Because he works a physical job he is burning calories up the ass. He is also 245+ pounds with a fast metabolism . Plus if he is trying to gain mass you need to nit be catabolic ever. The last contest l did l was eating 12 oz of flounder 6 times a day along with 200 grams of protein from egg whites, a a jar of almond butter and 300 grams of carbs from only sweet potatoes. And was having trouble holding my weight at 220 . I was around 6% at that time . I ended up at 208 3.9% bf and didn't change to much from that diet.
In his situation he needs food period . That is just my opinion.