Linebacker makes most of late looks

Ninth in a series highlighting newcomers to the Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Arkansas Razorbacks freshman linebacker Andrew Parker is driven to be the best, and the results show on and off the field.

He recorded 107 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles and 1 recovered fumble while rushing for 275 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries as a high school senior. He also finished with a 3.9 grade- point average while taking honor classes.

“I always want to be the best at everything,” he said. “I make sure I don’t put any limitations on myself. That’s always been the goal. I always

want to be number one.”

Parker, 6-2, 225 pounds, 4.56 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Sophie B. Wright High School in New Orleans, committed to the Razorbacks on Jan. 21.

He earned the academics excellence award at a school that pushes its students.

“They hold us to a higher standard and make sure we give the absolute best we can give,” Parker said. “They want to see us do great, not only athletically, but they want me to be great academically. I’m really grateful for that award because it really means a lot to me.”

DeCarlos Holmes was the coach at Sophie Wright the past two years before recently being named the new coach at Washington-Marion in Lake Charles, La. He said Parker’s long days demonstrated his determination to succeed.

“Andrew used to catch the bus at 5 in the morning to get to school at 7: 30,” Holmes said. “Then he had the evening time practice at 5:306 o’clock, and he wouldn’t get home until 8:30 to 9 o’clock because he was catching public transportation. You talk about a kid that’s dedicated and wants to be the best.”

It appeared Parker wouldn’t achieve his goal of playing Power 5 football. Sophie Wright didn’t field a football team until 2010, and college coaches rarely stopped by the school. Defensive coordinator John Chavis knew about Parker while at Texas A&M.

“Thank God Coach Chavis went to Arkansas,” Holmes said. “I sent Andrew’s film to him when he was at Texas A&M, and he told me to just give him a minute, and about three weeks passed and he got to Fayetteville and that’s the first kid he came to see.”

Parker’s dreams to play at the highest level wasn’t just for him.

“I use to wake up and watch college football on Saturday mornings, Saturday evenings,” Parker said. “I always aspired to do that because I always wanted to make my family proud, parents proud and the kids in my school proud, because they’ve never seen a guy go Power 5 before.”

He admits to having doubts about playing on the Power 5 level.

“At the time, did I get discouraged?” Parker said. “Yes, I did get discouraged. I feel like everybody gets discouraged. I knew I was good enough to play at all levels of college football. I backed myself up with the numbers due to our school being under the radar, and we weren’t actually known for the standard. It was actually tough for me to get recognized, but I kept

pushing.”

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Chad Morris officially hired Chavis on Jan. 9, and Chavis soon made his way to Sophie Wright during the January contact period.

“When Coach Chavis came to the school, it was one of the biggest moments of my life,” Parker said.

Parker, who arrived in Fayetteville in late May for the first summer session of school, received the scholarship offer from the Hogs on Jan. 12, then made an official visit to Fayetteville from Jan. 19-21. He pledged to the Razorbacks after his visit on the 21st over offers from Georgetown, McNeese State and Houston Baptist.

Soon after his commitment, Texas, Texas A& M, TCU, Colorado State and Ole Miss extended offers. He made an official visit to Texas on Feb. 2-4 with national signing day set for Feb. 7.

“When I went to Texas, they knew they had the flashes,” Parker said. “You know a pretty big city. Texas was actually number one in my major, computer engineering. I knew that going there, I was like, ‘Wow man, this is a pretty big experience here for me.’ They tried their best to persuade me.”

Several factors kept him loyal to Arkansas, including his belief in Morris, Chavis and safeties coach Ron Cooper, who recruits Louisiana. Parker said he also had a desire to play in the SEC.

“I wanted to play in the SEC where coaches can develop me and continue to help me get better and help me achieve goals I wanted to

achieve,” Parker said.

For the 12th year in a row in 2018, the SEC had the most players picked in the NFL Draft with 53. The Big 12 had 20 this year and 14 the year before.

“The Big 12 sends the least amount of guys to the league every year,” Parker said. “That’s definitely not something I was looking forward to. I want to go against the best of the best, and I wanted to know I had some of the best coaches in the country preparing us for games.”

The ability to develop his skills for the NFL also swayed him to Fayetteville.

“I knew Texas probably wasn’t the best opportunity because the Big 12 is a passing league, and the SEC is a more balanced league,” he said. “They’re going to throw the ball, and they’re going to run the ball. The Big 12, I would be dropping and be a DB more than anything.”

Holmes said Parker has the most upside of any player he’s coached in 18 years.

“One, he’s never been taught how to play linebacker,” Holmes said. “Two, he’s such a great student. And three, he’s a great student of the game.”

While an assistant at East Mississippi Community College, Holmes coached former Alabama and Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Jarran Reed. He also coached several others that played in the SEC while coaching high school.

“He could be better than all those guys because of his work ethic and how smart he is on the field,” Holmes said. “His best football is ahead of him.”

Parker