Morris says he will not decide on starting QB until August
FAYETTEVILLE — Good friends off the field, Arkansas Razorback quarterbacks Ty Storey and Cole Kelley say they almost cannot remember a time when they were not battling each other for playing time.
As expected, fourth-year junior Storey, of Charleston, and third-year sophomore Kel-
ley, of Lafayette, La., lead the quarterback battle in Arkansas’ spring drills to replace graduated starter Austin Allen. New coach Chad Morris said he will not designate the starting quarterback until after preseason practices commence in August.
Storey was the nominal backup to Allen in 2016, when Kelley redshirted his first season on campus. Kelley served as the backup last year and started four games when Allen was injured.
“I’ve been here before,” Kelley said on Thursday. “Me and Ty both have. I think we both push each other every day and I know I wouldn’t be the player I am today if I didn’t have a guy like Ty to battle with, for sure.”
Storey said the battle with Kelley for the starting spot is not any different than jockeying for the backup role.
“It’s college football,” Storey said. “If you’re here, you’re going to be battling. Everybody is battling. It just comes down continuing to get better every day.”
Former head coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Dan Enos no longer make the decisions for the Razorbacks. They were replaced by new head coach Chad Morris from SMU and his offensive coordinator, Joe Craddock, who was a graduate assistant at Clemson when Morris was the offensive coordinator for the Tigers.
“I went to watch film of him at Clemson with Tajh Boyd,” Kelley said. “Tajh Boyd is one of the top-three quarterbacks I’ve ever loved in college.”
Storey said practicing Morris’ hurry-up offense reminded him of his high school days under coach Greg Kendrick.
“It’s very similar to what we did in Charleston,” Storey said. “I know coach Kendrick actually went to, I think it was, Clemson when (Morris) was there and got similar stuff. We use a lot of it. So, it’s really cool to see the similarities to what we did in high school to what we are doing now.”
Storey was asked if he felt the coaching changes benefited him after losing out to Kelley for the backup role in 2017.
“I think it’s good for a lot of people,” Storey said. “I mean, the last staff, I’m not saying anything bad about them. We had some great years and learned a lot from those guys. But it’s definitely a new start.”
Storey said he has spent years improving his throwing motion and working with a former college and NFL quarterback in Texas.
“I’ve gotten a lot of work with several coaches,” Storey said. “I’ve been going out to Dallas and Zac Robinson has really been helping me a lot,” Storey said. “He gave me drills to go through and then coach Craddock also. He has been helping me so much.
“I really appreciate those guys and everything they’ve done for me. In high school, I wasn’t worried about any kind of motion. I was just playing football. To a certain point, that’s still what you’ve got to do but in the offseason it’s cool to go back and try to do the technical things you need to do to get a little bit better.”
Morris and Craddock assessed the quarterbacks’ performances after the team’s most recent scrimmage.
“We watched the film and, obviously, there is some stuff to improve on and some good stuff,” Storey said. “All of us are just trying to take what they say that we did bad and try to improve on that and take what they said good and just try and roll with what they tell us to do.”
“I thought it went well,” Craddock said. “Considering the (rainy) conditions, the way they were, I thought we did some really good things. We’ve got to eliminate some penalties. We’ve got to take care of the football a little bit better in the rain. But all in all, considering the conditions, I thought it was pretty good.”
Craddock said the quarterbacks are performing well.
“They’re really studying the playbook and really learning,” Craddock said. “They’re all doing a really, really good job. Cole has had his best three practices here recently and, hopefully, he’ll continue to build on that.
“He’s pushing those other guys, but they’re also pushing him. So, it’s really a good competition right now. They’re doing everything we’re asking them to do. In the meetings, whenever we ask them a question, everyone of them can pretty much spit out the answer.”