Commit big for WKU

Western Kentucky's first commit has brute strength down.

At 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, offensive lineman Jebb Lenhart of Pigeon Forge High School in Tennessee, has proven that in the weight room.

Lenhart was able to use his weight last season and now is able apply the amount of sheer strength he has gained, plus quickness in feet. He went up in weight in bench presses sixty pounds and in perfect form, squats between 550 and 600 pounds.

Originally, he ran a 5.54 40-yard dash before last season. With a rigorous training regiment and the will to become an all out force to be reckoned with, Lenhart now runs just under a five second 40-yard dash.

Lenhart has displayed an array of good qualities as a lineman: quickness off the ball, aggression and at 285 pounds, is light on his feet.

"He's got good overall size, with quick feet and a good, solid strong body." Pigeon Forge coach Lee Hammonds said. "You know, our workout program is pretty tough."

The team focused on running last year and Lenhart proved to be a good running blocker as a result. Pigeon Forge promotes strong emphasis on becoming a better athlete through tough structured strength and conditioning programs. Lenhart has spent about an hour a day on weights. The last 20-30 minutes, he worked on speed and form, with a couple days devoted to agilities. With the program that Lenhart went through, results were evident within two months of beginning his workout regimen.

When asked about Western Kentucky University Lenhart had nothing but good things to say. He loved the experience and all the campus facilities WKU had to offer. Lenhart said he believed WKU would be a good fit. He really liked the coaching staff and the way they run the team and chose WKU over Tennessee and Middle Tennessee.

"The coaches seemed very compassionate in the way they coached their players," Lenhart said. "Coach Elson was one of the best head coaches I'd talked to anywhere and that was one of my biggest decisions in choosing WKU. He just seemed to really care about me and the players."

Hammonds said he thinks that Lenhart made the right decision as well and sees him playing a big role for WKU.

"Jebb will fit in really well there," he said. "Western is an up and coming Division I football program, of course in 2002 they won the Division I-AA national championship, and he's going to a program that put a lot of pride and money into the facilities to become a fundamentally sound program."