Explosion of a different kind

This spring, while juggling the grind of football practice in the morning and track and field practice in the afternoon, KU center/shot put specialist Bryce Foster revealed that he weighed right around 305 pounds, down from last year’s football playing weight of 322/323.

“I feel really good. I feel way different,” Foster told reporters in late March. “It’s kind of weird what 15 pounds can do.”

In addition to allowing him to push harder and smarter at spring football practice with Lance Leipold’s Jayhawks, the lighter frame paved the way for Foster to reach Outdoor Nationals with Stanley Redwine’s track team.

Foster, a summer of 2024 transfer from Texas A&M, will compete in the shot put later this week in Eugene, Oregon, joining KU teammate Jacob Cookinham, who also qualified for nationals in the shot put.

The two throwers will be joined by nine KU teammates in Oregon at the final collegiate meet of the 2024-25 season.

Foster earned his spot in Eugene with a personal-record throw of 19.2 meters.

"There’s so many people who wish they were in my position for just one of the sports I play. And I get the opportunity to do both.” — Bryce Foster

After that, Foster will flip the switch in his brain back to football mode for the rest of the summer, and it will be critical for him to make the transition quickly, with camp opening in late July and the Jayhawks’ first game — at newly renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium — slated for Aug. 23.

But Foster has plenty of experience with that switch. In fact, he did it almost daily during the spring in order to keep his football mind sharp while ramping up toward a stellar season in track, as well.

How’d he do it?

Simple. Everything up until noon was reserved for football. The afternoons were all about track.

“Being here has been a big blessing to actually be able to balance it,” he said this spring, noting that, at Texas A&M, spring football and Aggie track practices were both in the afternoon.

Being able to do it on the schedule is one thing. Being able to do it physically was something else entirely.

“I’m not gonna lie to you; it’s difficult,” he said in late-March. “My body’s pretty tired. There’s days when I’ll wake up at 5:15 in the morning and I’m just like, ‘Uuuughhh.’ Instead of looking at it as I have to do it, it’s like I get to. There’s so many people who wish they were in my position for just one of the sports I play. And I get the opportunity to do both.”

Obviously, the two are drastically different sports. One is individual, with minimal equipment and no physical contact. The other, especially for an offensive lineman, is a total team sport with a pile of pads and serious force being dished out and absorbed.

But Foster pointed to one word as the thing track and football have in common.

“Explosion,” he said. “Shot put’s all about patience and explosion, kind of just waiting for that perfect time to strike. And it’s kind of something like pass (protection) – when to shoot your hands, how much power to shoot in your hands, make sure your feet are in the right spot and feel balance, all that type of stuff.”

It’s in the little details where things drift dramatically.

For instance, while balance is important in both, the footwork is wildly different.

In track, Foster spent the spring really focusing on not pushing off of the insides of his feet and trying to turn his whole foot during his approach to each throw.

In football, offensive linemen are taught to block on the insteps of their feet.

“I have that so engrained in my head and I literally have to switch my brain process (for track),” he said.

One thing that helps is the footwear, which also is drastically different. That, Foster said, has really helped him dial in on the proper steps and technique while practicing each of his sports.

“That kind of gets my mind into it, when I’m feeling cleats in turf versus a smooth bottom on concrete,” he noted. “It’s a little different. I can kind of feel the difference and my brain just kind of clicks into a different mode.”

Foster and Cookinham will be among the first Jayhawks to dive into this year’s meet, with the shot put finals slated for an 8:10 p.m. start, central time, on Wednesday in Eugene.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com