Arkansas is different these days.
And it’s more than having a head coach that runs more in one practice than the previous one waddled around in five years … combined.
Every single player we’ve talked to in the spring has mentioned how much faster the pace of just about everything is. Not one has complained.
Not even the quarterbacks, who’ve been saddled with learning an entirely new way of offense. The learning is at an accelerated pace.
“The last coaching staff we didn’t really go this fast,” Cole Kelley said Thursday.
It’s also not going like a well-oiled machine, but Chad Morris really wasn’t expecting it to this early, he’s said on a couple of occasions.
“We’re making some mistakes, but we’re making them full speed,” Kelley said. “Guys aren’t just putting their hands up stopping. We’re going full speed.”
Kelley and Ty Storey have been splitting the reps at the No. 1 quarterback position. Storey may have gained a slight edge in the two-minute drill in Saturday’s workout where he led the offense to a score on a pass to freshman Michael Woods.
“We obviously picked up some momentum and carried it through till the end,” Storey said Tuesday. “Obviously Mike Woods made a great catch and scored, so it was good.”
Kelley’s drive ended in an interception by Ryan Pulley.
“In my opinion, it was a P.I. [pass interference], but Pulley gets away with those a lot, so I’m not going to fault him,” Kelley said with a sheepish smile.
Apparently, though, the running game is beginning to show signs of progress.
“Seems like the running backs are getting used to getting the flow,” tight end Jeremy Patton said. “We broke off some great runs today at practice. It’s fast, new and fun.”
Patton said Chase Hayden, Devwah Whaley and T.J. Hammonds all had big runs with Hayden breaking free on a couple of 60-yard runs.
Morris said his offense utilized the tight end position a lot and was a key to it working.
Coming to a school where that position has been the most successful over the past few years (two Mackey Award winners in D.J. Williams and Hunter Henry), Morris hit the motherload of tight ends.
They could be even more prominent with the wealth of talent already there.
“It’s definitely going to be different.” he said. “Our job is to be the utility guy on offense.
“We’re moving around. You’ll see us at wideout, you’ll see us in the slot, you’ll see us in the backfield. So we’re really the guy that brings everything together for this offense.”
Morris said earlier, the first round of installs would go for three practices, then the offense would go back through it, hopefully at a faster pace.
“We’re just about finished with what we’re going to install for the spring, but it’s really smooth,” Patton said.
“We’ve all kind of rolled through,” Storey said. “I think they’re trying to kind of throw us all in there and see what happens. But most of all I think they’re trying to make sure we learn the offense and pick up on it.”
With the first scrimmage planned for Saturday, it will be the first chance to see how it’s coming together.
It probably won’t be ready for prime time.
But it will be different.
And faster.
