FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema has been generous with his praise of the Razorbacks' new assistant coaches this spring: Offensive coordinator Dan Enos, linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves and running backs coach Jemal Singleton.
Enos, especially, was singled out last week by Bielema in an attempt emphasize his enthusiasm for how the program is progressing.
Bielema said he stayed in the Smith Center late after the team's April 11 scrimmage to review tape and he finished after Enos had gone home to be with his wife and children, who were just beginning to settle in to Fayetteville after their move from Michigan.
"Driving home I was just compelled to send him a pretty lengthy text," Bielema said. "He has had as profound an effect on this program as I can ever hope for, and probably even tenfold.
"Not just with the quarterbacks and not just with the offense. His demeanor, his personality. Those three guys I hired in general have been home run hits so far and it's fun to see that."
Enos, a former quarterback at Michigan State and most recently the head coach at Central Michigan, has related well to the Arkansas quarterbacks, and his effervescent personality has brought a positive attitude to tweaking the offense.
"He brings a great frame of mind to work every day," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "He has a standard and expectation level for his players and he holds them accountable to that. And I think they have a lot of fun along the way over there too, which is a good thing."
Senior quarterback Brandon Allen, who has worked with Garrick McGee, Paul Petrino and Jim Chaney as his primary position coaches at Arkansas, has quickly adapted to the Enos style.
"I think me and Coach Enos have meshed well," Allen said. "You can tell he's obviously played the position before. It's almost an extra factor when you're talking to him that you're thinking 'OK, whatever he's telling me, he knows from experience. He's done it and knows that it works.' So that's kind of that extra oomph that makes you want to pay attention to what he's saying."
Enos said he encourages feedback from the quarterbacks in the meeting room and constantly tries to engage them in football and other areas.
This spring, he began labeling his favorite plays as "juicy," and the terminology morphed to "juicified" for what he expects will be productive schemes.
"I think when I leave the room they're probably having a good time with some of my terms," Enos said. "It's all fun. We've got to keep it interesting in there. We can't just come up with the same material."
Receivers coach Michael Smith started spring with enthusiasm about the new direction for the offense and has carried it through to Saturday's Red-White game.
"I think the kids were really excited when Dan came in with the offense we're running now," Smith said. "There was some more emphasis on the passing game."
Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said Enos has done a good job of blending the previous offense the Razorbacks ran with his own philosophies.
"Every coordinator I've ever been around or coached under, they all have a system that they believe in that they've derived from their coaching tree," Lunney said. "You can tell he's very in command of that from his background. He's got a system that he believes in and he knows very well.
"He's brought a tremendous amount of energy. He's a real smart guy, real intellectual, and he really understands the passing game."
Enos has emphasized footwork and staying in balance for the quarterbacks and has plenty of drills to work on those points.
In addition to the power running and play-action passing momentum Arkansas has established the last couple of seasons, Enos is adding quick edge passes and other schemes to make defenses respect all areas of the field.
"We can't have everybody packing the box on us and just try to run down their throats every time," Allen said. "So I think the little things we're putting in are going to keep the defenses a lot more honest and not let them load the box on us."
Enos has also added diversity to the route combinations.
"He just has us doing so many different things, which is fun," tight end Hunter Henry said. "We have so many different routes, so many different places on the field that we're asked to get open. ... There's so many things he's asking us to do it's just fun to be in this passing game."
Smith points to one area to illustrate Enos' impact.
"The biggest compliment I can give Dan is the way our quarterback is playing right now," Smith said. "I think Brandon is playing at a really high level. We all know we need that to get where we want to go in the SEC West. A lot of that has to do with the way Dan has kind of brought him along. He's got some tweaks in the system, things he's doing in the passing game. I think Brandon is extremely confident about where he's supposed to go with the football."
Bielema said Enos prefers to call plays from the sideline rather than the press box on game days and that after Smith did it successfully last year he's on board with the plan.
"Dan has unbelievable street credit with our kids," Bielema said, noting that former offensive coordinator Jim Chaney also wanted to work from the sideline. "But it just wasn't the right chemistry down there. He [Enos] has got an unbelievable demeanor and rapport.
"He can jump them and they're going to respond I think in the right way. He really has had a tremendous effect on [Allen]. I think B.A. feels very confident about him being down there as well, so we're going to make a go of it."
Sports on 04/24/2015