Hicks a key piece to start of ‘culture’ Morris trying to build with Hogs

Legendary track coach John McDonnell was asked one time what were the keys to building  a program from scratch when he was hired in the mid-1970’s to winning 43 national championships during his time in Fayetteville.

One of the biggest was having leadership from within. In other words, it was the older players who basically took care of teaching the younger ones what was expected in terms of training and paying the price.

Newcomers not interested in that didn’t seem to last long.

That’s exactly what Chad Morris is trying to build on the football field … and off the field. For a program that has won a combined six games over two years, there’s only one direction to go.

Graduate transfer quarterback Ben Hicks at Tuesday’s practice. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

You got the idea from Chad and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock that lack of leadership last year is exactly why they brought in graduate transfer Ben Hicks from SMU.

Through the first couple of months, it seems the plan is coming along like they hoped.

“What’s impressive is when you watch him coach up the other quarterbacks,” Morris said after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s got a great rapport. They respect him. He’s bringing a lot of energy to (the quarterback) room and the entire team.”

On Tuesday, redshirt freshman Connor Noland was at practice, but not in shoulder pads because he’s got to meet the minimum number of practices without them first.

“He’s battling his tail off,” Morris said. “I love that.”

Which is exactly why he’s out there, despite some tunnel-visioned observers questioning that move. Hey, it works at other places, exactly why can’t it work with the Hogs? And, just in case you missed it, a dual-sport quarterback-baseball player won the Heisman Trophy last year.

Freshman quarterback Connor Noland during Tuesday’s spring practice. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The coaches have put a lot of the responsibility on Noland’s shoulders.

“It’s on him to get caught up in the meeting rooms and doing his own film study to make sure he stays on schedule,” Morris said.

Don’t worry about the arm. Baseball has been using footballs in practices for years. There’s even a crate of them in the workout facilities … and they were there while Noland was still playing at Greenwood.

Texas Rangers pitching coach Tom House was the first I saw use the technique of having pitchers throw a football. Nolan Ryan became a big-time fan of House.

Baseball coach Dave Van Horn has repeatedly said he isn’t worried about it. Morris sort of shrugs it off like it’s not really a big deal.

“We never over-throw our guys,” he said.

The interaction between Hicks and Noland in the early drills is clearly teacher-student. There’s lots of smiling and conversaton between reps, at least in the periods the media is allowed to see. There’s no reason to think anything changes when we’re gone.

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The other area of the team that looks completely different is the wide receivers’ group, which was getting a lot of Morris’ attention Tuesday.

Trey Knox, an early signee, is 6-foot-5, 218 pounds and is starting to stand out a little for more than just being big, which is something Morris said they’ve been trying to do at the receiver position.

Freshman wide receiver Trey Knox during spring practice drills Tuesday. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

“Trey Knox has been consistent and is making an impact,” Morris said. “Very pleased to watch him catch on.”

Morris moves around at different practices with different position groups on both sides of the ball, so his spending a lot of detailed teaching time with the receivers isn’t that unusual. We’ve seen him do it with other groups.

But it’s a much more relaxed appearance with the quarterbacks and receivers. The coaches at times in practices last spring looked exasperated with what they were seeing.

Now they’re doing more teaching and it’s much more detailed, such as where the ball is supposed to be delivered on a break and why the receivers should expect the ball to be in a particular place.

That’s due in part to what they hope is an increase in the talent level.

Chad Morris working with the wide receivers during spring practice Tuesday. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

And it’s clear to see somebody has worked with the receivers before the coaches got to be there.

It’s a good bet that was Hicks, who every offensive position coach has pointed out in our limited interviews, was doing a lot of instruction and teaching in the workouts before spring drills that coaches aren’t allowed to watch.

That is part of what Morris has talked about with “culture.”

For Morris, there’s a history in Fayetteville of player leadership working out pretty well and for a coach that’s well-versed on a variety of sports it’s a good bet he’s aware of what McDonnell did.

He’s trying to build a similar culture, but we’re a long way from knowing for sure.

But you can see the start.