Georgia Tech guard Shamire Devine’s physical condition may forever be a challenge for him. But at this point, at least, he feels that he’s gaining ground.
“Football feels like football, but it’s more fun now,” he said. “Back when I was fat, it (stunk).”
Devine, a junior from Tri-Cities High, is not quite the point where he can hide behind a telephone pole, but he’s made progress. He said last week that he arrived as a freshman in 2013 weighing 396 pounds. He has fought to trim excess pounds ever since, and not always successfully. As of last week, Devine, who stands 6-foot-7, was down to 365.
His body-fat percentage was 35 percent, he said, as a freshman. When preseason camp began, it was 29 percent. He is still in almost certainly the biggest player in Tech history. Equipment manager Tom Conner, now in his 25th year, said that Devine is the only player who has worn an XXXL jersey. He wears a size-18 cleat, which only one other player has done in Conner’s tenure (former defensive lineman Ira Claxton was the other).
“I think Shamire has done a good job,” offensive line coach Mike Sewak said. “He seems to have tried to do a good job. His weight loss hasn’t been ideal, but his body (fat) percentage has gone down. I think it’s made him a little bit quicker.”
Devine described a rather arduous regimen to shape his body over the summer. In addition to the team’s offseason workouts, he said he added two more workouts Monday through Wednesday. On Saturday, he climbed Stone Mountain with freshman defensive tackle Brandon Adams and then went swimming. He also had a job, he said, “taking 20-pound boxes 500 feet to the dumpster in the blistering heat. So that was a workout in itself.”
Devine was joined in the offseason by several team members, including other offensive linemen, who were trying to lower their body-fat percentages. Sewak said earlier in the preseason that nine linemen had body-fat percentages lower than 18 percent, the most he has had on a team in his eight years at Tech.
“It has (helped), because when you’re the only one running and conditioning, climbing Stone Mountain feels like a chore more than anything else,” Devine said. “When you’ve got people to buy in with you, it feels wonderful.”
Devine feels the difference on run plays when he’s called to lead quarterback Justin Thomas, maybe the quickest player on the team, and he is able to pull out to his spot before Thomas.
“Well, it’s something I haven’t noticed, so that’s a good thing,” Thomas said. “When you can notice it, it’s kind of a problem. But he has been a lot better. You can see it in the scrimmages, even practice. He’s finishing practice, he’s not tapping out.”
Aside from center Freddie Burden, a two-year starter, and Devine, who started nine games last season and played often as a backup in 2014, the line lacks experience. Left guard Will Bryan and tackles Eason Fromayan and Trey Klock have a combined 10 starts. Devine could be a difference maker, not unlike the impact that Shaquille Mason made at the same right guard spot in his All-American season in 2014.
How good can Devine be?
“As good as he wants,” Sewak said.
There is more work to do for Devine. He wants to be at 355 or 360 by the time Tech opens the season in Dublin against Boston College on Sept. 3. Devine got a better feel for his conditioning level after the offense cranked out a 17-play drive in a scrimmage Aug. 13.
Asked how he felt at the end of the possession, Devine responded, “Like poo.”
That said, any defensive lineman that gets mashed for 17 consecutive plays by a 365-pound man probably isn’t feeling much better.
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