Jordan Whittington's efforts, on and off the field, have him hopeful for a standout junior season

In his three years as a Texas Longhorn, Jordan Whittington has suffered three injuries that either derailed his season or cut it short altogether. The first two campaigns, 2019 and 2020, saw soft tissue problems limit J-Whitt to only six games of total action. In 2021, a broken collarbone sustained versus Oklahoma cost him four of the year’s 12 games.

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Exiting 2021 and entering 2022, Whittington made a concerted effort to take better care of his body. He practices yoga and does other workouts with the purpose of physical maintenance. He improved his diet. He is constantly in Moncrief receiving treatment that will help him remain a threat to opposing defenses.

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Through the first week of UT’s training camp, his hard work has drawn praise from coaches and teammates alike. When asked about his peers taking notice of everything he does in the facility and on the practice field, Whittington said his efforts were something that came as a result of past experiences

“I would say that’s just something that comes with maturity and self-discipline,” Whittington said Tuesday. “I always make a conscious effort to take it seriously. When I was younger, I didn’t, and I saw the consequences of that. Being older, going through it three times in a row, it changes your mindset. I’m happy they have faith in me, but it was something I had to do. I had to switch up what I was doing. I had to change something.”

Whittington has been around strength and conditioning training for a long time. Growing up in a family of athletes had Whittington around weights from a young age. He said Tuesday he was doing lifts like the bench press when he was 10-years-old.

Those years of training near the Texas Coastal Bend and the rigors of carrying the load for the Cuero Gobblers took a toll. Whittington had a few injuries in high school, even during his state championship season in 2018. Those injuries, all of the soft tissue variety, continued at Texas in 2019 and 2020.

When Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin in 2021, he brought with him Torre Becton to implement a new strength and conditioning philosophy for the former top-50 player in the On3 Consensus. They had a plan for Whittington from the start.

“I would say the difference would be more mobility, not as much strength and stuff like that,” Whittington said of their blueprint for him. “Me, I had a lot of operations, so just staying open, staying loose, staying mobile is something that we worked on.”

That change helped him avoid soft tissue problems through the first six games of 2021, but football is a violent sport and collisions happen. Treatment and conditioning doesn’t do a whole lot when it comes to collarbones, and a broken clavicle is what cost Whittington four games last season. He returned for the last two games versus West Virginia and Kansas State, and has been on a strong trajectory since his return thanks to everything he has done to take care of his body.

Whittington said Tuesday he shows up early prior to practice in order to get treatment, almost living in the UT training room. Recent facility renovations have helped in this regard, as some of the treatments Texas players used to have to go off campus to receive are now in the fully redone Moncrief athletic facility.

“We’re in fall camp so we’re here, and I get more time here,” Whittington said. “Every time I get extra time, I’m doing something to better myself.”

His care has allowed him to remain on the field and be Texas’ No. 1 receiver at the H, or slot, position. But there’s one part of his previously mentioned weekly routine that he’s forgotten about.

“I haven’t eaten ice cream in three weeks,” joked Whittington, who previously claimed to eat a pint of ice cream on Saturdays. “I haven’t been strict on it. I’ve got to get back to it.”

His previous frosty favorite was Blue Bell’s chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. But after an offseason trip to New York City, Whittington became obsessed with Talenti’s caramel cookie crunch gelato.

That isn’t something offered in the TANC, where Longhorn football players eat and commiserate. Instead, Whittington goes there as part of his daily preparation and consumes two big bowls of fruit as part of a much healthier diet.

“I didn’t know how much it impacted you until I got older,” Whittington said of his diet. “Fruit is my main thing. It helps me.”

Expectations for Whittington are high, and no one has higher expectations than Whittington himself. On Tuesday, the fourth-year junior said he was especially motivated because this is his “last year,” hinting at his professional aspirations.

Those expectations are high for the Longhorn team, too, and Whittington believes not only his efforts but the efforts from those around him will make this a good season to potentially go out on.

“I definitely have got the vibe this is going to work,” Whittington said. “Team-wise, you always want to come into the season positive. It just feels like it’s more player-led.”