FAYETTEVILLE - At safety, size matters.
And the Arkansas Razorbacks aren’t up to size at strong safety according to Chris Ash, Arkansas’ new defensive coordinators.
“I wish we had some more size at safety, but we don’t,” Ash said. “We’ve got what we’ve got.”
What he has are a couple of little safeties by football standards coming into today’s scrimmage off pasting the biggest hits in last Saturday’s scrimmage.
Ash inherited Rohan Gaines, a 5-11, 190-pound sophomore from Bainbridge, Ga., who started 11 games at strong safety for last year’s 4-8 team as a redshirt freshman.
Arkansas’ new defensive coordinator has nobody but himself to blame if he thinks TQ Coleman, liberally listed at 5-10 but a stout 198, isn’t up to size. Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and Ash were recruiting Coleman of Georgia Military College when they were at Wisconsin before leaving for Arkansas in December, and they convinced Coleman to follow them to Fayetteville.
“TQ’s very physical,” Ash said. “He’s probably pound for pound one of the biggest hitters we’ve got out there. I mean, he can bring it. That’s something we saw on film from his junior college and we haven’t been disappointed.
“Do I wish he was 6-1, 6-2?
Absolutely. We all want bigger guys but, hey, what he brings to the table with his size is impressive.”
The same goes for Gaines, whose 75 tackles last season was second on the team. Gaines stood out to his new coaches with an interception, a pass breakup and some hard hits in last Saturday’s scrimmage.
“I’ve been very impressed with the ability of some guy on the back end to make plays like Rohan Gaines,” Bielema said last Saturday. “He had a couple of real nice breaks.”
Gaines had impressed his new coaches before and has impressed them since.
“Rohan has been really good every day we’ve gone out here,” Ash said after Thursday’s practice. “I’m a big fan of Rohan. He’s got good football IQ. He’s a tough kid and flies around and plays with a motor. Last Saturday he made a lot of plays. He’s always around the ball.”
So how are these little safeties playing so big?
“By heart,” Gaines said. “You know we have got the heart of a lion. Just because you are undersized doesn’t mean anything.”
Coleman plays fearlessly, Gaines said.
“TQ is aggressive,” Gaines said. “TQ sees the hole he is going to shoot the gap.”
As for himself, Gaines relished that during the 2012 season former defensive coordinator Paul Haynes quit flip-flopping safeties and put him permanently on the strong side. He has remained all strong all the time under Ash.
“I love strong safety because I feel you are in position to make more plays,” Gaines said. “Eric [Bennett] is the free safety, and he goes to more of the field calls and I stay in the box.
“Being down there with the linebackers and all, it’s kind of exciting.”
Sports, Pages 20 on 04/06/2013