Cal Football: NG Ricky Correia, Slimmed Down to 335, Dreams of a Shot at Running Back

A contender to start on the D-line, he rushed for two touchdowns as a high school senior.

Ricky Correia isn't serious about this.

Not real serious, anyway.

But Cal’s junior nose guard, who has shed 30 pounds to reach the svelte weight of 335, would love to get a chance at the position he played in Pop Warner youth football and at least a few times in high school.

“Growing up in Pop Warner I played a lot of running back. That was like my main position. I didn’t play defense at all, actually,” he said.

Correia said he played a little bit of fullback as part of the “tank package” on 15-0 team at Central High in Fresno. But he played the position enough to score two touchdowns.

“Now I’m sticking to the D-line. But you know, I could get back there if they want me to,” he said. “Future proposal. You never know.”

Cal coach Justin Wilcox didn’t sound immediately sold on the position change.

“We’re going to work on mastering D-line play and then maybe down the road we cross that bridge. I don’t know if we’re quite there yet,” Wilcox said.

“Every defensive lineman thinks they’re a running back. Every receiver thinks they’re a cover corner, every defensive back thinks they’d be the greatest receiver of all-time. It’s just kind of the nature of the business.”

As virtually a full-time running back during his junior football days, Correia estimates he was about 5-foot-10, 180 pounds . . . as a sixth grader.

“I was a pretty big guy,” he said.

He was twice that big last fall, tipping the scales at 365 pounds.

Correia played in 10 games last season, totaling 11 tackles. But with the chance to see more action coming his way — at nose guard, at least — Correia took heed of suggestions he could be a better play carrying a bit less weight.

“I’m in pretty much the best shape since I’ve been here. So I’m excited about that,” he says in the video above. “Being a little bit lighter has made me a lot more light on my feet, made me able to move around a little bit more. I’m feeling pretty good at this weight.”

Correia said he played at 350 pounds as a high school senior, so he was accustomed to the weight. Now, at 335, he says he feels good. “It feels natural,” he said. “Every day life is a bit easier, too.”

And the new weight is here to stay?

“Hell, yeah!” he said.

Correia explains in the video above how he followed a regimen developed by the Bears’ strength and conditioning staff to lose the weight. The biggest component was altering his eating habits.

“The weight just poured off,” he said. “It was a good thing to see.”

Wilcox likes the new look and believes it will make the Bears more stout on the defensive line.

“He’s a big guy and for his size he’s just very, very nimble. Very strong. A very athletic guy,” Wilcox says in the video above. “He’s really continued to transform his body to become stronger, even more agile.

“For a guy that size to do some of the things he can do is pretty special. So we have high hopes for Rick, and I know he’s got very high expectations for himself, as well.”

Cover photo of Cal nose guard Ricky Correia

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo