Page 7 - 2018 Arkansas Football

Sunday, August 26, 2018
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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The advent of Chad Morris’ tenure led to clean slates for all the players and long-running position battles ensued
at many spots. This analysis is being written during the second week of camp, so it might vary from the personnel deployment the Arkansas Razorbacks will use for their season opener Saturday against Eastern Illinois.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Chad Morris and quarterbacks
coach Joe Craddock, also the offensive coordinator, hardly tipped their hands
at who might end up winning this competition from the outset of spring drills into the second week of camp. The only players with college experience,
Ty Storey and Cole Kelley, have plenty
of pros and cons. Kelley went 2-2 as a starter for the injured Austin Allen in 2017, completing 87 of 151 passes (57.6 percent) for 1,038 yards, with 8 TDs
and 4 INTs. Kelley’s 127.5 efficiency was only slightly lower than Allen’s 132.5 and they had the same 2-1 TD-to-INT ratio. Storey’s limited game action has not been impressive, and time under Bret Bielema did him no favors by not giving him substantial reps in clean-up time as the top backup in 2016. Storey’s knowledge
"Then you realize you don’t have time to practice it all, so you better get good at a few things.”
Bethea would have kept Morris on the payroll for perpetuity, but he only got four years before Chad and Paula moved to Ely- sian Fields.
“When you get a good one, you just ride him hard and put him up wet,” Bethea said. “I had him as head football coach, head bas- ketball coach, athletic director, and I still talked him into teaching a couple of math classes. So he was busy.”
Bethea said he had parting advice for Morris.
“I told him, ‘Chad, I hate to see you go, but I wish you’d had a couple of years ex- perience under a good, experienced high school coach, because I think it would have reduced your learning curve.’ ” Bethea said. “I laugh a lot at that. Obviously he didn’t need no ... help from an old coach. He han- dled his learning curve very well.”
The run of playoff appearances, state championship games and titles Morris racked up at Elysian Fields (1998-1999), Bay City (2000-2002), Stephenville (2003-2007) and Lake Travis (2008-2009) came as no surprise to his mentors.
“I could see Chad being successful in whatever he did,” Shellnutt said. “He worked too hard not to. He worked in the classroom
of the scheme and film study impressed the coaches, and he’s largely removed the hitch in his delivery. He’s taken a good chunk of his camp snaps with the top offense, but threw two interceptions
in the second scrimmage on Aug. 18. Proving his ability to move the ball, avoid negative plays and score points are critical, as Kelley does have on his resume. Kelley was
a powerful runner last year and he should be faster after dropping to 255 pounds. However, his maturity has been an issue and his ball security and overall consistency need
team and a spot that will need multiple contributors. Devwah Whaley re- shaped his frame by reducing his body fat and he looks quicker. The junior
Receiver
Jared Cornelius (79-1,163, 10 TDs, career) would like to stay healthy for a full season in this offense. He’s trimmed
Arkansas position analysis By Tom Murphy
Storey
Whaley
rushed for 559 yards and 7 TDs and averaged 4.4 yards per carry. Chase Hayden is quicker and more explosive and had a team-high 326 rushing yards and 4 TDs at the time of his injury against Auburn during his splashy freshman year. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry. T.J. Hammonds (32-262, 1 TD) averaged
Pettway
up and is ready to be a force in the slot. Jonathan Nance (37-539, 5) heads the list of returning contributors that also includes Deon Stewart (33-404, 3), Jordan Jones (21-401, 3) and La’Michael Pettway (6-92). Stewart was slowed by injury early in camp, while Jones was on the rise due to gains in
Morris
v Continued from Page 3K
Kelley
8.2 yards per carry, almost single- handedly prevented an upset loss to Coastal Carolina and has the capability of catching passes from the backfield or slot. He appeared to avoid serious injury while tweaking an ankle on
Aug. 16. Redshirt freshman Maleek Williams is a bruiser who had a strong spring and should contribute if he can grasp pass protection responsibilities. Transfer Rakeem Boyd, a former ace signee at Texas A&M, has the upside to be a featured back if he can pick up the playbook. After a good start in camp, he slowed in Week 2.
transition,” he said. “But again, you’re still going to line up and run the power and the counter and the inside and outside zone. That’s college football. We’re just going to do it in different ways.”
Morris also said he would tailor the at- tack to favor the personnel on the roster.
How that will look when the Razorbacks open the season Saturday against Eastern Illinois is unknown.
Eventually, those who know Morris say, he’ll turn the Razorbacks into winners.
“I think he’ll turn it around at Arkansas,” Shellnutt said. “He’s just got to have the time to get the kind of kids he knows it takes to win in that conference. And I think he can recruit.
“He will get the recruits eventually. Kids love that offense in high school. They’re go- ing to go to those places that run it because it’s exciting.”
Morris’ evaluations go beyond the sta- tistics football fans devour. He created his own formula to calculate the efficiency for every position group on the team, though he keeps those figures in house.
“The efficiencies of things,” Morris told the Dallas Morning News last year. “Not just the cold, hard number where anybody can look it up. I like the efficiency of it, where you got to put a formula together to figure a few things out.
“I’ve always felt like, and I’ve always felt this way since I was a kid, for every ques- tion there’s an answer. For every problem there’s a solution. We’ve gotta go find the solution in a lot of these cases. You got to
strength and knowledge. Pettway could start at the wide boundary slot, but must eliminate the drops that have hounded him. Plenty of youngsters should factor in, led by De’Vion Warren, Jarrod Barnes, Koilan Jackson and Mike Woods. Chase Harrell, a 6-4 transfer, is intriguing. He got off to a good start but was slowed
by a hamstring in camp. Gary Cross got first-team work and walk-ons Tyson Morris and Tobias Enlow have gotten plenty of run since the spring.
Tight end
This spot is almost as deep as running
v Continued on next page think outside the box. You got to be able to
be different.”
McEnturff said Morris’ proficiency in
math worked on the football field.
“His logical thinking and his ability to read the secondary and read defenses like he did, it was good,” McEnturff said. “Special kids come around only a few in a lifetime. He would rank as a top one. He’s gifted. He’s very organized. He expects his coaches to be that way. He expects his players to be
the same way.”
Carter called himself “a supreme homer”
when it comes to Morris.
“Other than my own dad, coach Morris
has had the biggest impact on my life,” he said. “He’s a passionate guy. He’s energy driven. He will never be satisfied, no matter what. That’s what drives him.
“You take a look at the attitude and some of the comments from the kids [at SMU] when he left, you’ll see how much he meant to them. I would imagine the University of Arkansas team is going to feel the same way once they get a chance to know him. He’s changed a lot of lives.”
Whiting said what he remembered most about Morris was that he always gave the best he had to give.
“You might not have been able to put your finger on it then, but you can look back and say, ‘Yep, he had it,’ ” Whiting said. “I think he always had that drive to be success- ful from way back in his youth.”
Morris’ newest pursuit, turning Arkansas into a contender after a six-year lull, could be his greatest challenge yet.
to be cleaner. Redshirt freshman Daulton Hyatt and true freshmen Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones got chances
with the top unit in camp and have solid dual-threat capabilities. The new redshirt rules will add intrigue to how this trio is handled in the fall.
Running back
Clearly the deepest position on the
as hard as he did in athletics.”
A first-year struggle at Stephenville High
School, a 6-4 season with no playoff bid at a school used to winning titles under Art Briles, led Morris to question his career choice. But instead of bowing out, he tar- geted Malzahn’s attack as the direction he wanted to take and made multiple trips to Northwest Arkansas.
The Spread principles and hurry-up ap- proach Morris gleaned after winning Malz- ahn’s confidence catapulted his career.
Whiting said Morris’ approach and his success in the prep ranks proved he could coach at any level.
“I really felt like Chad was the type of kid who would be straight, and whatever he did would be honestly done,” Whiting said. “That’s a trademark for what I see with all of his teams.
“You can tell he loves his kids, but he de- mands a lot out of them. That gives him the opportunity to succeed.
“A lot of coaches just like to take that credit on his own, and Chad never has ... even when he was in high school. He’s not laid back, but yet he’s not sticking his nose out front and demanding the spotlight shine on him.”
CALLING THE HOGS
Morris admitted in December that the Razorbacks likely will have roster “transi- tion” from the huddling pro-style offense of the previous staff to his style.
“There’s going to be a little bit of a roster flip that we’re going to have to have as we