Natural leadership on field means Hogs will win more than they should

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If there's one constant with this current group of Razorbacks, it's that outside of maybe the coaches and players, no one knows a whole lot about what to expect from them.

There's just not enough hard, up to date information to put together some sort of baseline for how the Hogs should perform. However, there is one thing that has popped up on the regular that almost guarantees one simple truth — this team is going to overachieve.

That is because one thing that decades of watching team after team go by has solidified is that internal leadership among the players, whether good or bad, will sway entire seasons, sometimes in extreme shifts. A few years ago, standing on the sidelines watching a team that would eventually go 4-8, it was easy to see within just a few minutes of arrival that it was going to be a bad year and there was little Arkansas coach Sam Pittman could do about it.

The well was poisoned through selfishness and poor on-team leadership well before the first snap of the season. The exact opposite was the case in 2021.

There were leaders sprinkled throughout that team who guaranteed those around them were going to hold the line and return the program from years of abject disaster. They were the assurance of success, so it was up to the coaches to simply determine how great that success would be.

While it's unclear as to whether the depth of leadership is as widespread as it was in 2021, there is no question it is there with the Hogs this year. It has come up in multiple small stories shared here and there as the preseason has progressed.

Some may seem simple, but for those who have ever led competitive groups, their signicance will not be lost.

"What I liked about the summer program is the cohesiveness of the guys," Pittman said just before preseason camp started. "I know there was one day in there where our players' lounge wasn't what we want it to be. We want to look like it's supposed to brand new every day. And the kids took it on themselves to discipline and and they did. And I thought that was that was a step in the right direction with the team leadership."

It may seem insignificant, but an unforced pride in the program and a willingness to hold one another to a high standard is an intangible of extreme importance. It carries over onto the field.

At first, a lot of the tongue lashings for not running routes correctly or losing focus fell on offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino. However, his natural propensity for bluntness when addressing situations combined with the natural high sensitivity often displayed by receivers isn't always the best mix.

He knew that was something that would come better from his quarterback, Taylen Green, but it needed to come naturally, not like a required reluctant task. For Green, his desire to win and his willingness to be seen as the team's field general made it an easy role to absorb.

"One of the things that I've always tried to do is, like, when, when you get a second year quarterback, I get to relax a little bit more on the practice field, where, instead of having to run down tell the receiver this, I'll say to Taylen, 'Hey, you go tell him, all right?' Petriono said. "And he'll look at me like 'Receiver's lost his mind.'

"A lot of them lose their minds. You know, that's the nature of the position. But he'll go down and tell him what he didn't do right on his route, or what mistake he made, and then sometimes I'll start heading that way and help [and he looks at me to say] 'I got it. I got it.' So it helps a lot. Sometimes it means more to the player when it comes from the guy throwing it to him than from a coach, and that's the leadership that you need to be really good at that position."

There are also small moments of leadership that some might not even process that way. After talking with another quarterback who has had a great deal of success improving his game by way of a VR headset that allows for more real world reps from practice during free time at home during time that might otherwise have gone to waste Green chose to come back and advocate for himself and his fellow quarterbacks.

He argued its virtues which can include how he would have so much time to learn how each receiver runs routes and the timing differences of each, along with processing reads more easily, He won his case and it's been heavily utilized.

He says he straps on the helmet that Petrino compares to the Darth Vader mask in the late evening hours and early mornings, and goes to work. While many of the receivers he's throwing to are probably asleep, he's building chemistry with them and learning how to process the offense even faster for the betterment of the team.

The last observation was made by a former Razorback turned media member about offensive lineman Fernando Carmona. He's also taking the edge off his presiding assistant coach by holding teammates accountable.

"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," Petrino era tight end DJ Williams told Carmona during his 4th & 5 podcast. "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."

Coaches aren't on the field when players need to flip a mental switch to push through and overcome a difficult, game-changing situation. They can't immediately tell a guy he missed his read or assignment and fix it in the moment.

Players have to do that. A guy having a rough start to a game may not care too much about, or even resent the old man screaming in his face about a mistake, but he's way more likely to respond to his teammate asking him to step up because he doesn't want to let him down.

Little things that make a difference on Saturdays during close games are getting done because of the level of detailed excellence the team's internal leaders are asking of one another. The quarterback notices his receiver raises his right elbow slightly higher before he goes into a cut, allowing him to time the throw better.

A lineman gets the angle just right on his step to allow him to stop a blitzing linebacker at the last possible moment to avoid big yards lost on a sack. Players stay calm and focused when the game's on the line because the man leading them has been doing it all along.

It all adds up. Leadership is how all those single possession games start ending up in the win column.

Overachieving for the Hogs might be winning five game, or it could mean nine. No one other than the coaches have an idea as to how good the team actually is.

However, no matter what that number turns out to be, if the leadership holds up, Pittman can count on his players adding a few on the positive side of that ledger.

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