Hatcher emerges as senior leader in Razorbacks’ receiving corps
FAYETTEVILLE — At Arizona and Kansas State, Michael Smith previously coached receivers with far more admirable stats than Keon Hatcher’s Arkansas stats.
However, Smith would seem hardpressed to have coached a receiver for whom his admiration grew more than it has grown regarding Hatcher heading into their third year together.
They have meshed together after first being thrown together.
Smith reported to Arkansas in 2013 as the new receivers coach for new coach Bret Bielema and Bielema’s run- oriented offense.
Hatcher, recruited out of Owasso, Okla., for Bobby Petrino’s pass- oriented offense, had spent 2012 catching only three passes in 10 games for the 4- 8 Razorbacks with Petrino fired the previous spring and John L. Smith coaching the interim.
Now Hatcher, emotionally and in performance up and down though promising with 27 catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns for a 3- 9 team in 2013, evolved into a team- high 43 receptions for 558 yards and six touchdowns for the 7- 6 Hogs in 2014.
For 2015 he’s counted upon as a team leader off the field as much as on it.
“Just proud of the guy, man,” Smith said. “To watch him from his sophomore year, my first year with him, to where he is now is night and day. I am not just talking about football. I am talking about him as a person, him
as a teammate and just a man. He has come a long way and has done some tremendous things for this team. He is a key part of our room right now.”
Bielema also spent much of 2013 challenging Hatcher. Now it’s all praise. “A superstar,” Bielema said recently of Hatcher, and not just as a receiver.
Bielema and Smith say their top senior receiver leads the other receivers like a player- coach.
The young receivers concur. Sophomores like Jared Cornelius assert their improved consistency during the August preseason extends from the top down.
“Keon Hatcher is doing a great job of leading us first of all,” Cornelius said. “The whole receiving room kind of flows off of him.”
On newly arrived junior college transfer speedster receiver Dominique Reed getting oriented, senior starting quarterback Brandon Allen said, “Keon is taking him under his wing.”
Hatcher has even led his young teammates away from Twitter, an almost unfathomable path in this age of social media. “Football and school, those are the two main things,” Hatcher said. “All that extra stuff doesn’t need to be seen. Just do what you’re supposed to and focus on the game.” Getting his own focus in focus obviously was a process. “We had to go through a couple of things,” Hatcher said. “But you have to go through the rain to get to the sunshine.” And now? “Just handling my business,” Hatcher said. “I have got all my priorities in order and doing what I am supposed to be doing and doing them to the best of my abilities.”
Those abilities for himself and especially his team obviously improved winning three of the last four in the 7- 6 2014 but didn’t approach the best to come, Hatcher said.
“We had a pretty good finish to last season, but we are not where we want to be,” Hatcher said “We went 7- 6 last year. We have got to keep grinding and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”