His Mother’s Son — UH Center Jack Freeman Inspired by Mom’s Courage, Fueled by Crazy Sandwich Routine

Jack Freeman knew he needed to gain some weight to help the University of Houston football team get to where it yearns to go. So he quickly adopted an ardent sandwich routine.

“Honestly, I would just go to Potbelly and I’d eat at lot of sandwiches,” Freeman says. “I would eat like their chicken pot pie and their milkshakes. And I would go there like a lot.”

Freeman, the starting center on an offensive line that must be dominant for UH to defy the beyond low outside expectations for this team, made those repeat Potbelly visits count. “Last year I played at around 278, 280,” Freeman tells PaperCity. “Now I’m at 300 and I’m moving the exact same.”

Freeman is motivated to make his senior season, Houston’s first season in the Big 12, count for many reasons. But none means more than the woman who texts him at 6 am on the way to her chemo treatments. Cindy Freeman is fighting Stage 4 colorectal cancer as her son pursues his college football dreams.

“The courage that she shows,” Freeman says. “I was thinking about it today on the way to practice. Just the fact she’s up at 6 am, ready to do her chemo, still sending me these long messages. Being super positive. Just telling me just to get better today.

“Just keep on doing what I need to do. Keep on pushing.”

No matter how bad she feels, Cindy Freeman still keeps sending inspirational text messages to her son. It’s one way she stays an important presence in his life through her own health struggles.

“It definitely is a big thing for me to see my mom do that,” Freeman says. “If she’s in that position than I’m going to do my best to get her out of that position.”

Freeman cannot make his mom’s cancer go away, of course. It is not as simple as holding a block and making sure new UH starting quarterback Donovan Smith has enough time to throw a deep ball to Matthew Golden. Freeman knows this season figures to be particularly hard on his mom too. He’s been trying to tell his biggest fan to not worry about actually being in the stands, where you could find Cindy Freeman almost every game last season.

“She’s still going to be able to support me,” Freeman tells PaperCity. “It’s just going to be hard for her to do it out in the heat. Her new chemo. . . it will break her out really bad. She’ll feel the burning from the sun.

“That’s the only part she really struggles with.”

Freeman didn’t struggle with much in his first season as the full-time starter last year, playing 935 spans and allowing only sack in the Cougars’ last 12 games. In a season rife with inconsistency, one that had players shuffling in and out of the Houston lineup like trucks at a weigh station, Jack Freeman stood out as a rare constant. With Smith expected to be joined by other new offensive starters in running back Tony Mathis Jr. (a West Virginia transfer) and tight end Mike O’Laughlin (also a West Virginia transfer), the center’s experience will be more important than ever heading into Saturday’s season opener against a dangerous UTSA team (6 pm at TDECU Stadium).

The courage that she shows. I was thinking about it today on the way to practice. Just the fact she’s up at 6 am, ready to do her chemo, still sending me these long messages. Being super positive.” — UH center Jack Freeman on his mom Cindy

Standing at the Center of Things

Freeman’s mission is to help Smith be the dual-threat quarterback that Houston needs.

“The good thing about having your center back is that he can help the quarterback,” UH offensive line coach and run game coordinator Eman Naghavi says. “In terms of the operations. Setting the tone. Getting guys going. Seeing things. And pulling kind of the rest of the group together.

“So I think an experienced center will help that with a new quarterback. There are things that are going to be different. Maybe things (former longtime UH quarterback Clayton) Tune said in the huddle that the new guy may not say.

“But (Freeman’s) kind of bridging that gap. So anytime you’ve got an experienced center it helps your offense. Especially when you have a new quarterback back there.”

University of Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen, who likes hyperbole about as much as Bob Barker liked un-neutered pets running around, is already touting the offensive line as a Cougars’ strength. That starts with guys like Jack Freeman, returning left tackle Patrick Paul and returning left guard Tyler Johnson.

Count Donovan Smith among the early believers.

“It’s just a lot of production,” Smith tells PaperCity. “And you’ve got a lot of time back there when you throw. Really nothing to worry about when you drop back. You can just analyze the field and do what you need to do. You’re protected from every position. Center, guard, tackle.

“So it’s exciting.”

Freeman is committed to making it work, adding that weight without losing his mobility, turning a sandwich habit into part of the push for a brighter future. These kind of body makeovers are becoming a bigger and bigger part of Dana Holgorsen’s program and its Big 12 conversion.

“It’s never been important,” Holgorsen says. “Ever. We’re spending a lot of money on strength and conditioning. Darl Bauer does an unbelievable job. He’s not just. . . as the strength coach you don’t just teach people how to push weight. You’re doing everything.

“. . . It’s all about the players and getting them bigger, faster, stronger and healthier. And ready for combat. Teams in a good spot when it comes to that right now. . . That’s player development too. And I would argue that we do as good a job with player development as anyone out there.”

Jack Freeman certainly feels like he’s grown into a better and better player at UH. The courage? Well, that runs in the family.

For more of Chris Baldwin’s extensive, detailed and unique insider coverage of UH sports — stories you cannot read anywhere else — bookmark this page. Follow Baldwin on Twitter here.