LINCOLN Anyone who has tried to lose a few pounds can appreciate what Phillip Dillard went through, not just for himself but for his teammates.
When Nebraska's junior middle linebacker returned from semester break in January and met with new coach Bo Pelini, he was told he would have to lose some weight.
More specifically, he was told he would need to get down to about 240.
His reaction was understandable: "Man, that's a lot of weight."
He tipped the scales at 270, give or take a couple of pounds. So do the math.
The 6-foot-1 Dillard might have been able to play defensive tackle at 270 pounds, though he would have been a little bit light. But a middle linebacker in Pelini's system? No way could he carry all that weight. He was much too heavy.
Dillard's weight was a topic of discussion on the first day of spring practice. And he was still willing to talk about it, with a ready smile, in the third week.
The coaches were right, he said. "I had to do it."
Oh yes, he weighs 238 now. And the difference is dramatic. "I feel so much better. I don't have to worry about weight or being tired," he said.
A tired middle linebacker is an ineffective middle linebacker, for obvious reasons. But he is also responsible for those around him. He has to make the check calls. And "if someone doesn't hear the call, it's your fault," Dillard said.
The middle linebacker is the quarterback on defense.
"It's all on the MIKE backer, no one else," he said. "That's just the responsibility you've got to have. People get mad if they don't hear you, don't get the call."
Dillard is the most experienced member of a linebacking corps characterized by inexperience. He has three career starts, including two last season, when he backed up Corey McKeon and was credited with 37 tackles, 10th most on the team.
That defense was different than the one now, although Dillard couldn't have been effective as a middle linebacker in it at 270 pounds, either. Now, there's a lot more running, "guys flying around," he said, and a lot more enthusiasm.
"Everyone's buying into it," he said. "Once we get it perfected, it's going to be a nice thing. Enthusiasm stays high. If it doesn't, he'll (Pelini) let you know."
So will linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, whose energy is both boundless and infectious. The first time he met Ekeler, "he slapped my hand, chest-bumped me, slapped me on the back," Dillard said. "He's real hyped."
Ekeler also looks to be in good enough shape to still play linebacker, which he did at Kansas State. "He's solid, a pretty solid guy," said Dillard.
Dillard is more solid now than when he returned from semester break. Dropping as much weight as he did, as quickly as he did it, required discipline and "a lot of hard work, a lot of extra workouts, after-workout workouts," he said.
It also required eating properly, of course, and not eating late at night, something Dillard used to do, "pizzas, everything," he said. "If I eat an ice cream bar at night, I'd probably gain two pounds. Even if you eat healthy and it's late . . .
"It's true. When you go to sleep, you're not burning calories."
As a result, he tries not to eat after 7:30 p.m., he said.
The test was spring break, not being able to eat at the Hewitt Center training table. "You're out, people cooking for you, it's hard," Dillard said. He didn't go home to Tulsa, Okla., either. If he had, "I would have come back 270."
During the weight-loss program, "Coach Pelini, every week, was like, 'Oh, you got down. But you've got to go lower,'" said Dillard, who admits having been irritable at times. "I don't want to use the word cranky, but I wasn't in a good mood a lot."
He understands what everyone who has ever dieted understands.
"It gets on you fast but comes off slow," he said.
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