Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Spring in Bielema’s step
Hogs coach encouraged about practices after conditioning work.
FAYETTEVILLE — Bret Bielema said he expects to have a productive five weeks of spring practice starting today, and part of the reason why is what he picked up on during the eight-week program of winter conditioning for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Bielema had a meeting with his seniors Sunday night to discuss what the group thought of the winter plan, initiated mostly by strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert and his staff.
“They thought, by far, the same thing that I thought: It was the most intense mentality, physicality of any of the years we’ve been here,” Bielema said Monday. “We ramped it up a little bit, and
I think they responded very favorably. So I’m really excited about where they’re at.”
Bielema and the Razorbacks, coming off a 7-6 season, kick off the first of 15 spring workouts today at 4 p.m. The Hogs will practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for five consecutive weeks, concluding with the Red-White game April 29.
Bielema waited until after spring break to open drills for the second consecutive year for a specific reason.
“I wanted it to be a little bit of a grind, kind of like fall camp will be, where it’s just a daily install and progression to where we want to be,” he said.
Bielema praised the Razorbacks’ accountability
during the offseason conditioning program, citing a career first.
“I’ve never been through an entire winter program where we actually went the entire time without one guy, one single person, being late for any type of conditioning, exercise, any type of meetings that we had set up with our players,” he said.
Bielema said he didn’t receive any emergency phone calls during spring break last week, which always comes as a relief to a coaching staff.
“The only casualty we had, Jack Kraus, sprained his ankle playing volleyball in Honduras,” he said. “Whether it was an intense volleyball game or beach experience, I don’t know. But to get out of it with just that — and he’s going to be able to practice — we don’t have any issues.”
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville linebacker Dre
Greenlaw, who is still recuperating from foot surgery after his injury in the Belk Bowl, and tight end Grayson Gunter (shoulder surgery) will be the most limited players in the spring.
Bielema said the change in defensive philosophy to a base three-man front under new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads will be a big emphasis in the spring. He called the defensive playbook a “total transition,” with new assistants John Scott and Chad Walker having input along with Rhoads and holdover assistant Vernon Hargreaves.
“I didn’t try to save anything from what we had,” Bielema said. “We may align in a front that looks exactly like a front we used a year ago, but we’ll call it something totally different. We may have a coverage that we used a year ago, but it’ll be a
different verbiage, a different language, a different Hoganese.”
The Razorbacks ranked 94th nationally in rushing defense (205.5 yards per game), 58th in passing defense (221.2 ypg), 75th in total defense (426.6 ypg) and 85th in scoring defense (31.1 points per game) last year with a largely veteran front seven.
Bielema provided insight on how he and Rhoads came up with names to describe the outside linebacker spots in the new scheme.
“So our ‘Razor’ is kind of an outside linebacker that is more of a hybrid linebacker/ safety,” he said. “Our ‘Hog’ is more of an outside linebacker that is more of a linebacker hybrid D-lineman. So they’re two different type of guys.
“Some look alike and some look different, but their purpose and their function is a little bit different.”
Bielema said the inside linebacker spots still would go by the names “Mike” and “Will,” as they have in the past.
On offense, with firsttime starting quarterback Austin Allen operating in second-year coordinator Dan Enos’ system, the Razorbacks ranked 54th nationally in total offense (428.4 ypg), 32nd in passing (264.2 ypg), 77th in rushing (164.2 ypg) and 57th in scoring (30.3 points per game).
Asked what some of the key areas of focus would be this spring, Bielema said, “There’s no doubt in my mind for the first time in my coaching career there’s a little different expectation on both sides of the ball.
“We’re in year three of Dan’s offense, and I think that has helped our kids for the most part.”
Bielema said several offensive players — such as center Frank Ragnow, Allen, running back Rawleigh Williams, receiver Jared Cornelius and tight end Austin Cantrell — have a good grasp of the plan, and it’s imperative to bring everyone else along.
“Defensively, we’re just trying to … find out if we’ve got the guys in the right spots, and figure out what they do best,” he said. “The communication really needs to be solid. We need to emphasize we’re putting in the fundamentals to build a great foundation.
“Whereas on offense we can take a peek at what we did well in the past and what we didn’t do well and move forward.”
In roster news, Bielema said tight end Anthony Antwine and receiver D’Vone McClure had elected to leave the program.