Tye & Tommy on some practice notes, Bobby Bowden’s legacy, plus Tom Murphy!
Murphy on limited practice availability; waiting for pads Thursday
Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy said on The Morning Rush he’s seen some plays made, but we’ll know more in pads.
The Morning Rush is LIVE! A couple football practices in books
Tye Richardson is back from his adventures and joined Tommy Craft talking about the first football practices over the weekend.
TRUSTING THE PROCESS: Alyssa Orange of Pig Trail Nation
Tye and Alyssa on her memories of Bobby Bowden, moving to Arkansas without ever visiting, the Bielema laugh story, and more!
Clark, Brown on secondary’s play in first three practices of fall camp
It’s still early in camp, but cornerback Hudson Clark and safety Montaric Brown on defense, looking at wide receivers.
Cornerbacks developing well, Carter on importance of Odom to Hogs
Cornerbacks coach Sam Carter talked after Sunday’s practice on the position in fall camp, plus his respect for Barry Odom.
Knox looks like SEC receiver now, but has to perform on field
Some folks talked about the new look in the offensive line, but it was wide receiver Trey Knox’s change that was a little startling.
In case you’re wondering, it’s not fat, either. Knox has muscled up and now he looks like a wide receiver playing in the SEC.
“I’ve been a string bean my whole life,” he admitted after Saturday’s practice. “I never thought I could gain any weight.”
Strength and conditioning coach Jamil Walker has had players buy into his program as much as anybody has bought into anything else.
“Just trying to figure out how to play at this size,” Knox said. “This is all new to me. I haven’t been this big before.”
He said he’s “hovering around 218-220,” which is up considerably from the 207 he was listed at in the spring and the last two seasons he’s looked like 190 might require holding some weights on the scale.
Of course with that added weight he’s got to learn how to play with it. Some, like Treylon Burks, has been a big receiver since he was in junior high school.
Not Knox.
“Putting on weight would help me to play faster, be more explosive, those areas,” he said. “Even being stronger and playing more physical and getting guys off of me because I have a pretty big frame and I’m trying to fill that out.
“I want to play big. I want to play physical because I mean that’s what my body calls me to do.”
Knox started in 2019 like he was the hot freshman receiver in a talented class. He had 21 catches for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The next 10 games he had 14 for 156 with one score.
Injuries played a role his first year, getting a thigh bruise in the second game against Ole Miss that nagged him the rest of the year.
Last season he didn’t have everything together, mentally and physically.
“He’s doing awesome right now,” new wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton said Saturday. “He came in and he wanted to know my thoughts after seeing him all spring to reach that next level.”
The bar has been raised for Knox if he wants to reach that next level.
“He’s a bigger guy, a bigger wideout, so you talk about what bigger wideouts do,” Guiton said. “They’re big, physical guys who lock up people on perimeter blocking, and if the ball is in the air and it’s contested, it’s one-on-one.
“Instead of it being a 50-50 ball, that’s 80-20. That’s who you have to be as a bigger guy. He’s taking it on and he’s working at it.”
Maybe the most important thing of all is it appears he has his confidence back and that was clearly lacking last year.
“I’ve had a pretty great offseason,” he said Saturday. “I feel a lot faster. I feel a lot more explosive.”
He showed the ability. Now he may have found his confidence.
Which gives fans hope he’s ready to step back to the front.
FACES OF FALL CAMP: Photos from Saturday’s second day of practice
Photos by Andy Hodges | HitThatLine.com
Guiton likes having different types of receivers in talented group
Hogs wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton talked about his players plus what his background helps relate to different players.
Knox, Warren on getting better in offseason with deep wide receiver group
Arkansas wide receivers Trey Knox and De’Vion Warren on Knox putting on additional weight, Warren rehabbing from knee surgery.
Words, actions show Pittman and staffs respect for players
Sam Pittman is a players coach and the stark contrast with the recent past is becoming about as clear as it can get in just the first day of fall camp.
For the few who may not know, a “players coach” is one that relates to the players and he can communicate what he wants without the need to jump up and down like a catcher on the final strikeout of a World Series win.
There’s a lot of praise and not a lot of hell-raising from the coaches.
“I’m the worst one out there,” Pittman said later. “I hired guys because of how they talk to kids, how they relate to kids, how they motivate and how they can teach them. That’s exactly what we have.”
It’s a different approach. The Bobby Petrino (and to be fair some others over the years) approach where the coaching staff sounded like drill sergeants isn’t what Pittman is going to deal with.
“If I make a mistake I wouldn’t want ‘you sorry mf,’ it’s ‘hey, I’m going to teach you right,'” Pittman said. “If you do something great then I want that coach to be the loudest he can possibly be in practice.”
Pittman knows that carries over to other players.
“Other kids will see that as well and want the same thing coming their way,” he said. “More importantly, (the assistant coaches) can get the kids to play for them because they respect them.”
It’s the approach Pittman used developing offensive lines everywhere he went that were among the nation’s most highly respected. Every lineman he coached for decades will go to war defending him.
His approach has worked and is proven successful.
“Our mouth is very, very powerful,” Pittman said Friday. “The way (assistant coaches) talk to the kids, they respect that.”
Maybe the most stark thing missing in fall camp is the lack of players’ names on the front of the helmets. The Hogs had that last year, which was understandable. Some of the players didn’t meet their coaches until the summer due to covid.
The guess here is Pittman figures his coaches should know their players without needing to read the names on the helmet.
Another sign of respect and it’s also a guess the players notice.
More importantly, recruits may notice, too.
