From the Bench

It’s Spring Again

Robert Shields

It’s finally here -- the Razorback football team’s much-anticipated spring practice. Apparently, what is evident so far is that Knile Davis has gotten bigger, faster, and stronger just like Steve Austin of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” which seemed like a lot of money when I was a kid. It doesn’t sound like that much money anymore as I buy my lottery ticket to win $200 million.

I digress. Every indication is that the team should be stocked again next year. The offense should be very productive. The kicking game will still be good with Dylan Breeding, Zac Hocker, Joe Adams, and Dennis Johnson all returning. I would not be surprised either if Marquel Wade gets a long look as a punt returner.

Tyler Wilson will be your starting quarterback. I know that I will get some messages from friends and family of the other quarterbacks by making such a statement just as I did when I projected Ryan Mallett as the starter almost two years ago. Wilson will have to manage the high expectations that will be put on the team next year and it’s really all on his shoulders. The hope may even by higher on Wilson this coming season than Mallett last season with so many stars returning. I suspect he will meet the challenge with flying colors.

I do not expect him to be Ryan Mallett, though. There are very few who can throw the ball like Mallett did. If you knew anything as a Razorback fan, you knew that receivers never needed to let up as Mallett was always going to deliver the ball no matter how far down field you got. It was also going to be delivered in quick fashion on a low trajectory. Mallett was never going to under throw the receiver.

Wilson throws a good ball. He is accurate, but his passes more often than not on the deep ball will take a higher trajectory than you have seen the last two years at quarterback. This may be good for your receiving corps or it may be bad. I vote good. Time will tell.

There was one thing you knew for certain as a fan the last two years: When you saw Mallett winding up last year in the pocket, you knew you were seconds away from seeing a touchdown strike. Whether the receivers held on was another matter. The offense will be the same, but I suspect there will be parts of the offense that will excel better under Wilson and parts that you will miss.

The big question mark as it has been for years is the defense. There has been steady improvement each season. But the defense has always been a mixed bag just like last season, and nothing typified the defense more than the two halves of play you saw against Ohio State.

If you want anything from your defense this year, it has to be consistency. You want the defense that played against LSU not Auburn. And you want it each week.

Your team may be building some depth on the defensive line, but you’re still waiting for that unstoppable star. Maybe, he will emerge this season. The secondary will be solid enough for consistent play. The question mark will be depth at the linebacker position. Jerry Franklin and Jerico Nelson are players. The graduation of Anthony Leon will leave a void. Someone new will have to emerge to bolster the defense.

Linebacker is a critical position, to say the least. It’s the quarterback of the defense as he is often the player who calls out the assignments. He’s also the player who has to play clean-up and often the player when the running back gets through the line that has to make a one-on-one tackle to stop the big gain. He’s the player who gets blamed for arm tackling when he is slightly out of position. He’s the guy who gets noticed if he arrives too late on the blitz. He’s the guy on the team who has to be the thumper. His personality has to be partial thug in that he really loves hitting people hard or that has a little bit of a mean streak in him. This description combined with good student and superior athlete makes great ones hard to find.

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Basketball Coaching Search

You hear all kinds of names being tossed about. I have to like Brad Stevens at Butler. I was even stating that fact before he beat No. 1 seed Pitt. The guy can coach and has beaten really good teams even outside the NCAA tournament. He can obviously also recruit to a school with a servant’s name. Yet, I was surprised when basketball guru Ron Crawford pooh-poohed the idea on the radio when a caller mentioned his name. Crawford’s reason was that he had no connection in Arkansas. Or does that mean Stevens has no connections to Crawford?

By the time this column makes print, a new coach may be named. If the fans are lucky, someone will fall into the job like Bobby Petrino.

I thought about applying for the job myself. I have all those years of experience playing shooting guard for the Holy Souls Wabbits plus I coached and played for the Snowmen intramural team in the HPER building during my time up in Fayetteville, so I have that necessary connection to Arkansas.


Send your coaching suggestions to fromthebench@yahoo.com.


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