Lassiter takes long road to Kennesaw State
By John Bednarowski
sportseditor@mdjonline.com
It’s not often Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin,
the state of Florida, a junior college
in Kansas and Kennesaw State can all be
linked together.
However, for Owls offensive lineman
Jake Lassiter, that is the cliff notes of his
back story. The actual story, while not completely
unbelieveable, still seems unlikely.
That has been good fortune for KSU, who
has helped develop him into a two-time
all-Big South Conference selection.
As a 240-pound offensive lineman, Lassiter
wasn’t highly recruited coming out of Florida’s
Coral Springs High School, but with a
drive to succeed, he went to Florida Atlantic
University to try to walk-on the team.
After a good tryout, he made the team
only to be told there were already too many
roster spots filled. Instead of a player, he
became an equipment manager.
“I wanted to be around the team,” Lassiter said.
It wasn’t long after that, the entire coaching
staff was fired.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play football
again,” Lassiter said.
Enter Kiffin and his new staff, who were impressed
with Lassiter at their walk-on camp.
“They told me to come back for practice
the next day.”
Lassiter said he had a great spring and when
camp was wrapping up, then offensive line
coach Garin Justice told him he had a chance
to make the team if he could gain weight.
Weight has always been an issue for Lassiter.
Rarely has he been able to maintain enough
to offensive line in the traditional sense. That
was again the case at Florida Atlantic.
“On the last day of fall camp, I got cut,”
Lassiter said. “I was offered a chance to
be an assistant coach, and if something
opened up I would be back on the roster.”
Not long after, a tight end got injured and
Lassiter returned to the team expecting to
be on the scout team the rest of the year.
However, when an offensive lineman tore
a pectoral muscle, Lassiter was bounced
back to the O-line room.
About that time, his brother, Evan had
become an assistant coach at Coffeyville
Community College in Kansas. He convinced
Lassiter if he wanted to play football,
it might be best if he left Florida Atlantic.
“I was busting my butt to get noticed,”
he said. I felt like I deserved more.”
He earned a starting spot at tight end for
Coffeyville, but at midseason he suffered an
ankle injury, sidelining him for five weeks.
It was that time he noticed that KSU
coach Stewart Cook had followed him on
Twitter. He wanted Lassiter to come to
Kennesaw to play offensive line... again.
Lassiter’s visit conicided with KSU playing
Jacksonville State at then SunTrust
Park and winning 60-52 in five overtimes.
“It was then I realized this place is legit,”
he said.
Lassiter wanted to be part of a winning
program and he said joing KSU has turned
out to be a great decision.
Now, entering his third season, Owls’
coach Brian Bohannon said he believes
this could be a special season for Lassiter.
“When you look at his maturation, if he
was a freshman coming in to now his junior
year, he should be at his best,” Bohannon
said. “This is his third year, we should see
him at his best this fall.”
Although, Bohannon said there is one area
he would like to see the most imrovement.
“If we could keep his weight at 250, that
would be a win.”
Lassiter said he has been eating 5,000
to 6,000 calories a day -- full meals plus
protein shakes, yogurt parfaits, smoothies
and lots of peanut butter sandwiches.
Currently, he is nearing that 250 number,
but he knows its going to be a challenge
to keep it on once practice starts again.
“I’m going to lose weight,” he said. “No
one works like we do.”
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