Energy, speed noticeable differences at first practice

The Chad Morris Era, which as been dubbed RazorFast for marketing purposes, got off to a, well, fast start Thursday.

Morris wasted zero time in setting the pace.

Everybody moved fast.

“I’ve never run so much in my life,” was how tight end Cheyenne O’Grady said as he was leaving the football center.

He was smiling as he said it.

For anyone at a practice the last few years, the pace of this workout was blindingly fast. There was no hesitation.

“I don’t know where I’m supposed go!” one player shouted as one of the four periods the media were allowed to attend ended and another began.

Wherever he was headed, he was going there at a full sprint. Even the head coach at times.

In the changeover from one period to the next, instead of a generic voice announcing the period, it was Morris announcing to everyone the period change. There was some late shifting around as players went the wrong way a couple of times.

“If you’re juiceful, you’re useful and it’s got to start with the head coach,” Morris said. “What I was doing was all about getting movement in the practice, getting them from one place to the next.

He didn’t appear too concerned later with some confusion.

“We are learning to practice and it wasn’t perfect,” he said. “But I didn’t think it would be.”

What didn’t appear confusing was the skill people on offense.

“It looked like they had listened,” Morris said later.

He said they knew the terminology and it went fairly smooth, for the most part.

And, even though the practice ran a little long (Morris was nearly 30 minutes late getting to the postgame interview), it went fast. There is no stopping at Razorback practices now.

“We went long, but I thought they were in shape,” Morris said. “They were excited at the end. I asked them how they felt and they gave (strength coach Trumain Carroll) some applause. They did not taper off at the end.”

Morris and his staff watched every single game the Hogs played last year. A blind man could see how they have tailed off in the fourth quarter the last couple of years.

It’s a priority.

“The overall energy level is exhausting,” he said. “Some of the coaches who hadn’t been with us were awestruck, just like the players.”

Morris has talked several times about finishing. It’s a major point of emphasis and he pushes it in every practice, every drill, every meeting.

The pace will likely change on a fairly frequent basis.

“Some of the things we did as far as pace was over-exaggerated,” Morris said. “We wanted to just let them know how we roll.”

It’s his voice on the speaker between periods. It’s whistle — literally — and he knows who’s loafing and who’s hustling.

“Today, there were a lot of loafs,” he said. “But I expected that. I know it will be better Saturday as they get a better feel for what we expect.

“I do know that at 7:15 p.m. Tonight, then we are a better team than when we stepped on the field today.”

Which should be something Hog fans like hearing.