FAYETTEVILLE - Mitchell Loewen figures his first two seasons on the Arkansas football team have prepared him well if he decides to go into coaching.

“I feel like I can be a pretty good high school coach once this is all said and done,” Loewen said. “Because I know pretty much every position.”

Loewen, a redshirt sophomore from Maui, Hawaii, has jumped around the roster since arriving at Arkansas as a walk-on in 2011.

First he was a middle linebacker, the position he played at Lahainaluna High Schoolwhere he had 140 tackles as a senior. Then he moved to outside linebacker. Then to defensive end. Then to defensive tackle.

Next Loewen moved to guard. Then to center. Then back to defensive tackle. Then to fullback, where he played in five games last season. In the spring he was in motion again, this time to tight end under new Coach Bret Bielema.

Loewen said he felt “kind of like a Swiss Army knife out there” with all the position switches, but rather than become frustrated he remained optimistic.

“I felt that I was going to find a home eventually,” he said.

Tight end appears to be a position where Loewen finally can hang around for a while. He closed spring practice as the first-team tight end - despite missing time because of an ankle injury - and he remains No. 1 at the position in fall camp.

“I think our scheme probably lent itself to him being at tight end, and it’s been a good move for him and for us,” tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said.

Bielema said Loewen was “very impressive” in the Razorbacks’ first fall scrimmage last Saturday. Loewen lamented that his one reception should have gone for more than a 5-yard gain - “I tripped up over myself or something,” he said - but added the scrimmage went well overall.

Lunney said he was also impressed with Loewen, 6-4 and 271 pounds.

“We think Mitchell is a great microcosm of what we’re trying to do offensively as far as the identity we’re trying to establish,” Lunney said of striking a balance of power running and passing. “He’s a physical, physical run-blocker, and we’re excited about that.

“He can run, too. He’s notjust a big guy. In Mitchell, we think we’ve got a pretty rare combination of a guy that can be really physical and yet can stretch the field.”

Loewen said he believes he fits in well with a tight end group where senior Austin Tate, true freshman Hunter Henry, sophomore walk-on Alex Voelzke and redshirt freshman Jeremy Sprinkle also figure to get playing time.

“We feel like we’ve got a good mix in the room,” Lunney said. “Do we have all the answers there? No. We have a lot of development and growth we can do there. But we feel like we’ve got a mixture of guys that can help us win.”

Loewen was put on scholarship after spring practice.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It felt like King Kong jumped off my back. It’s a great deal. Now I don’t have to worry about anything financially for the next three years.”

Beliema called Loewen “a nice surprise” after spring practice ended.

“I don’t even know how he got here, but it’s worked out very well for him,” Bielema said.

Former Razorbacks assistant Steve Caldwell, now at Arkansas State, contacted Loewen about walking on at Arkansas after Loewen went to a camp in Hawaii where one of the high school coaches knew Caldwell.

Loewen said he also considered Oklahoma State and North Texas before choosing Arkansas.

“Pound for pound, he might be the strongest guy on the team,” Tate said. “He’s really good in the run game, and he’s come miles in the passing game, [improving] his hands and making himself a more versatile player.

“You’ll never see him take a rep off. He’s putting his nose to the grindstone every day.”

Shortly after Bielema was hired at Arkansas in December, Loewen approached him about moving to defensive tackle. Loewen said tackle is a fun position, and he was impressed by how many defensive linemen at Wisconsin did well when Bielema coached the Badgers, notably NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, who plays end for the Houston Texans.

Lunney credited strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert for identifying Loewen’s size and skill set as being the best fit at tight end.

“When I got my tight end list, Mitchell’s name wasn’t on it,” Lunney said. “It got there in a hurry, though.”

Bielema’s Wisconsin teams had three tight ends drafted: Travis Beckum (fourth round by the New York Giants in 2009), Garrett Graham (fourth round by the Houston Texans in 2010) and Lance Kendricks (second round by the St. Louis Rams in 2011).

“If there’s a great tight end in the country, I want to be able to take a swing at him,” Bielema said. “Nobody will feature that position as much as we will.”

Loewen said he’s excited by what Herbert - who followed Bielema from Wisconsin to Arkansas - has told him about how the Badgers’ tight ends developed.

“Coach Herbert said he’s seen what guys like me can do,” Loewen said. “Hopefully, I can live up to the potential they’ve put on me and I’ve put on myself.”

Loewen said his experience on defense has its benefits now that he’s at tight end.

“I know what moves the defensive linemen are going to do, and I know where to attack a linebacker on route-running because I know where he doesn’t want me to go,” he said. “I just put myself in their position because I’ve been there before.”

Position Glance: Tight Ends

KEY LOSS Chris Gragg

WHO’S BACK Austin Tate, Mitchell Loewen, Jeremy Sprinkle, Demetrius Dean

WHO’S NEW Hunter Henry

WALK-ONS Alex Voelzke, Brad Taylor

ANALYSIS The tight end played a key role on Bret Bielema’s Wisconsin teams, and that figures to continue at Arkansas. Several tight ends will play in different personnel packages as the coaches work to match strengths with situations. Loewen, the first-teamer and a redshirt sophomore, is a physical blocker with improving receiving skills. Tate, the senior leader of the group, has played in 37 games with 10 starts and has 21 catches for 164 yards. Henry, a true freshman, has shown in camp he is ready to contribute immediately and can block as well as be a playmaker in the passing game. Voelzke, a walk-on sophomore, caught a touchdown pass against Ole Miss last season. Sprinkle, a redshirt freshman, is a big receiving target.

Sports, Pages 19 on 08/16/2013