'Little Details' Key For Razorback Special Teams, Says Lunsford

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Special teams in football are often overlooked and always important.

If Arkansas is going to defy the odds and win games in SEC play this year, they will have to excel in the third phase of the game.

Enter special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford, who served in the same position at Auburn last season and was the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2018-21.

Former Georgia Southern Eagles coach Chad Lunsford during the second quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium. | USA TODAY Sports

The 49-year-old from Elberton, Ga., who lost to Arkansas with Georgia Southern in 2021 and beat them with Auburn in 2025 is tasked with leading a special teams unit mostly made up of fresh faces.

"These first three days, I thought the guys have really come out, been intentional with what they're trying to do," Lunsford said Friday after Arkansas' third practice of fall camp. "We got a little ways to go, though, before we play a game. We gotta make sure we're honing in on some little details. I think we're moving in the right direction for sure. Fired up about our specialists."

Perhaps the most notable specialist in the Arkansas stable is placekicker Max Gilbert, who transferred to Fayetteville from Tennessee. Gilbert went 34-45 on field goals and a perfect 118-118 on PATs during his two years in Knoxville, which included a 1-1 record against Arkansas. He'll face his former team on Oct. 10 when the Vols visit Razorback Stadium.

Max Gilbert gets free cookies for Tennessee football fans by making field goal vs Arkansas https://t.co/PbPclhi931
— Tennessean (@Tennessean) October 11, 2025

"Max Gilbert's done a really good job," Lunsford said. "He's really been a really high-percentage guy for us so far. I'm really looking forward to next week when we're in our pads, we actually get field goal protection and field goal block going at him and get a little bit more pressure on him.

"He did a really nice job yesterday. We had a pressure kick set up for him, and he nailed it right down the middle. But as always, I hope he hears this when I tell him this, you're only as good as your next kick. He's got to have that mindset. But leading up to now, he's done a very good job. He's been good with his percentage, and I want to see him continue to get better and really have a good year."

In addition to ensuring that Arkansas' kicking and punting games are strong, Arkansas' return game will also be a point of emphasis for Lunsford, who said that despite a changing landscape in college football where returning kicks is discouraged, there will be opportunities to return kickoffs that Arkansas will have to take advantage of.

"I think it's important that you teach your kickoff return team the right time to return a kick," Lunsford said. "If it is a returnable ball that can time up right with its blocks, that's the opportunity you have to make an explosive play on kickoff return."

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