Fan favorite fits mold, now up to Hogs coach Ryan Silverfield to make scheme fit him

Lassiter has star potential if new Arkansas Razorbacks staff willing to utilize his full potential

Arkansas Razorbacks tight end Maddox Lassiter at spring practice on outdoor practice fields in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When it came to Arkansas fullback Maddox Lassiter, there was never a question as to whether he was going to leave the Hogs football program.

He's old school when it comes to locally grown products. The former Warren Lumberjack spent his life dreaming of being a Razorback and there was nothing that was going to keep him from living out that dream.

He was a multi-time All-State talent for legendary coach Bo Hembree as a dominant quarterback and linebacker. He threw for over 2,200 yards and 23 touchdowns while also running for over 1,000 yards and another 15 touchdowns in addition to leading the Lumberjacks in tackles.

Warren Lumberjacks quarterback Maddox Lassiter running against the DeWitt Dragons in a game from 2022 as a senior. He's now the No. 2 tight end for the Arkansas Razorbacks going into Liberty Bowl against Texas Tech. | Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

Yet, when it came time to go to college, the only path to being a Razorback meant giving up both positions and walking on. It should have been a tough decision with other offers on the table that didn't require so much change.

It didn't matter though. While it wasn't the case in the Houston Nutt era when Division I talent at Warren went everywhere but Arkansas early in Hembree's tenure, a long line of Lumberjacks becoming stars in Fayetteville began to form beginning with receivers Jarius Wright, Greg Childs and tight end Chris Gragg.

If Lassister neeeded to change to fit the scheme at Arkansas, then so be it. Now, once again, he faced a decision as to whether he should consider other options or stick around with the Razorbacks and hope there was something new he could evolve into to fit the plan for the next coach.

Fortunately for him, his new coach, Ryan Silverfield, is a little more flexible than the previous two head coaches who insisted on Lassiter learn to play tight end followed by what has been a highly successful stint as a bruising fullback who is not allowed to carry the ball despite his success as a skilled runner in high school.

See, as Silverfield expressed in a recent interview with Fox 16's Courtney Mims, his philosophy on offense is to evaluate the talent on the team and build his scheme around what he sees. As anyone who has watched Razorbacks football over the past two seasons can attest, success, especially in the running game, comes with a heavy dose of Lassiter plowing the way to opportunity on offense.

"Any head coach who's not willing to change their scheme based off personnel, shame on them," Silverfield said. "It's about their ego. And I think one of the reasons why everybody says, 'Ryan, why'd you have sustained success? Right?' Every year wasn't perfect at Memphis, but you know, from an offensive standpoint, over the last 10 years, really, if you balance it all out, measure it all out, probably a Top 10 offense, when it's all said and done for 10 years, and that's consistency.

"Different quarterbacks, right? Every year, different things, different guys, different systems, but we have to fit the scheme around our players."

That's a big reason why it was even easier for Lassister to make the call as one of the first to publicly state he's coming back to the team. The question is whether Silverfield can expand on the natural gifts the fullback already has that haven't been seen yet.

Will the new regime put the ball in his hands from time to time to change how defenses play when it comes to the run game? Is it possible Lassister gets used more like former Arkansas star Peyton Hillis and sneak out on passing routes every now and then?

Is it possible to find a way for a fullback to throw a pass, both schematically and with the larger shoulder pads under consideration? If so, which game warrants such a surprise as most of the SEC has surely forgotten by now how gifted Lassiter is at throwing the ball.

"We have to fit the scheme around our players," Silverfield said. "Now, ideally, if we're able to line up and run the ball down somebody's throat for 80% of time the game, we're going to do that. If they're going to load the box and take that away, then we're going to pass the ball 80% of time.

". . . That's the great thing about this offense. We've got to be flexible for what we have. Does this call for two tight ends in this? Do we have three tight ends? Do we have two skill lighter running backs? Do we play with the fullback? I'm going to match it with our personnel. We've got plenty of scheme and X's and O's. I'm not worried about that. It's about finding the right personnel that fit ultimately what we want to do. But, whatever we end up with now, bending the scheme and shaping around what they're capable of doing."

Of course, the next logical question is what type of players would be around Lassiter in a scheme that takes best advantage of him.

"We're going to find a lot of speed around here," Silverfield said. "There's plenty of the speed in this region, for sure. But ultimately, they're going to play for the name on the front just as much as the name on the back, and we're going to bring that pride back about it.

"And you have the opportunity when you get to sit with a group face-to-face, or a current player, and say, 'Okay, tell me what really gets you going. What's your why?' And you can look them in the eye, and as long as they don't say, 'Hey, the first thing is money,' then maybe you got a chance."

However, aside from personal culture and speed, this new crop of Razorbacks will need to prove they have the ability to move quickly in every manner possible regardless of physical measurements.

"[If] they don't move real well, they can't play," Silverfield said. "They can't play in the SEC. They can't play in Division III. If they don't move well, and they can't bend and don't have the flexibility, they can't play football at Arkansas.

". . . We don't need a bunch of 360, pound O-linemen who can't move. Can they bend? Are they able to run the variety of schemes that we're going to run. Can they pass protect? So, listen, each person's individualized, right? Yeah, if it's a 6-foot-8, 330 pound offense tackle, that's great, but I don't need the six-foot, 228 pound corner, right? That guy's probably not going to move as smooth as you want."

On the defensive side of the ball, players will also need to have plenty of speed, but also need a high level of aggression. They need to enjoy hitting people.

"We need guys that can run in the secondary," Silverfield said. "I think that's part of it, right? Guys [who] are willing to be physical, but guys that can [also] run. I don't want to sit there and say, 'Oh, we can't match up with this receiver because we don't the speed.' No! Shame on us! That means we didn't do our job of either retaining the right type of player or going out and getting those guys.

". . . We're going to be aggressive. We're going to attack. I think a lot of people want to sit there and say, 'Yeah, no, we're just kind of set back and be a bend, don't break defensive BS.' Now we're going to get after some people."

Of course, there's already one Razorback who is perfectly fine with being aggressive, loves hitting people and has flexibility and good movement. The question going into camp this spring is simply how Silverfield plans to maximize Lassiter as a player who clearly fits what he's looking for in a player.

As a fan favorite, he certainly already fits what Hogs fans are looking for. Now, they're just counting on Silverfield to turn him into a star along the lines of Hillis and former Hogs running back turned fullback Barry Foster, with his skills fully utilized.