The difference between a 6'7” high school tight end and a 6'7” Division I college level tackle is about 100 pounds.  

At 280 pounds during 2009 spring practice, that's the difference between what Redmond High School tight end and Portland State Viking starting right tackle Matt Leunen weighed when he played those respective positions.

Even in college, the difference between tight end and tackle is 50 pounds, and the 22-year-old Leunen had to add the extra weight when the coaches asked him to switch positions for the 2007 season. He spent that year getting bigger and learning his new position. By 2008, he was ready to go.

“I made a position change, but the biggest thing was gaining 50 pounds.  I'm 100 pounds heavier than when I first came here,” said Leunen, who received funds this year from Portland State Athletics' Bill Swindells Scholarship.

It was a fortuitous changed for Leunen, who “got better with every game.  He started every game and had a lot to learn because in high school he was a tight end,” said Offensive Line Coach Jim Craft.

For Leunen, the change was the highlight of his college career so far.  “The highlight of the year for me was getting to play every game.  I sat on the bench the first three years and going out there and playing with the team every game was great.  I just want to play,” he said.

At 6'7”, Craft said Leunen can easily carry the extra pounds, which were gained, said Leunen, by “eating everything you look at, and working out really hard.  Right now, I feel really good.  Last year, I was in the best shape of my life.  This spring, I've worked out every day, so I really don't feel any different with the extra weight.”

At tackle, he still blocks defensive ends most of the time, but he doesn't need the pass catching mobility of a tight end.  At 6'7”, he's often battling shorter players and has had to work on getting lower.

“I'm working on getting lower because the lowest guy wins the battle,” he said.
A social science major, he'll finish his course work next winter term and is considering some time at Western Oregon University on the road to becoming a high school physical education teacher.

A favorite class during the year was physical geography where he studied the physical world, which includes everything that makes up the earth, including weather.

In an effort to be extra ready when training camp opens in August, Leunen will forego his usual summer back in Redmond helping his dad at the Deschutes County Fair Grounds.  He'd like to pick up a job to earn some money, but his main focus will be the PSU athletic workout facilities.

Leunen had a good spring, said Craft.  And, given what appears to be early signs of major improvement in next fall's edition of the PSU Viking football team, “I'm really looking forward to next year,” he said with a wide smile.
                                                     

Editor's Note: This article is one in a series about Portland State Athletes who have received Endowed Scholarships this past year.  Leunen is a recipient of the Bill Swindells scholarship.