Led By Osborne, Mustangs Ready For Fall Camp
Jul 23 | Football
No one on the current roster has played more football games for SMU than Justin Osborne. That was part of what made him the choice to break the rock as the Mustangs wrapped up summer workouts on Thursday.
There have been 55 games since Osborne came to campus in 2020. He has played in 45 of them with 42 starts. Only a handful of players on the SMU roster have played more games, but none of them have done it all for the Mustangs.
There is plenty of pomp and circumstance that comes with playing college football, especially these days. But at this point Osborne is focused on the task at hand.
"Honestly, I'm kind of getting to the point in my life right now where I'm just ready to keep moving forward," Osborne said. "This is my sixth year. So I'm kind of glad it's over, but glad I got to finish with the teammates I've got to finish it with."
Osborne was a key piece of the offensive line as the starting right guard at the beginning of the season, and then moving to right tackle when injuries started to mount. Now he is moving to center to anchor the line as it moves into ACC play.
"First thing's first, is being available," Osborne said. "I've said before, I've battled some injuries, so just staying 100%. Just being there for my team. The position change, moving to center and stuff like that, honestly I think it's going to help our offensive line, because I'm used to the plays, I'm used to the calls. I'm one of the leaders in the room, so people can lean on me. I feel like at the center position you're like the quarterback of the offensive line, so you have to make those calls. I might not always make the right call, but everybody else is gonna be on the same page."
Along with the position change, Osborne wanted to take on a bigger leadership role. Last year there were other SMU veterans around him. This year there will be a lot of first and second-year Mustangs.
"A big thing for me was just being the biggest leader I can," Osborne said. "Just leading my teammates to just be better every day. Not so worried about myself because I know what I'm gonna bring to the table, but just bringing everybody else up. I felt like that was like my biggest goal."
So when head strength and conditioning coach Shawn Griswold called him out to break the rock, it was a sign that he was on the right path.
"It's big," Osborne said. "That kind of goes to show what my teammates think about me as well as just having that belief in me. Having that, 'Hey, this is my leader and we're just gonna ride with him no matter what happens, through thick and thin.' It felt great."
The tradition that Coach Griswold brought with him of breaking a hand-painted, by his wife, paving stone to signal the end of summer workouts or after every win has become a highlight for the SMU players.
"I fell in love with breaking the rock," Osborne said. "It just kind of shows all that hard work. We talked about, you're only going to (get out what you put in). I'm putting money in the bank. I got to pull it out and we got to break the rock when we win. It's honestly a great feeling because you know everybody's bought in. You know everybody put the same amount of hard work in to break the rock. So when you break the rock, everybody gets to celebrate. It's just a big celebration. I love it."
Osborne got the call to do the honors for a lot of reasons. But Griswold saw Osborne do some things that not many 6-foot-5, 300-pound football players can do.
"I don't know what JO couldn't play. I really don't," Griswold said. "I mean, you watch him run, it's freakish. He's the freakiest O-lineman I've ever had. The explosive ability of that guy is unbelievable, and you can tell he has the culture of this team. They truly respect that dude."
It was another offseason with another strong transfer portal class for the Mustangs, including at offensive line. SMU brought in five new linemen, including Nate Anderson and Savion Byrd from Oklahoma who both worked with the No. 1 offensive line unit this spring.
"It's not that much different than last year just because we've been bringing in a good amount of transfers, so we're kind of used to it by now," Osborne said. "But I think the intensity is just a little bit different. Just because we're going into the ACC and people say we've got something to prove. I don't think we have anything to prove. But I think it's just a different intensity level because everybody wants to win."
It's not just the offensive line that has new faces and high expectations, it's the defensive line too. And when they go against each other it brings out the best in both groups.
"Honestly, I've always thought our competition was good, but this year, it's a new level," Osborne said. "You keep on looking for that new level every time. This is a level of, honestly, I've never been a part of and I love it. It's that it's that next level. It's just that good-on-good. It's just awesome."
All that is left is fall camp and then the season will be here.Â
"Trust me, we're ready for it," Osborne said. "We're ready to put the pads back on. We're ready for the heat. We're ready to pop someone, so it's gonna be great honestly. It's gonna be a great fall camp. I'm ready."
