Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Focus on defense
The Arkansas football team did not play with a dominant defensive front last season as the team was taking steps forward as a whole, but new defensive line coach Jermial Ashley will be tasked to help concoct a better pass rush and be a positive force in player development.
FAYETTEVILLE — Isaiah Nichols has started his fourth year on the defensive line for the University of Arkansas.
The redshirt junior defensive tackle from Springdale High School is on his fourth different position coach as an elder statesman in his room.
Jermial Ashley is the new top voice in the defensive line room, and it’s an authoritative one. Not only does Ashley, a former defensive end at Kansas, look like he can still play, he has a command presence about himself. Like he could join a team of professional wrestlers tomorrow and make a splash.
As head coach Sam Pittman dropped in on the defensive line during position drills in Thursday’s eighth practice of spring drills, he called out so everyone could hear, “You guys have a great coach right here!”
Ashley needs to be great. While the entire program was taking steps forward with a 3-7 record against all SEC competition last year, the Razorbacks did not play with a dominant defensive front.
Defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall flashed his power and his quick twitch for a big man from time to time, and the Razorbacks notched the occasional sack, but the group was not overpowering.
And now Marshall is gone, leaving fans to wonder how the 2021 unit will hold up.
Ashley is here to help concoct a better pass rush and be a positive force in player development. Pittman said on the SEC Network he believes there are steady pass rushers to be found in the Hogs’ defensive line room. Who will they be?
Ashley follows the succession of defensive line coaches — John Scott in 2018; Kenny Ingram in 2019; Derrick LeBlanc in 2020 — who have worked with Nichols and company.
“We’ve done tremendous,” Nichols said Thursday. “Coach Ashley has come in, he’s coaching us up good. We’re getting in the backfield and making some plays.”
A scan of the practice fields during team periods on Thursday showed several passes batted down at the line of scrimmage by defensive linemen. That’s quality technique and a skill that was not in abundance in 2020.
“I think he brings good intensity and a standard,” Nichols said of Ashley. “He has a standard about how he wants things done, and the way he wants things done. But he coaches in a way that’s easy to understand.”
Nichols added it was “different” having a new position coach every year of his college career.
“But you know I’ve been able to pull something from each one of them,” he said. “And I think Coach Ashley is doing a great job. He’s definitely developed me as a player in this short amount of practices that I’ve had. He’s developed me more and I’ve been understanding the game better.”
Ashley and the Tulsa defense had success running three-man fronts in recent years, and the Razorbacks are scheming to make much more use of that base front in 2021. Arkansas, with Barry Odom coordinating the unit, is also widening its ends some with the intent of having better pass-rushing space, hopefully not at the expense of creating interior creases in the run game.
Nichols recognizes the front must evolve for the Razorbacks to climb the SEC ladder.
“Everybody is just locked in and everybody is on the same page,” Nichols said. “We want to be successful. We can’t have, especially in this conference, you can’t have a good team without a good D-line.
“We’ve talked about that and we have that on our minds, to come in here every day trying to get better, trying to do our job, making it easier for the guys behind us.”
The Razorbacks have five players back on their front with solid starting experience. End Mataio Soli has 12 career starts, followed by end Eric Gregory (7), Nichols (7), and ends Zach Williams (4) and Dorian Gerald (4).
In Thursday’s practice, sophomore Jashaud Stewart took reps with the starting unit, along with Nichols at tackle and Gregory at end.
Asked what he thought Stewart had done to claim the first-team work, Nichols said, “I think his work ethic. If you look at him on the field, you notice him on the field. You see how fast he plays and how explosive he is off the ball.
“We’ve been trying to talk about working hands. He has a lot of potential. I’m excited to see how he develops over the years.”
Gregory and Nichols have both talked about end Eric Thomas making improvement during the spring.
“He’s working the edge pretty good, stiffening his hips and shoulders on pass rushes,” Gregory said recently. “Our two-minute drill he has done pretty good rushing the quarterback.”
Nichols talked up multiple defensive linemen.
“I could see with Soli and Eric Thomas and Jashaud, and the list goes on: TC [Taurean Carter], Enoch [Jackson],” he said. “Everybody is just locked in and everybody is on the same page. We want to be successful.”
Nichols has been encouraged to be more of a leader for the younger players this spring.
“I’ve been working on that a lot, trying to bring guys with me,” Nichols said. “They see my work ethic — and a lot of the guys work hard and we’re a hard-working group — so I’ve been trying to be more vocal and telling Eric Gregory, TC, [Dorian Gerald], like, step up, say stuff. If you see something that’s wrong, say something about it and encourage these guys.”
Nichols, listed this spring at 6-3, 281 pounds, said he’s trying to add muscular weight to better withstand the pushing from 300-pound linemen.
“When you get to the NFL, everybody is 300 unless you’re an edge rusher, so I think definitely putting some weight on and getting stronger in the weight room and just building solid muscle,” he said.
“This year I want to play more in the backfield. I’ve got a little experience under my belt, more than last year, so I just want to use the experience that I’ve been through and all the games that I’ve played and use that to motivate me to get better. Playing in the backfield, that’s what we do as defensive linemen.”