FAYETTEVILLE -- When Ryan Silverfield came over from Memphis to become head coach of the Razorbacks he brought offensive line coach Jeff Myers with him and also hired Marcus Johnson from Ohio State.

The two share duties on the offensive line. But Silverfield also brought redshirt junior Malachi Breland, 6-5, 332, and redshirt freshman Josiah Clemons, 6-7, 340, to play on the offensive line. Myers said he talked to Breland when recruiting him to become a Razorback.

“Yeah, well, I kind of joked with Malachi when we recruited him to come over here, and I told him, ‘You're gonna have a leg up on everybody because you know the system. You know all the drills, you know what it's supposed to look like, you know what the expectation is and the style of play and kind of edge that we want to have,'" Myers said. "But I said, ‘But the next step for you and your development, like you need to come in here with an edge. You come here with a chip on your shoulder.’ I think that's how he's approached it. I think every day he feels like he needs to prove himself to the SEC, you know what I mean?

"He's been playing really consistent football, but I think it's been easy for them to kind of jell because (Caden) Kitler’s played a lot of football — a very, very smart football player. You can tell that he's played a ton and sees the game really well. But it's funny, we were talking the other day like Kobe (Branham) and Kitler had an exchange on a twist, and you could tell they've been doing it. There's a lot of reps behind it, where sometimes it might be a little more choppy between Kobe and Bryant [Williams] as we continue to get comfortable next to each other. But yeah, I think having some guys in the room that know what you expect it to look like has helped, not necessarily push the message, but I think that they knew that they had to come in and prove themselves too."

Johnson also chimed in on the Memphis offensive linemen.

“And you know, even for me, seeing some of the things that specifically Malachi — because obviously Josiah is still a young player, you know, as a true freshman right now — but even just watching how Malachi takes command when it comes to communication," Johnson said. "It’s times he gets Kit on the right page again, because he's ahead in this system. But I see him communicating, or over communicating. Not only that, usually he's the first one in drills to be the example set in that room, you know what I mean? And even in the meeting room, usually, if a question is asked, he's one of the first ones to speak on it. Again, because he's lived it and been there. But in my opinion, being around the young man a short amount of time, I think he think he's done really well.”

Myers went into a little more detail on Clemons, who was a recruiting prize for them at Memphis.

"Yeah, I mean, we flipped Josiah from Mississippi State to Memphis," Myers said. "In my opinion, relationship. And when he entered the portal, he came here because of a relationship, you know. And I think that for him, we've stood on what we told him from day one, and I think that he trusts us and that we're looking out for, obviously, his development and his future. But yeah, when Jo got to us, 368 pounds Day 1 last June, and by the end of the season, I think the lowest he got was 326. He's kind of leveled out about 333, but when he walks in the room, I think a lot of people assume he's a fourth, fifth-year guy, and he's an 18-year old freshman.

"So he's still learning and man, I'll tell you, night-and-day different right now than he even was last fall. He is growing at a rapid rate. But I think that's our style of recruiting, though, relationships. You know, college football is crazy right now with the transfer portal and all the things that come into it. But, you know, I still feel like to develop or to build offensive line rooms, you have to do it with your kind of guys that believe in what we're doing, believe in the system, believe in the culture, but ultimately, are relationship driven. Like, if it's about a transaction, next guy. Not real interested in it, because, like, we want to find guys that love football. Because football, it's hard, like, day in and day out, like, it's hard to play offensive line, it's going to be hard to play it in the SEC. And so if guys are making decisions for really anything else other than their development, then they're making the wrong decision, in my opinion."

The Razorbacks will hold a closed scrimmage on Saturday.