Razorbacks Have Two O-Line Coaches and Why That Could Matter a Lot

Most programs use one offensive line coach, Hogs have two and the rep count alone might be edge Arkansas needs.

Arkansas Razorbacks center Caden Kitler during fall practice. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

There's a story hiding inside Arkansas's spring football camp that doesn't get enough credit.

It started long before Ryan Silverfield ever walked into Fayetteville.

When offensive line coach Jeff Myers sits down and thinks about how he ended up coaching both center Caden Kitler and right guard Kobe Branham in the same room wearing the same uniform, he calls it funny.

The rest of us might just call it fate.

Myers had prior relationships with both players before the new staff came together.

He credited himself with giving Branham his first college offer from Memphis. He also said Memphis had Kitler lined up for an official visit before Arkansas swooped in and locked him down first.

That's a small but telling detail about how recruiting works and how quickly things can shift.

Now, Branham has pushed back a little on the timing of that first offer.

According to him, Myers was one of the first coaches to offer — but not the first. That distinction belongs to Bobby Petrino, who extended Branham's first college offer while coaching at Texas A&M.

That's an Arkansas connection with a little extra irony baked in, given Petrino's history with the Razorbacks program.

However you sort out the recruiting timeline, the result is the same with Myers now coaching both of them in Razorback red.

That kind of thread connecting a coach to two players on the same interior is worth paying attention to heading into the 2026 season.

What Seven Practices Have Already Shown

Seven practices into the spring, the chemistry between Kitler and Branham is already visible to the coaching staff.

Myers pointed to a specific moment — an exchange on a twist where you could see the accumulated reps between the two.

It wasn't something anyone had to talk through. It just happened, the way things do when players have spent real time together in a system.

"It's funny, we were talking the other day like Kobe and Kitler had an exchange on a twist, and you could tell they've been doing it," Myers said. "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.

"Having some guys in the room that know what you expect it to look like has helped, not necessarily to push the message, but they knew that they had to come in and prove themselves too."

That last part matters.

These aren't players who survived a coaching change and coasted on reputation.

They understood they had to earn their spots again, and that mindset is exactly what you want to see from returners when a new staff walks in.

Kitler and Branham combined for 1,452 snaps across 12 games last season with 719 for Kitler and 733 for Branham.

That's not depth-chart snaps. That's starter-level wear, the kind that builds instinct and communication.

When a new offense asks you to learn a fresh vocabulary, having that foundation makes the process faster. They're not learning football.

They're learning terminology.

The Real Question: Can Two O-Line Coaches Change the Equation?

Here's where it gets genuinely interesting for the Hogs and it's a question worth asking out loud.

One of the structural changes from last spring to this one is that the Razorbacks now have two dedicated offensive line coaches in Myers and Marcus Johnson.

That's not standard across college football. Most programs run one.

The question is whether having two coaches for that unit actually moves the needle, or whether it's just a roster-management detail that sounds good in a press conference.

The early evidence is leaning toward it mattering quite a bit.

"At one point in time I remember tallying the individual reps throughout the course of practice, and I bet you that we're probably getting close to 200 (reps)," Johnson said. "I remember at Ohio State we would do that, because we would split the guys up into two or three different groups.

"You're getting like 250 reps per practice versus getting 100 reps during (individual) time. So to me, that expedites those guys' growth. And then not just standing around watching because they're actually in the fire."

That's the clearest argument for the two-coach setup and it's hard to argue with.

Rep volume is one of the most consistent predictors of development up front. When players are standing in line waiting their turn, they're not getting better at the same rate.

Doubling the coaching presence means you can split groups, run more stations and keep players active.

Going from roughly 100 individual reps to nearly 200 per practice is a meaningful jump over the course of a full spring camp.

Branham confirmed that having both coaches on staff has helped the unit absorb the new scheme faster. That tracks.

When you've got two experienced coaches working the room, questions get answered quicker and corrections happen in real time rather than waiting for film review the next morning.

Arkansas Razorbacks center Caden Kitler during practice. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

A Culture Shift That Kitler Noticed Right Away

Kitler wasn't subtle about what changed when Silverfield's staff arrived.

"It's a bit of a culture change, but for the better, for sure," Kitler said. "We're really excited about playing football again, and that's something I think we were lacking last year, especially with the losses.

"Coming in with new coaches, new year, new system, that brings a new culture. And that's a winning culture, and I'm excited for the year."

That quote doesn't need decoration. A starting center for a Power Four program saying the team wasn't excited to play football last year is a candid admission.

It tells you something about where the Razorbacks were emotionally when the previous staff exited. And it explains why veterans choosing to stay through a coaching change matters so much.

Kitler and Branham didn't transfer out. They bet on themselves, bet on the new direction and showed up to spring practice ready to prove they belonged.

That's the kind of player who can anchor a rebuild from the inside out.

What This Means for Arkansas in 2026

The offensive line picture for the Hogs is still coming together.

There are new faces who need time to build the same chemistry that Kitler and Branham already have with each other.

The pairing of Branham and left guard Bryant Williams, for example, is still working through the early-spring rough spots Myers mentioned. That's normal. That's what spring is for.

But having two veterans in the interior who don't need to learn how to communicate under pressure — they just need to learn new play calls — is a genuine advantage.

The Razorbacks go into their eighth spring practice Thursday afternoon in Fayetteville with a foundation that most rebuilding programs would take.

Myers and Johnson will need to develop the new pieces around Kitler and Branham. That's the real test for a two-coach setup.

Anyone can coach veterans. The question is whether the extra rep volume and individual attention that Johnson described translates into accelerated development for the younger and newer members of the group.

If it does, Arkansas's offensive line could be a strength rather than a liability in 2026.

That's a different conversation than the one Razorback fans have been having for several seasons.

The Petrino connection to Branham, the Memphis thread tying Myers to both starters, the decision to staff the offensive line with two coaches — none of it is an accident.

It probably suggests that Silverfield's staff knew exactly what they wanted to build up front.

They started by making sure the players who already understood SEC competition didn't walk out the door.

Now it's on Myers and Johnson to build the rest of it around them.

Seven practices in, the early returns just may be worth watching.