ARKANSAS FOOTBALL NOTES - 8/6/08 (INCLUDING CASEY DICK HEADLINE OF THE DAY)
As always, there's a veritable trough-full of Razorback news today.We'll start with the Hogs' new uniforms which have incorporated a "white tusk-like design" on the sides of the jerseys.
You can read more about player and coach reactions right here, but suffice to say, the players are stoked about them. Bobby Petrino believes the new unis could help on the recruiting trail:
"I always feel like the players need to be in someting they feel comfortable about, fell good about, look good in and what's going to help us in recruiting. That's always something you try to balance: the tradition, the feeling of the players and recruiting."
And thanks to wholehogsports.com for the photo at left of Casey Dick modeling the new duds.
In other news, defensive coordinator Willy Robinson has shaved his handlebar mustache after meeting with Arkansas' chancellor and his fellow coaches about "projection and perception" concerning UA. I kid you not.
Meanwhile, fans should expect Robinson's defense to be a "diverse array of blitzes and zone coverage."
In this notes column, Robinson makes it clear that he likes the looks of true freshman linebacker Tenarius Wright: "We have great anticipation for that young man. The game seems to come really easy to him. We have a gap to fill, so he'll get a lot of reps."
Like South Carolina, the Razorbacks anticipate playing more 4-2-5 this year to combat the ever-popular spread offense. In fact, Hog coaches have created what they're calling a "jack" linebacker (ie: third safety).
On the other side of the ball, Petrino is known as a pass-first kind of coach, but in his first two years at Louisville, his teams averaged 200 yards rushing per game. So don't expect Arkansas to totally abandon the run.
The offense looked better on Day Two of practice than it did on Day One.
And here's a collection of quotes from Petrino at Arkansas' Media Day on Tuesday.
Petrino said good things about his lines when he met with the media. "I would much rather come into a new situation where we have experience on the offensive front and experience on the defensive front and have young, inexperience at the skill positions because we know the offensive line and the defensive line really control the game."
Here's a full wrap of what just about everybody had to say on Media Day.
Harry King of Razorback Central writes that Petrino is making it clear that his players are expected to go to class and take their schooling seriously.
Wally Hall of wholehogsports.com writes that Petrino is all business.
And finally, Razorback Central has provided me with my favorite headline of the day: "Dick Is Engaged, Confident And Now A Captain."
What could be more important than having an engaged, confident Dick?
