Razorbacks Recruitingissue 2013 Razorbacks Sportinglifearkansas.Com
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SPORTINGLIFEARKANSAS.COM PRESENTSTHE 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITINGISSUE 2013 RAZORBACKS SPORTINGLIFEARKANSAS.COM BYJIMHARRIS In fact, after 1982, Arkansas didn’t crack the Top 5 again until Petrino’ 2011 team For at least the past 30 years, the strength of Arkansas’ reached a zenith of No. 3 and finished the year at No. 5. recruiting classes hinged on the output of talent within the Natural State, unless the head coach and his staff could work So now we come to the point where Bret Bielema attempts to piece together the some magic beyond the state’s borders. wreckage left by Petrino’s spring ouster and the incompetence of interim head coach John L. Smith and his aides in the fall to do anything with the talent To wit: Maybe the best one year for Arkansas high school talent in the past left them. decade-plus was the 2000 high school football season that produced the likes of Matt Jones and Shawn Andrews. Hence, when we look back at the best Also, unlike Petrino’s initial class when he took over for Nutt, Bielema recruiting seasons under former coach Houston Nutt, the 2001 signing class for encountered a down year in Arkansas talent with one of the best players in state those fall 2000 prospects is right at the top. (running back Altee Tenpenny) already firmly committed to Alabama. However, rather than keep hold of eight out-of-state commitments to the The same can be said for Bobby Petrino’s recruiting over his five hauls. While previous staff whose SEC-worthiness was in question (ultimately none would national recruiting rankings say his 2009 signing class was his best of the five, sign with a program stronger than Cincinnati of the Big East), Bielema held on a re-ranking of the 2008 class (featuring in-state receivers Joe Adams, Jarius to the few Arkansas commitments in place and set his coaches out to fill many Wright, Greg Childs, Chris Gragg, Ryan Mallett’s transfer) has placed that initial other spots. signing haul at the top of all the Petrino classes — though the jury is still out on 2011-2012. He leaned on the Florida connections of his former Wisconsin aide Charlie Partridge and new linebackers coach Randy Shannon, the former Miami player Nutt and Petrino occasionally picked up an out-of-state talent to complement the and coach. He took new offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who spent the past in-staters (Felix Jones, for example, in the Darren McFadden-led class of 2005 for season at Tennessee and the previous four before that at North Carolina, from Nutt, or 5-star cornerback Ahmad “Batman” Carroll with that 2001 class), they Hawaii to Florida to nail down some behemoths to help the transition up front to a both needed Arkansas’ high schools producing more than a handful of SEC- run-influenced offense. quality players. Partridge’s determination paid off with 5-star running back Alex Collins, who That wasn’t the case, however, in Frank Broyles’ heyday, or in the early years of already had a relationship with the new Hog coaches when they were at Lou Holtz’ tenure. Wisconsin and who wanted to get out of the Miami area. When Broyles first beat Texas in 1960, it open the doors to such prized Lone Star But it was when 6-foot-5, 333-pound Denver Kirkland put on a Razorback cap and State blue-chippers as Ronnie Caveness and Jerry Lamb, then Loyd Phillips and pledged himself to the UA that people around the country took notice. others, leading to an Arkansas domination in the 1960s. Broyles enjoyed a late Bielema and his coaches were reaching out beyond Arkansas big-time for resurgence in 1975, again thanks to a Texas influx recruited mostly by then- difference-makers. assistant Jimmy Johnson. Kirkland joined two other linemen who at one time were headed to Tennessee Holtz’ 1979 class featured Razorback legacy Billy Ray Smith Jr., who drew every to join Pittman there — Honolulu’s 6-3, 320-pound Reeve Koehler and 6-foot-10 big-time college coach to watch him in Plano, Texas, as well as Texan Ron Faurot Coloradoan Dan Skipper. and Columbia, Mo., star Gary Anderson, among the key pieces in a 34-13-1 run during the 1979-82 period. Bielema’s promise to start the building of his program from inside out — focusing 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITING ISSUE 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITING ISSUE SPORTINGLIFEARKANSAS.COM on the lines early and working on the skill positions afterward — was realized. Kirkland could play immediately, Koehler may not be far behind, and when Skipper adds 40 pounds, the trio could be the foundation for a Razorback line the likes of which have not been seen in these parts in at least a decade — at least since future NFL stars Andrews and Jason Peters were the formidable blockers on the 2003 line. The new staff’s late start required the flipping of more than handful of highly touted players who had committed elsewhere. New Jersey quarterback/safety prospect Damon Mitchell gave up a Georgia Tech offer and a late push from Boston College and Rutgers to choose Arkansas, and Melvinson Hartfield turned down the chance to be another do-everything speedster at Kansas State to be a Hog at the end. Denzell Evans, a bowling ball of a running back, had a scholarship to hometown Houston, but the lure of the SEC and Arkansas was too strong. In the end, when Bielema was reviewing the signing class, his only laments were not being able to flip Tenpenny or add one more 4-star offensive lineman, though two who had long committed elsewhere were considering Arkansas right up to the end. The in-state haul presented Arkansas with the best tight end prospect since D.J. Williams in Pulaski Academy’s Hunter Henry, as well as the fast, multi-skilled Drew Morgan from Greenwood. Good news on the academic front allowed Osceola’s Korliss Marshall to command a late offer from Arkansas, where he’ll start out at safety. Two- time Class 7A state champ Fayetteville produced a trio of potential stars in quarterback Austin Allen, linebacker Brooks Ellis and safety Alex Brignoni. Forrest City defensive lineman Tevin Beachum, relatively new to the game, wowed scouts in the summer with his athleticism and earned an offer from the previous staff. Areas of immediate need — a punter to replace the solid Dylan Breeding and more players at linebacker and defensive back — were addressed with junior college signees, while the Hogs also added more depth to the secondary with some prep help too for down the line. 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITING ISSUE 2013 RAZORBACKS SPORTINGLIFEARKANSAS.COM 2013 RAZORBACKS FOOTBALL SIGNING CLASS The nationally stunning additions of Collins and Kirkland out of talent rich south Florida, though, were the master strokes that excited Arkansas fans the most and made many observers believe that Bielema and crew can have the Hogs back to *TIQUENTION COLEMAN: S 5’ 10 195 lbs. Mauldin, S.C. winning sooner than expected. Georgia Military College/Mauldin HS Randy Shannon, Linebackers Coach, @RLS2294 *JOHNATHAN MCCLURE: OL 6’ 4 310 lbs. Wichita, Kan. Does this class open the doors to more recruits from South Florida? Butler CC/Wichita Heights HS “Yeah, but we’ve got to get the right fit for Arkansas. There’s a lot of talent *MYKE TAVARRES LB 6’ 2 215 lbs. Lake Oswego, Ore. in that South Florida region, but if you don’t have the right fit for Arkansas, College of the Siskiyous/Lakeridge HS it won’t work. So, we’ve got to make sure we do our job and go down there, and if it’s somebody who fits for Arkansas, we’ll recruit him. If it’s *CARROLL WASHINGTON CB 6’ 0 175 lbs. Baltimore, Md. not, we’re not going to recruit him.” Hartnell (Calif.) CC/ Edmondson-Westside HS DE’ANDRE COLEY S 6’ 1 178 lbs. Miami, Fla. Chris Ash, Defensive Coordinator, @CoachChrisAsh Northwestern HS Recruiting for the Razorbacks’ needs: BROOKS ELLIS LB 6’ 2 215 lbs. Fayetteville, Ark. “It’s hard for me to say because I don’t know much about the players here Fayetteville HS yet, but from what I’ve heard, from last season’s results, the linebackers and the DB’s needed to be addressed. What we needed to do is basically AUSTIN ALLEN QB 6’ 2 210 lbs. Fayetteville, Ark. create some competition, and that’s why some of the junior college Fayetteville HS players were recruited. We have some extremely talented young players in the program that are going to be developed, and they’re going to see TEVIN BEANUM DE 6’ 3 235 lbs. Forrest City, Ark. huge gains and big jumps in their performance on the field, but we needed Forrest City HS some competition. I think we’ve created that.” KE’TYRUS MARKS DT 6’ 1 288 lbs. West Palm Beach, Fla. Suncoast HS Charlie Partridge, Defensive Line Coach, @CoachPartridge More on the South Florida pipeline: DREW MORGAN WR 6’ 0 190 lbs. Greenwood, Ark. Greenwood HS “The thing about recruiting South Florida, I’ve been fortunate enough to be doing that area for quite a while, and I feel like we have a trust factor D.J. DEAN CB 5’ 10 180 lbs. Newton, Texas with that group. And as long as we continue to treat our kids the right Newton HS way, which I know we will, and continue to earn the trust on behalf of Arkansas, we’ll continue to have an opportunity to recruit the right kind of KORLISS MARSHALL S 6’ 0 200 lbs.