It won't be long before tight end Peyton Aucoin packs his bags and heads to Austin to begin his career as a Texas Longhorn. The New Orleans Brother Martin product will officially move to Austin on May 30. Before that he'll make one more unofficial visit to UT when he heads in this weekend for the Longhorns' spring game.
The upcoming trip will be a nice opportunity for Aucoin to reconnect with the UT coaches and other members of the 2016 recruiting class, and it'll also be a nice weekend break from a busy workout schedule that Aucoin has been putting in to get ready for life as a Longhorn.
Since signing with Texas in February, Aucoin has had a few things on his plate. He has finished up with his team's basketball season, and Aucoin has now turned his focus towards working out with a trainer to retool his body.
"I've really just been focused on school and training after school," Aucoin said. "Trying to get ready for when I get up there.
"I've made a lot of progress. During basketball, I got all the way down to 220. That was bad. I was 255 during football. I'm now up to 237, getting stronger, bigger, faster. I'm with one of the biggest trainers there is around here and he's getting me ready."
Aucoin said the 17 pounds gained since the end of basketball season is mostly muscle and he's noticing that he's getting a lot stronger. He's trying to get to about 245 or 250 pounds before reporting to Texas and then will let the coaches and training staff mold his body from there.
At 6-5, Aucoin is regarded as a devastating blocker from the tight end position. He and the Texas coaches are hopeful that his physical presence can be an asset that will be used by the offense as early as next fall.
"Really I'm just trying to get bigger, stronger, faster. That's the biggest thing really, if I want to play early," Aucoin said. "Coach (Jeff) Traylor told me to put on weight because he needs me to play early. He told me they really need a blocking tight end, someone who can do it right away. Everyone they have is a pass catcher, so I'm going to go in and do what I do best."
Aucoin will be joined by his parents and fellow 2016 Texas signee Gerald Wilbon on this weekend's spring game visit. One element of the game he'll be watching is the early success of the other true freshmen who enrolled early, many of whom are playing key roles already.
"That's awesome to see that. I know Collin (Johnson) has been out there killing it. Zach (Shackelford) is starting. Shane (Buechele) being a true freshman, to be competing for the starting job, is awesome.
"For people from my class to be having success, hopefully I can go out there and do the same things they're doing."
