FAYETTEVILLE -- Marcus Woodson likes what Arkansas has in the back end of the secondary with the opening game less that three weeks away.
Following Monday's practice, Woodson met with the beat writers who cover the Hogs and talked about the back end of Arkansas' secondary.
"In terms of the backend with the personnel, it’s some musical chairs that’s being played right now," Woodson said. "The main thing is finding the best pieces of the puzzle to make the main picture be what we need it to be when the 11 take the field for the Hogs’ defense.
"Just a few names, Jayden Johnson, he’s having a phenomenal camp. His consistency has really increased from last year. Jayden has become an extension of the coaching staff and that’s what you want to see. Funny thing yesterday in meetings, Coach (Deron) Wilson is up explaining something to Selman (Bridges), he was just listening instead of taking notes. You see Jayden in the back taps his notebook and tells him to write. That means the leadership is really heading in the right direction from his standpoint and that’s what we need.
Hudson Clark is Mr. Consistency as well. He’s one that understands the big picture of what we’re doing on defense, so you can play him in different positions and he helps other guys get lined up. TJ Metcalf, if there’s such thing as most improved from last year to this year, it would be TJ Metcalf. He’s had a phenomenal camp, he’s a self motivated individual and that’s what you like to see as a coach and he shows up to get better every day.
"Larry Worth is another guy that we are moving around at different positions on the backend to see what he does best. Some of the things we’re asking him to do at the Hog position specifically, he’s done at the last institution. But, there’s also some things that we’re asking him to do that he wasn’t asked to do and that’s his biggest area of improvement and pretty much has been able to cover a slot man to man. He wasn’t asked to do that a lot, he is improving in that area tremendously and catching on to how we do things at Arkansas.
"Let me see, (Doneiko) Slaughter, he’s another that’s penciled in at Hog but you will see him play some safety as well with different personnels. He played corner at his last institution, so he gives you some position flexibility with his skill set. He’s also very smart as well. He’s someone that’s played a lot of ball. He came in and he’s a student of the game. It’s three things that we tell the players that they need to do when they’re not in the building. That’s rehab, that’s sleep and that’s studying. One thing that is very obvious is he’s studying when he’s not in the building. He retains meetings, he takes the meeting to the field and he provides the leadership that we need as well. Then, we got some young guys that’s doing some good things as well. Miguel Mitchell is really smart as well and he’s coming along also. So, I’m really excited about the depth that we have at the safety position as well as the Hog, and we just got to continue to make the strides to head in the right direction. We do not have starters, we have standards. I think you guys heard that from Coach Wilson in his interview and that’s the we-and-us type of mentality that we have to have in the secondary because we’re going to play a lot of people."
Anthony Switzer, former standout at Marion who also played two years with Arkansas State before transferring to Utah State and then Arkansas, is playing linebacker, safety and the Hog.
"[Anthony], he's going to be more of a second level player in the air force," Woodson said. "He can go from the penny to money, and he's a guy that that is very intelligent, has a high football IQ, but he's going to be more on the second level than the third level. Now that we understand his strengths and things that he does best because we want to put him in position to be successful. But you're talking about a difference maker addition to the defense. That's him. He's a student of the game. He'd love football. Uh, he's passionate about it. I mean, when he's on the field, you have to tell him to slow down rather than speed up. As a coach, that's the kind of player you want."
Including the cornerbacks which he and Deron Wilson coach along with the back end, Woodson was asked if he feels good about the depth?
"Absolutely, I do," Woodson said. "We are developing the the twos and the threes just as much as we are the ones. And to me, that's a reflection of your coaching ability. It's having the guys that not only are the starters prepared, but the guys that have to come in and relieve them for whatever reason. And I'm really impressed with the depth that we have as of right now, but we still have a long way to go between now and the first game."
The transfer portal has changed college football. Woodson talked about on Monday what he has learned about recruiting the transfer portal.
"Well, how important the character evaluation is with finding out who the player is," Woodson said. "It obviously starts with the film, what we look at to see if he fits from a player perspective, but then once we contact and do our research in terms of the evaluation, the character part matters. There were several guys that we could have brought in from a player’s perspective that we thought were good enough, but once we did a character evaluation, we decided to in a different direction.
"So I think we did a great job in terms of finding the right fit. That’s really what I learned through the portal, is that you’ve got to recruit guys who believe in the team — we and us. Football is the ultimate team sport. You’re dealing with hundreds of young men as well as staff and administration, so it can’t be an ‘I’ and ‘me’ type of person. It has to be a ‘we’ and ‘us,’ and we brought in guys who are selfless, who are willing to play whatever role that we need within the team to help us be successful. So again, it’s the player, but the person matters just as much."
Arkansas opens the season on Thursday, Aug. 29, in Little Rock against UAPB at 6:30 p.m. and on ESPNU."
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
