On a day when assistants were available to the media, offensive line coach Kurt Anderson talked about his group’s progress.
Running backs coach Reggie Mitchell on developing players
On a day when only assistants were made available to the media, running backs coach Reggie Mitchell talked about players behind Devwhah Whaley.
Wide receivers coach Michael Smith talks about young group
With only one returning player having more than two catches, Michael Smith’s wide receiver group is a work in progress.
Outside LB coach Chad Walker on Bell’s injury, surgery
Jamario Bell is gone for at least half the season and Tuesday outside linebackers coach Chad Walker talked about Bell and the outlook.
Maybe the numbers won’t just get smaller this year
One glaring weakness in an Arkansas defense full of them last season was how slow they seemed at times.
Too often, Razorback defenders could only watch other guys’ numbers get smaller as they ran away from them.
In the SEC that will get you beat by average teams. The good ones will stomp a hole in your backside and walk out the water.
With the new recruits, the Hogs look faster. The upperclassmen have noticed and told Bielema that over the weekend.
“They said they are all fast,” he relayed to the media about the comments from the senior leadership committee on the incoming freshmen.
Speed kills. Especially in the SEC.
First, it was Steve Spurrier at Florida going for speed, speed, speed. Then Tennessee got on board and, finally, Alabama.
Shoot, Jimmy Johnson built first Miami, then the Dallas Cowboys later on speed. At both places, there were guys in positions that were under-sized, but, gosh, they could run. The ones who couldn’t play were gone pretty quick, regardless of how fast they were.
Arkansas’ lack of speed has been glaring.
Bielema and the PR folks can spin it however they want, but something had to change. In four years, the record is below .500 and the league record is at the point that the Hogs would have to win 12 straight league games to get to .500.
The youngsters on the team have the most important intangible: Speed.
Oh, and they are also smart. The incoming group in summer school hasn’t made a C or below.
“I’ve never had that,” Bielema said. “Usually there are some C’s, D’s and some F’s. There is usually the odd one who doesn’t even know how to log into his computer.”
Now they just have to transfer it to the field.
And hopefully catch more folks.
Bell suffers foot injury, has surgery; may miss half of season
Jamario Bell seemingly can’t catch a break.
Bret Bielema announced at a press conference Monday that Bell re-injured a foot in practice Saturday and had surgery Monday morning.
“The kid hasn’t had an easy road,” Bielema said.
Bell, a redshirt sophomore from Junction City, had been making progress after being moved from tight end to defense, where he was manning one of the outside linebacker positions.
“He was flourishing,” Bielema said of his conversation with Bell prior to his surgery. “I said, ‘Hey, don’t let this get you.’ He’s a likable kid that guys really enjoy. He’s got some fun traits to him so I don’t think this will be the end of him.”
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos after practice
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos talked about the team’s development through three days of practices.
Austin Allen talks about Hogs’ new offensive players
Austin Allen covered a wide-ranging group of topics Saturday in his first visit with the media in fall camp.
Center Frank Ragnow on line play in early practices
Arkansas center Frank Ragnow visited with the media following Saturday’s practice and he seemed to not be concerned with the linemen fights.
New defense hot topic at early press conferences
In case you haven’t heard, Arkansas will have a new defensive alignment this year.
Yes, that was sorta tongue-in-cheek. Every Razorback fan knows it.
And, as usual, there is a certain confidence that it will fix the problems of last year’s defense which was balanced in that it struggled stopping the run and the pass.
Now they are going to a 3-4 look, which is intriguing on many fronts.
The reason? The Hogs struggle to get quality down linemen and to have a successful four-man front, you need eight people.
“You don’t have to have eight to have a two-deep, you only gotta have six,” defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said Friday afternoon. “It’s one of the reasons we switched to a 3-4 system.”
And Rhoads can make it sound fairly simple:
“Oh, I can tell you exactly,” Rhoads said. “The noseguard’s gotta have his hands on the center and take care of the A gap.
“The ends gotta have their hands on the tackle and take care of the B gap.
“Our outside linebackers have to set the edge and anything that comes at ’em and be involved in the passing game.
“Our linebackers gotta go where the backs go.
“And our secondary can’t let people behind ’em.
“If 11 guys are doing those things on a play-by-play basis, regardless of the call, we’ve got a chance to play good, competitive defense.”
That sounds good and doable. Traditionally, the 3-4 is prone to teams running up the middle. Some offensive systems can come up with blocking schemes that open up some wide running lanes.
But, the bottom line, it may be the only way the Hogs have a chance defensively considering the level of talent they have on the roster.
Schemes are great.
In the end, though, it nearly always comes down to who has the best players.
And that, Hogs fans, is the biggest question mark of all.
Richardson talks about defensive improvements
Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson talked with the media after practice about the development of the Hogs’ new 3-4 defense.
