Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema asked a member of his staff for the best way to get Denver Kirkland from Miami to Fayetteville.
Bielema, naturally, turned to linebackers coach Randy Shannon, whose strong ties to southFlorida helped deliver Kirkland, a prized offensive tackle from Miami Booker T.
Washington, to the Razorbacks in February.
“The only reason I felt we were going to be strong with Denver is because of one guy, Randy Shannon,” Bielema said. “Randy is extremely upfront. He pretty much calls things the way they are.”
Kirkland At a Glance
CLASS Freshman
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-4, 330 pounds
POSITION Offensive tackle
HOMETOWN Miami
NOTEWORTHY Helped Miami Booker T. Washington finish 13-1 and win the Class 4A state championship last fall. … Chose Arkansas over Florida State and Miami. Also visited Ole Miss and South Florida. … No. 144 prospect nationally in the ESPN 150. … Played in the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game.
Shannon was born in Miami, graduated from Miami Norland High School in 1984, was a starting linebacker on the University of Miami’s 1987 national championship team and coached the Hurricanes in 2007-2010.
That resume, Bielema said, means Shannon has a pretty good feel of how Arkansas’ new recruiting push in Florida, particularly the talent-rich Miami area, is being received.
“He’ll say, ‘Bret, we haven’t got a shot,’ and that will be the case or ‘Bret, we’re in it’ and then when got him,” Bielema said. “That part’s really been fun for me to enjoy.”
Kirkland, 6-4, 330 pounds, revealed his college choice on Feb. 6 - national signing day - during a signing ceremony at Washington televised live by ESPNU.
Kirkland, who donned a Razorbacks baseball cap after choosing Arkansas over Florida State and Miami, said Shannon began recruiting him last fall when he was a linebackers coach at TCU.
“Coach Shannon and I really made a bond,” Kirkland said. “He kept coming at me like every three weeks during the season and said that he wouldn’t let me fail, he won’t let me fail. When he moved from TCU to Arkansas, he had the same mind-set on education and making me a better person.”
Also instrumental in Kirkland’s recruitment was offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who, like Shannon, moved to Arkansas after Bielema was hired in December.
“It just felt safe and comfortable here,” Kirkland said of Fayetteville. “Really, Coach Bielema, Randy Shannon and Coach Pittman were the ones that tried their best to get me here.”
Kirkland was among 14 college signees off the 2012 Washington team that finished 13-1 and captured the 4A state championship (Florida has eight classifications for football). Bielema, in his signing day news conference, called Washington a “great program with a lot history” and said Kirkland has a chance to play early at Arkansas.
“He is a kid that I think is going to come in and impact us right away,” Bielema said. “He is really big, so some of these guys he is engaging really don’t have a chance if he gets locked on to you.”
Kirkland said he believes he is equally adept at run and pass blocking, but added that he needs to improve on staying low and becoming more physical.
Still, it’s a promising package that arrived from Miami last month.
“A coach told me one time, if you can’t do a somersault when you get a guy to commit to you, you probably offered the wrong guy,” Pittman said. “Certainly if I could have done a somersault when Denver committed to us, I would have.”
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/29/2013