Carmona finds line between being bad man, bad teammate

Hogs' offensive lineman blurs line between edgy, tough, and making dumb decisions

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive lineman Fernando Carmona during drills during preseason practices in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas preseason All-american offensive lineman Fernando Carmona knows he has acquired a bit of a reputation for walking tightly down the line where extreme competitive edge ends and being a full blown jerk on the football field begins.

He fully embraces it.

If his comments on former Razorbacks tight end DJ Williams' "4th and 5" podcast didn't make it crystal clear, he further snapped his stance into full focus on ESPN's "Paul Finebaum Show" a couple of weeks later. He is a master of the game that's always going on each Saturday, but only a few get to see and hear.

"Oh, definitely there's, there's a lot of smack talk going on, you know, but that's just kind of the game inside the game," Carmona told Finebaum Monday afternoon. "You obviously want to sometimes get in your opponent's head, get that little edge, but you got to do it the right way, obviously, and but also stay composed into your own game. But you know, there definitely is some talking in this league, and it's fun. I love it."

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive lineman Fernando Carmona during drills during preseason practices in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Of course those who follow Carmona, especially his career at Arkansas, are aware that his side-game goes much further than just a little trash talk. It has a physical aspect too that is driven by a deep devotion to the people his is charged with protecting and there is no difference as to whether it's during practice, a game or even potential danger generated by his own teammates.

"I take great pride [in protecting] my wide receivers, my running backs, my quarterbacks," Carmona told Williams. "I make sure, whether it be practice, games or whatever it may be, nobody's gonna be doing anything extra to them. And if they are, we're gonna address it.

"That's kind of something that I say in the in the offensive line room. We're not going to take any type of [expletive] from anybody. Whether it be our own defense, I'm going to address this situation. People are going to respect our running backs, our quarterbacks and our wide receivers."

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive lineman Fernando Carmona during drills during preseason practices in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Carmona's changed

There's certainly been an evolution for Carmona, whether it be his mind, body, or even sport of choice. Just a few years ago, he was trying to find his way through life as a fun-loving, wise-cracking basketball player who was built as hardcourt athletes of any quality should be.

However, on a whim his junior season of high school, Carmona decided to give football a try. The connection was instant, although his body meant he was far from his destiny.

Instead, he took on opportunities at tight end and was naturally gifted enough to make somewhat of a name for himself.

"Football, honestly, was a later part of my life," Carmona said. "My dad was a high school coach all throughout my young upraising. So I was around, you know, football, the locker room, and all that good jazz, but I didn't start playing until my junior year of high school. I was a basketball player. I had the hoop dream. But I think about my junior year, I realized, you know, I wasn't really a hooper, and went out to the football field, fell in love. And, you know, the rest is kind of history from there."

Fitting the bill

And it was a history that needed room to grow. He arrived at San Jose State as a 6-foot-4, 220 pound tight end, a far cry from the 325 pound mass of spit and vinegar he would become a few years later in the SEC at Arkansas.

"Yeah, it was a real simple diet," Carmona said, laughing at the thought of what it took to add 50% of his beginning body weight for a chance at success in college football. "Not the best diet, but lots of Panda, lots of Ben and Jerry's, just bad bulk. It was a bad bulk. And I think for like, the past two years, I've been trying to, you know, slim, off some of that bad fat and turn that into muscle. And I think it's honestly been working out for me."

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive lineman Fernando Carmona during drills during preseason practices in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Crafting the mental side

However, a guy wearing a hole into a couch in California while cramming pints of ice cream into his face doesn't exactly scream SEC mentality. Playing in the trenches in the most physical league in all of college football is taxing in every way possible.

"I found out last season that a true SEC game in the trenches is a true war," Carmona said. "I got beat up pretty bad at Auburn, and you know, it's like that week in and week out. There's something different. When you put on that patch, that SEC patch, and you see the opponent across you that has SEC patch up, because, you know, we're all trying to prove something to each other, and in the trenches, it's just, you know, these players are bigger, faster, stronger, and it's a true battle each and every play.

"And you know, once you're done with the game, it feels like you've been in five different car crashes and you can barely move. But, next week, you got to go right back out there, because you got another first rounder ahead of you. So it's a true battle each and every week in this in this conference. But I wouldn't want to any other way."

However, he was never going to reach his full potential if he didn't learn to be more than just physically tough. His demeanor could stay the same off the field, but serious changes were needed once inside the stadium.

"At the beginning of my career, I was that funny, goofy guy, nice guy on the field, and it took me a while to learn I gotta channel and flip that switch when I hit the field," Carmona said. "And my first coach at San Jose helped me a lot, showing me how to channel that anger and that attitude of being a lineman, then off the field, just playing it, be free, having fun."

Finding the line

The trouble for Carmona has been establishing when enough is enough. Exactly where that line is between doing what's right for a teammate and hurting the team can get blurry, and it becomes even more confusing depending on whether it's being viewed from a fan's perspective or a fellow Razorback.

In the second quarter against LSU with the Hogs down 16-7, shortly after the whistle, Tigers' linebacker Whit Weeks slung receiver Andrew Armstrong across the field where he crumpled at the feet of Carmona. Instantly, the offensive lineman closed the gap of several yards between himself and Weeks.

What he didn't realize was he had the entire rest of his unit falling in line behind them as they went to deliver a clear message to Weeks they weren't going to tolerate their teammates being treated like that. This was a case of where most of Arkansas likely would have been fine if the activities would have escalated a little, resulting in a penalty, so long as Weeks knew the Hogs weren't going to be bullied and he knew he was now the featured entree on tonight's menu.

At a different point in the season, the view of fans and teammates didn't align quite as well with Carmona, at least not at first. Up 14-3 in the bowl game against Texas Tech while backed up inside the Hogs' own five, Carmona gets a penalty for checking a defender who was standing over running back Braylen Russell on the sideline.

Fans saw the penalty flag in tight quarters and became upset at the lack of control, or what they probably screamed at their television "Stupid penalties! Just plain dumb!" However, Williams listed it was one of his favorite plays Carmona made last year because he was seeing it as a teammate.

Williams backed the tape up and showed the defender pop up and try to bow up on Russell. Instead of his moment to disgracing the freshman, he got popped on the shoulder pads by Carmona instead, immediately helping the young man have a sudden change in perspective on where the dominant force resided on the field.

"Little man, No. 12, he stands up over him, right," Williams narrates over the clip. "He starts standing up, he's talking stuff, he's taunting your guy. All right, your guy's on the ground. You got this guy over here feeling all big and bad, then he decides to taunt. And that's when you come in with a nice little 'Get up off my guy,' you know what I mean?"

However, even with the support, Carmona is uncomfortable drawing the penalty, even if it felt like the right thing to do in the moment to maintain the Hogs' mental edge over Texas Tech while letting Russell know he had his back.

"I try to stay away from penalties," Carmona said. "I like to kind of teeter that line as much as possible, but definitely got to be smarter, especially something like that where it's early in the game ... You're not going to make a highlight out of standing over my guy right then and there. But, I gotta refrain from the penalties and I gotta be smarter ... but at the end of the day, I'm taking care of my guys till I die."

However, the play Carmona regrets the most, the one that most firmly earned his reputation for skirting the lines of edgy tough guy and dirty player, came without a penalty. At least not on the field.

Video from the Liberty Bowl showed Carmona take a moment to intentionally step on the ankle of Texas Tech's CJ Baskerville. while undetected by referees It was a bad look and a moment for which Carmona offers no excuse.

"You got to flip that switch to a certain extent," Carmona said. "And so, you know, it's kind of always been a problem for me. You know, being able to find that fine line and that clip I'm not proud about at all. And, you know, never happen again."

Finding his proper growth

There are two moments, one featured in each interview, that show Carmona has found the proper balance of edge to push not only his career, but the Arkansas football program, forward significantly. The first is an interaction observed by Williams at practice this past spring.

"Y'all all line up, and you go through this drill, and the guys who are the ones go up, and they knock out the drill," Williams said. "Then the twos go up. At this point, you're like, 'Okay, you just saw how it's done. Don't mess it up.' Then the threes get up, and then a couple of those guys were struggling, and Coach Eric Mateos, was about to say something, but you were the one who stepped up and said, "Hey guys, this is [expletive]! Lock in, tighten up, take these drills serious." I mean that's awesome to see that the leadership is coming from within the team."

The second moment came when there was an obvious mental switch of how Carmona sees himself and the Razorbacks program live on television. Much has been made of late, especially when talking about all the effort to point out how tough the Hogs' schedule is, about the need for this to be a team of men who happen to the world rather than being told over and over to react to it as it happens to them.

Monday afternoon, Carmona chose to happen to the world.

"You know, hopefully you will be talking to me more," Carmona said in response to Finebaum suggesting if the Hogs can truly turn things around, there will be value in having the lineman on more this fall.

"Actually, no," Carmona said after a thoughtful pause. "You will be talking to me more. We got a good team and you're gonna see this year the Hogs are coming different."