Freshman defensive tackle Francis Brewu unafraid to tackle heavy load at Pitt

Weightlifting is more than just a way for Pitt defensive tackle Francis Brewu to get stronger, win playing time earlier and impress his teammates in the locker room.

“It’s like therapy to me,” said Brewu, a freshman from Worthington, Ohio. “Physical therapy. Nothing feels better than when you hit a PR (personal record) when you finish a set and you kill the numbers.

“It gives you clarity in your mind. It’s mental therapy as well. It’s a place I can go if I’m having problems and work out some of my issues. Just kind of relax. The gym is a place where I can relax and really be myself.”

Nobody on Pitt’s offensive line is relaxing when Brewu lines up across the line of scrimmage. He’s only been on campus for eight months, but already he’s earned the unofficial accolade as the strongest man on the team.

“It’s not even an argument,” junior defensive tackle Nahki Johnson said.

And he’s only 18.

The numbers referenced by Brewu are impressive for anyone, even some NFL players. He told reporters Tuesday that he reached 475 pounds on the bench press and squatted 700. He credits “a lot of energy” in the weight room and Pitt head strength and conditioning coach Michael Stacchiotti.

While at Pitt, Brewu said he hasn’t attempted the 225-pound bench press that is a staple of the NFL Combine. But he tried it back home and did 33 repetitions. “My feet were up, too,” he said.

Some perspective: LSU defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson led his position group in the bench press at the 2024 Combine, and he did only 34. Jefferson was drafted in the fourth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Stacchiotti got Brewu interested in the vertical leap — another Combine event — and he hit 31 1/2 inches. Even though he had never tried it before this year, his effort would have been tied for fifth among defensive tackles at the Combine.

But the NFL must wait. Brewu won’t be eligible for the draft until 2027.

Despite the freshman’s lack of exposure to the college football world — defined as none — Brewu was picked for The Athletic’s annual list of the most freakish athletes in the sport.

“You’re a freak?” a reporter asked Brewu on Tuesday.

“I guess so.”

Actually, he looks like just about any big man on any defensive line in the country. He’s 6-foot-1, 280 pounds — an inch shorter and the same weight as former Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, a 2023 first-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Although Brewu has a lot to learn before he earns consistent playing time at Pitt, he appears to have the determination to improve his technique and a passion for weightlifting that could serve him well as his career progresses.

“I went up to 475. I said I’m going to smack it. I smacked it. I probably could have went up to 495,” he said.

”I’m trying to get up to 500 pounds. I’m going to keep working with Stacc. Stacc is going to get me right.”

Brewu added that he won’t be satisfied until he reaches 750 on the squat.

Weightlifting became a self-described “passion” for Brewu after his freshman year at Thomas Worthington High School.

“That’s when I said I think I can make it somewhere with this football stuff,” he said. “I never believed it until I went out and played high school ball. (He told himself) `I think I can make it somewhere,’ but I knew I had to put in the work.”

Brewu credits an older brother, Anthony, for getting him interested in weightlifting.

“He loved the weight room. I was the one who didn’t,” he said. “I used to not want to go. He had to drag me along.”

Before long, Brewu was working out for three hours every day after school.

“It’s definitely been a big part of helping me get on the field (at Pitt),” he said. “Coming from high school to a Power 4 program, the thing that holds people back, at least at the O-line and D-line, is the strength. I’m able to translate (those weightlifting numbers) to the field. It puts me on par with those 20-something (year-old) offensive linemen.”

Brewu is smart enough to realize that pure strength isn’t enough on the football field. Paying attention to the details is what separates the good players from the ones who get drafted.

”Your technique has to be perfect,” Brewu said. “I felt like I was pretty bad when I first got here. In high school, I could overpower guys and throw them around. Here, if I stand up too tall, they’re going to dump me.

“Staying low, getting extension and getting off the ball are the top three things I had to really work on to level the playing field going against these Division 1 offensive linemen.

“You can be as strong as you want, but if you’re not a good football player, it doesn’t mean nothing. I still got a lot of improvement to go. It’s about how fast you can beat the block and make a play. That’s what’s going to get you paid. That’s what I’m trying to do.”