snack a lot” in between breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Byers said he doesn’t snack “just because.” The Grapevine native said he just wants to stay within his weight goal, which is set and intensely monitored with guidance from offensive line coach Eric Mateos.
Byers added that while the offensive linemen sometimes add too much weight, they often find themselves under the ideal threshold due to how much they burn in workouts, practices and games.
“If you’re not in your weight goal, you have to go eat with [Mateos] at the BANC at 7:15 in the morning, because we do have a lot of guys underweight right now just because the season kind of wears on you and you start to lose a little bit of weight,” Byers said.
Byers, now in his fourth year at Baylor, has gotten to the point where he doesn’t need much dietary assistance. Aranda said the starting left guard has a strong grasp on his eating routine, which can’t be said about everyone on the team.
“We have a fair amount of guys that need to put on weight and gain weight,” Aranda said. “For some folks, it’s kind of walking them side by side [and saying], ‘Hey, this is the smart choice. This is maybe not as delicious but is the smarter thing.’”
Having conversations with the team nutritionist is what Byers said has allowed him to be on top of his diet. He said every young athlete should take their diet seriously to perform at the highest level.
“Every guy can benefit from talking to a nutritionist, especially because in the NFL, some of those top-paid guys, every single one of them will have a nutritionist, so I think it shows how important nutrition is,” Byers said.
