Arkansas fans worried about the secondary a year ago. That group struggled again and again in 2025. This year tells a different story, and Sunday’s practice added more proof.
Temperatures on the practice fields south of Walker Pavilion climbed past 100 degrees for camp practice No. 4. The Razorbacks strapped on shoulder pads for the first time.
They still kept a lively pace under first-year coach Ryan Silverfield.
Coaches broke up the offensive line for team tempo drills, but the five projected starting defensive backs stayed together as the only unit left intact.
Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Deron Wilson met with reporters once the two-hour practice wrapped.
He talked about the group’s chemistry more than any single player’s talent.
“I’d say it’s probably the smartest group as a collective, the whole group together, on how well they work together, that I’ve been around,” Wilson said. “And I don’t know if ‘smartest’ is the correct word. I think it’s the way they jell in the communication. This group has been tremendously impressive.”
Wilson pushing back on an old stereotype
Smarter players tend to make better decisions. As a result better plays happen. Championship coaches talk about it all the time.
“I tell guys this all the time, like the guys that make plays in the NFL, they’re not dumb jocks,” he said. “These dudes are intelligent and they know what’s about to happen before it’s going to happen.”
Cornerbacks coach Eddie Hicks sat beside Wilson at the podium. He said the staff looks for that same trait on the recruiting trail.
“When you start having those conversations and you see their personality come out, you see them smiling about it and continuing to go at it, so that’s another big thing, like personality,” Hicks said.
Wilson had a simple label for it all. “They’re football junkies,” he added. “And when you’re in the recruiting process in that small window that you have from the portal, you’ve got to figure that out in three days.”
Playoff pedigree meets a player-led mindset
Three of the defensive backs at Sunday’s podium already know the College Football Playoff.
Cornerback Joker Johnson played on last year’s Tulane team. Safety Christian Harrison came over from Tennessee.
Corner Shelton Lewis made a playoff run with Clemson in 2024.
Lewis said that Clemson team ran on trust between teammates. He wants Arkansas to build the same culture.
“It was a player-led team,” Lewis said. “Everybody wanted to be on the same goal. So like, here, that’s what we’re trying to get to. The guys have got to be the guys to take the team or lead the team to where we all want to go. We should all be plus-one to each other.”
Johnson backed that up when asked about players calling their own extra meetings with coaches.
“I feel like we all pretty much do it equally,” Johnson said. “There’s times I did, there’s times Christian did it, it’s times Shelton did it. So I feel like it’s pretty equal. It’s about that extra work, and it just like carries on through each other.”
Khmori House backed up all that talk with his play.
The “Star” safety picked off a pass from AJ Hill on the very first snap of a perimeter drill. He added a second interception later against Braeden Fuller.
A safety Silverfield chased for years
One player ties the whole secondary story together. Safety Miguel Mitchell is the only scholarship defensive back left over from last year’s roster. He’s spent five seasons bouncing around the SEC.
Silverfield tried landing Mitchell three separate times, dating back to his days at Memphis. Mitchell picked Vanderbilt out of high school.
He chose Florida next. He finally landed with Arkansas out of the portal in 2023. Silverfield took the Razorbacks job last December, and Mitchell briefly flirted with leaving again before deciding to stay.
Wilson already knew Mitchell well before this camp. The two worked together at Florida when Mitchell was a true freshman. They reunited at Arkansas in 2024.
“He has been in this system before,” Wilson said. “He was intelligent as a true freshman when I had a chance to coach him and he is still intelligent now, and that’s why he played as a true freshman. A guy that could help the communication on the field.”
Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts named Mitchell a projected starter at safety once fall camp opened.
Last season Mitchell posted a career-high 52 tackles with a sack, two pass breakups and an interception across 12 games. Wilson also pointed to added size as a sign of real growth. Mitchell is now listed at 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds.
Arkansas returns to the fields Monday around 3 p.m. for camp practice No. 5. Receivers coach Larry Smith is scheduled to meet with media next.
Sunday brought turnovers, playoff-tested newcomers and a safety three coaches fought to keep. The Razorbacks’ rebuilt secondary already looks like a different unit than the one that struggled a year ago.
Key takeaways
- Deron Wilson and Eddie Hicks used Sunday’s post-practice press conference to praise the Arkansas secondary’s football IQ and camaraderie despite 100-degree heat.
- Khmori House intercepted two passes Sunday while three defensive backs, Joker Johnson, Christian Harrison and Shelton Lewis, bring College Football Playoff experience from other schools.
- Safety Miguel Mitchell is the lone returning scholarship defensive back and is projected to start after Ryan Silverfield pursued him three separate times.
