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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 and his staff could work So now we come to the point where 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 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 , the 2001 signing class for encountered a year in Arkansas talent with one of the best players in state those fall 2000 prospects is right at the top. ( 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 ’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, ’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 connections of his former Wisconsin aide Charlie Partridge and new coach Randy Shannon, the former 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 (, 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 ’ heyday, or in the early years of already had a relationship with the new Hog coaches when they were at ’ 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 put on a Razorback cap and State blue-chippers as 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

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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 /safety prospect Damon Mitchell gave up a offer and a late push from 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 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 , 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 — 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.

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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, , @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. Osceola, Ark. kids from that area. So I think it was a good start.” Osceola HS 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITING ISSUE NOTABLE QUOTES 2013 RAZORBACKS RECRUITING ISSUE NOTABLE * Junior college signees

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2013 RAZORBACKS FOOTBALL SIGNING CLASS

HUNTER HENRY TE 6’ 5 238 lbs. Little Rock, Ark. Pulaski Academy

DAN SKIPPER OT 6’ 10 295 lbs. Arvada, Colo. Ralston Valley HS

MARTRELL SPAIGHT LB 6’ 0 220 lbs. North Little Rock, Ark. Coffeyville (Kan) CC/North Little Rock HS

DENVER KIRKLAND OG 6’ 5 320 lbs. Miami, Fla. Booker T. Washington HS

DENZELL EVANS RB 6’ 0 205 lbs. Houston, Texas Bellaire HS

MELVINSON HARTFIELD WR 5’ 11 183 lbs. , Texas South Oak Cliff HS

DAMON MITCHELL QB 6’ 2 200 lbs. Egg Harbor, N.J. Cedar Creek HS

ALEX BRIGNONI S 6’ 1 200 lbs. Fayetteville, Ark. Fayetteville HS

SAM IRWIN-HILL P 6’ 3 215 lbs. Bendingo Australia City College of San Francisco

REEVE KOEHLER OG 6’ 3 325 lbs. Honolulu Hawai’i Saint Louis School

ALEX COLLINS RB 5’ 11 207 lbs. Fort Lauderdale Fla. South Plantation HS

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BIGGEST GET

Alex Collins 5’ 11, 207 lbs. RB Fort Lauderdale Fla. — Even though Collins has only played football for two seasons, he is one of the best running backs in the country. Bielema has a history of hanging his hat on a workhorse back. Collins fits that bill with a combination of speed and power.

MOST LIKELY FUTURE NFL FIRST-ROUNDER

Denver Kirkland 6’ 5, 320 lbs., DT West Palm Beach, Fla. — Kirkland already has an NFL frame, and offensive lineman are a coveted commodity in the . It’s also likely Kirkland could be at least a three-year starter before he finishes his collegiate career.

A PLAYER TO WATCH

Drew Morgan 6’ 0, 190 lbs., WR, Greenwood — Morgan had few initial offers and committed to Arkansas State last year, but Bielema offered him soon after arriving in Fayetteville. Morgan, who won the Landers Award given to the state’s top prep player, played multiple positions in high school, has a high football IQ, and understands how to win and work hard after playing on three state championship teams at Greenwood.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Rushed 2013 Signing Class Good Start to ‘Bielema Era’

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BYNATEOLSON Bielema and Co. then spread out across the country, even flying to Hawaii to land Bret Bielema ran the recruiting version of the two-minute drill All-American offensive lineman Reeve Koehler. The staff also nabbed mammoth to perfection. 3-star lineman Dan Skipper (6’ 10, 295 lbs.) from Arvada, Colo.

The stellar performance, pulled off in only two months, included Partridge and running backs coach Joel Thomas set up shop in Florida and stealing two blue-chip prospects out from under the nose of the University of found some diamonds in the rough, while stealing two hometown recruits from Miami, and made Hog fans wonder, “What can this staff do with a full season?” Miami. The staff saw the potential in two-star Miami Northwestern cornerback De’Andre Cooley, and two-star West Palm Beach When Bielema took the job in December he wasted no time in evaluating a Ke’Tyrus Marks. recruiting class that the old staff had assembled and hiring new assistants. As he carefully added aides, he cut ties with eight of the old prospects. Bielema However, Partridge did the most damage securing two big-time talents. On the made it clear he wasn’t interested in filling this class with bodies. He sought Monday before signing, day four-star running back Alex Collins, a longtime “uncommon men” as he mentioned in his introductory press conference. It took Miami commit, flipped to Arkansas. The Hogs had to wait an extra day for his overtime, but he eventually landed some outstanding talent. signature as Collins’ mother ran off with his letter of intent. Despite the bizarre behavior, the 5-foot-11, 207-pounder kept his word and pushed the Hogs class “First and foremost, you have to be an athlete that will fit here in Arkansas, no nearly into the rivals.com Top 25 rankings. matter where you are coming from,” Bielema said. “I wanted those players to fit what Arkansas is, and it’s really important to me. They have to believe in the On signing day, another hometown boy recruited hard by the ’Canes, Denver family. If I am going to get them here and talk about the Arkansas football family, Kirkland, announced he was heading to Fayetteville live on ESPNU. Kirkland, a I didn’t want them to not know any idea of what that meant.” 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman, chose the Hogs over the ’Canes and also had offers from Auburn, USC, Florida State and others. Bielema set the program up for a strong recruiting class in 2013 and stronger in the future by hiring a handful of Florida natives. During Bielema’s tenure at Hog fans and recruiting experts alike marveled at the ground the new staff Wisconsin he recruited “The Sunshine State” well thanks to defensive line covered in two months. Many of the relationships, especially the Florida coach Charlie Partridge’s roots. Hiring former Miami player and head coach products, were carryovers from Wisconsin. The pledges thought enough of Randy Shannon as linebackers coach was almost the equivalent of landing a Partridge and Bielema to follow them to Arkansas. five-star recruit. After talking to several of the recruits in the 2013 and 2014 class, it’s easy to With the staff intact, they hit the road. Initially, they shored up some of the commitments see the laid-back, easy-going approach is appreciated by players and parents. they received, including Pulaski Academy All-American tight end Hunter Henry. Henry Collins may have gone to Wisconsin if Bielema stayed there. He wanted to get (6’ 5, 238 lbs.) wasn’t sure if he wanted to play for the run-oriented Bielema. He debated away from Florida, and he trusts this staff. He wasn’t deterred by the move to about taking a recruiting trip to Alabama. However, after researching the success of some Fayetteville. In fact, Fayetteville may be a better fit than Madison. He raved about of the Wisconsin tight end alumni that are playing in the NFL like Owen Daniels (Houston the hospitality he received. Texans) Henry affirmed his commitment.

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Bielema didn’t want to forget about his new back yard. After hiring former Hogs quarterback and Bentonville , Barry Lunney Jr., as tight ends coach, he charged the Fort Smith native to scour the state to ensure no one was left the out.

What resulted was the signing of Osceola defensive back Korliss Marshall. The three-star recruit had been evaluated as a running back but hadn’t been offered a scholarship by the old regime. He remained committed to Central Arkansas until the weekend leading up to signing day, when he ultimately pledged to the U of A.

Bielema exhausted all efforts to land North Little Rock four-star running back Altee Tenpenny. Bielema visited Tenpenny’s residence, North Little Rock High School and the restaurant where he holds a part-time job. The Razorback staff did everything possible to land the prized running back. It wasn’t enough. On the night that Collins committed, Tenpenny affirmed his commitment to Alabama via Twitter.

Still, the lengths to which the staff went, weren’t lost on North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding, and other in-state coaches. Bielema already has two in-state players secured for the 2014 Class in NLR running back Juan Day, the cousin of former Hog-star running back , and El Dorado four-star defensive lineman Bijhon Jackson. Four-star Springdale Har-Ber defensive lineman Josh Frazier, who has an offer from Alabama, is highly interested in the Hogs. What he witnessed in the past two months may have him even more intrigued, but he wants to evaluate the staff more before he commits.

Everyone is still trying to get to know the Hogs staff. Of course, the 2013 season will go a long way in getting them acquainted. The past two months spent feverishly recruiting is just a small taste. However, if they continue at this pace the rookie staff won’t have a problem keeping up with the rugged SEC West in living rooms or on the field.

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