Hogs' Marcus Woodson After Practice
Arkansas Razorbacks secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson on how development of new group coming together headed into final fall camp scrimmage Saturday morning.
Transcript
00:00 Coach, what's been the biggest difference in this group
00:02 from the spring and the things
00:04 through 11 practices and talking?
00:06 Yeah, just the togetherness, you know, guys coming together.
00:09 You heard Jaden mention the brotherhood.
00:12 I feel like those guys have really gotten closer
00:14 throughout the summer, and me as a coach,
00:17 that's what I wanted to see from the group.
00:20 Your last stop, when you look at Florida State
00:22 before you got there, one of the worst-ass defenses
00:24 in the country, fast-forward to last year,
00:26 I think you guys were fourth nationally,
00:28 kind of similar situation.
00:30 I don't think anybody's expecting you guys
00:32 to jump fourth nationally, but, I mean,
00:34 obviously expecting a lot of improvement over last year.
00:37 Absolutely.
00:38 I think we're headed in the right direction.
00:41 It started with what I just said,
00:43 coming together as a group
00:44 with a lot of new faces in the room,
00:47 and then just coming together to improve daily, you know,
00:50 and that's what those guys have done.
00:52 They seek daily improvement.
00:54 They have a coach-me-coach mindset,
00:56 and as long as they continue to come to work every day,
00:59 we'll continue to improve that stat for sure.
01:03 It looks like since Snacks went to the nickel
01:05 that you stayed there in Singletary.
01:08 What have you made of that move right there?
01:10 Well, at first, you know,
01:11 we had to find the right guy in that corner,
01:14 and, you know, Newt had really stepped up
01:16 and done a good job.
01:18 You know, the addition of Jaheim to the line
01:21 has really been a big addition.
01:24 You know, he's a smart kid,
01:25 hadn't played a lot of football in college.
01:28 Obviously, being at Georgia,
01:30 he was able to be around some good coaches
01:32 and in a good culture, and he's still young,
01:35 but he's a smart player that retains information.
01:38 He takes the meeting to the field,
01:40 and that's what gives himself a chance.
01:43 Keyon has been a great addition as well.
01:46 He's a very talented kid that has played a lot of football.
01:49 I'm still pushing him to strain more.
01:52 You know, that's the thing.
01:53 He got to practice more like the standard
01:55 here at Arkansas, and it's getting better,
01:57 but still got some improvement to do.
02:00 Jalen Braxton, as you all mentioned earlier,
02:02 he's a kid that's very talented,
02:05 hadn't played any college football.
02:07 You know, him being here in the spring
02:09 was really, really good for him,
02:11 so right now we feel good with those four corners,
02:15 and that's what allowed for us to move Snacks inside.
02:18 You know, Snacks is a guy that is very versatile.
02:23 Right now we needed more depth at the haul position,
02:26 which is nickel, and he's been a great addition.
02:29 It's been a smooth transition for him.
02:31 He's another high football IQ guy,
02:34 so it wasn't hard for him to be able to slide inside
02:37 and pick up like he's been there already in games.
02:39 So it's been a great move, and at the end of the day,
02:42 we're just trying to find the best five to put on the field
02:45 to get us in the best position to be successful.
02:48 You know, until today, in the fastballs that we see
02:52 and the two on threes and stuff,
02:53 the DBs have, you know, especially yesterday,
02:57 and I don't know if that carries through practice,
02:58 but what have you made of the competition aspect
03:01 of how your DBs will play the man stuff in the sports zone?
03:05 Well, we started camp off by saying two things.
03:08 We wanted to continue to stack good days.
03:11 The very first day of camp wasn't a good day
03:14 for us on the back end,
03:16 but ever since then, we've stacked good days,
03:18 and we've been consistent with doing that.
03:21 And then we said every rep that we put on him
03:23 has to be a competitive rep.
03:26 If you put a noncompetitive rep on Tate,
03:28 then you won't be on the field, you know?
03:31 So just putting the emphasis on competing every play
03:35 and making every rep at practice a competitive rep,
03:38 and that's what the guys have responded to.
03:41 Walcott puts you pretty hard for starting spot
03:44 and getting that rotation coach.
03:48 Yeah, he has.
03:51 You know, nothing obviously is solidified right now.
03:54 He and we still have a lot of work to do
03:57 between now and September the 2nd,
03:59 but Al has done a phenomenal job,
04:02 being that he missed the entire spring due to the injury
04:06 and was kind of like didn't get full going to July,
04:11 I guess, if you will.
04:12 So he's a great player, played a lot of good football.
04:15 It's important to him.
04:17 He-- again, he shows up with a coach and a coach mindset,
04:21 takes good notes in meetings,
04:22 very detailed with the meetings and how he goes about things.
04:27 So again, you know, right now he's competing
04:30 for the starting spot, but nothing is solidified right now.
04:34 Matt Capsham won kind of like a Braxton at quarterback.
04:36 Is Matt Capsham making it up to your safety
04:38 in a similar-- somewhat similar fashion?
04:41 Absolutely, yes, sir.
04:43 Again, him being here in the spring was really big for him.
04:47 He's a smart kid that retains information as well,
04:50 has a lot of talent.
04:51 You know, he's a mature kid as well beyond his years.
04:55 You know, so for him, he's a kid that has ice in his veins,
05:00 come from a really good high school.
05:01 So I'm expecting for him to be a big impact
05:04 in his defense this year.
05:07 I think we saw Jay Liu was with the second team at Fogg today,
05:11 but here are some guys competing for, you know,
05:14 like nothing solidified but other than snacks
05:16 that you're liking what you're seeing
05:17 at the Hogg position right now.
05:18 Oh, Jay Liu.
05:19 I mean, you know, he still has some--
05:22 some things to improve at, just like we all do.
05:25 But Jaylin is someone that is going to help this team
05:28 in a big way.
05:29 He's still competing for that spot.
05:31 You know, so he's had a pretty good camp up until this point,
05:36 still got some things to clean up on
05:38 in terms of communication and execution,
05:40 but he's working every day to get to that point.
05:43 And rewinding back to your first year at Florida State,
05:47 you know, did you kind of bring up the struggles
05:51 that that secondary experience before you got there
05:53 when trying to motivate?
05:55 How-- what lessons did you learn from that kind of turnaround
05:57 at FSU that maybe you're applying to this group right now?
06:00 Yeah, I never looked back to last year.
06:03 You know, you obviously want to have an idea
06:05 what you're inheriting, if you will.
06:09 But at the end of the day, it's about today
06:12 and moving forward, not yesterday.
06:16 You know, so what I do is go back and look at
06:19 what are the things we did good or fairly good
06:22 and what's the biggest areas of improvement.
06:25 And whatever those areas of improvement is,
06:27 that's what we're going to emphasize.
06:29 And coming here to Arkansas, I felt watching Tim
06:33 and just getting some history of what went on last year,
06:36 the first thing was just us coming together as a group.
06:40 And it was the same way at Florida State.
06:42 You know, I tell the guys all the time,
06:45 if you want to go far, go together.
06:47 If you want to get there fast, go by yourself.
06:49 But it's a long journey and we want to go far,
06:52 so we're going to go together.
06:54 And it's a brotherhood.
06:55 And it's amazing how much you can accomplish
06:57 just by bringing guys together
06:59 and having some oneness, if you will.
07:02 So I'm excited with the chemistry in the room,
07:04 with where we're going.
07:06 They know it's going to be a collective deal
07:08 for us to be successful.
07:09 It's a we and us mindset, not an I and me.
07:13 I think Jaheim maybe comes in as, like,
07:16 one of the guys that was one of the higher-ranked recruits,
07:19 you know, just going back to the high school days.
07:20 What have you seen from him that's kind of stood out
07:22 that it seems like he's making kind of a natural progression
07:26 up the depth chart into one of those starting corners?
07:28 Yeah, well, he's a selfless kid.
07:30 You know, he's someone that came in
07:32 and really adapted to the guys
07:34 as if he'd been here the whole time.
07:36 Again, he's super talented.
07:38 But the most important thing is his love for the sport.
07:41 He loves football.
07:43 And if you love football and you got talent,
07:45 success is going to happen for you.
07:48 You know, so I'm so excited to coach him.
07:51 Again, we needed a corner to come in
07:53 and challenge the other guys to be better,
07:56 and he's done that, and he's a kid
07:58 that's going to have a phenomenal year for us.
08:01 Is Jalen Braxton maybe ahead of where you expected him
08:04 to be at this point in camp?
08:08 Yes and no.
08:09 And what I mean by that is, you know,
08:12 he's still a freshman, you know,
08:13 so to be a freshman competing with the tools
08:17 and getting limited reps with the ones,
08:19 that's a good spot to be in.
08:21 I say no because I still don't know
08:23 what he's going to be like when the stadium gets packed.
08:27 I mean, you know, so we still practicing right now.
08:31 I look forward to seeing how he responds September the 2nd
08:34 when we put him out there in Little Rock.
08:37 And then just overall after 11 practices,
08:40 what are maybe some areas
08:42 where you're really going to want to focus on moving forward?
08:44 Communication, you know, that's the main thing for us.
08:47 We want to play clean, razorback football,
08:50 and, you know, ten guys can be playing the same call,
08:53 and one guy get the wrong call,
08:55 and it's a breakdown in the defense on the back end.
08:59 And as you know, we can't have any breakdowns
09:01 because when something bad happens on the back end,
09:04 we're the last level of defense,
09:06 and everybody in the stadium knows it.
09:08 So at the end of the day, if we continue to communicate,
09:11 we can fix the physical piece of it.
09:14 But the mental piece and the communication is something
09:16 that they have to take ownership in and be on the same page.
09:20 And I'm confident that as long as we continue
09:23 to improve our communication, execute the defense
09:27 and do your job within the defense,
09:29 we can play with anybody in the country.
09:32 So I'm just excited to see, you know,
09:34 the steps that we must take moving forward.
09:37 Again, it's a lot of work that still has to be done
09:39 up until September 2nd.
09:42 The communication is the first piece,
09:44 and just continuing to be disciplined
09:46 to do your job with the right technique
09:49 and making sure your eyes are in the right spot, you know.
09:52 So communication and eye discipline,
09:55 those are the biggest two things for me
09:57 that I want to see as a coach improve with the group.
10:01 Sir, Sam told us on Saturday both coordinators
10:03 were in the press box.
10:04 After it's over, you and Travis had a conversation
10:06 how the operation went, wouldn't you say?
10:08 Yeah, it went better than expected.
10:11 That was my first time down and Coach TeeWee
10:14 our first time up.
10:16 You know, I've been in the box every year
10:19 since I've been coaching.
10:21 But at the end of the day, you know, he's the play caller.
10:25 It's better when you see things from up top as a coordinator,
10:28 and I think he experienced and saw that on Saturday.
10:32 So we're still trying to figure out the dynamics as a staff,
10:35 what's best, who's up, who's down.
10:38 But he liked it more than he expected,
10:40 and it'll be interesting to see just how we end up doing it.
10:44 And at the end of the day,
10:46 it's what's best as a staff for the players, you know.
10:49 So we're just going to continue to move the pieces around
10:52 as a staff.
10:53 We may do the same thing on Saturday,
10:56 this upcoming scrimmage, or we may try something different.
10:59 But by September 2nd, we'll have it figured out.
11:02 How was it being down on the team?
11:04 It was good. Yeah, it was good.
11:06 Being down in some chaos, if you will.
11:08 Just I'm used to being up top where it's quiet,
11:11 you can look down and see everything.
11:13 But for me, I'm always keep my composure regardless.
11:17 So I don't let all the chaos that may be going on
11:21 on the sideline affect my job responsibilities on game day.
11:27 There's a historical component
11:28 that's going on with your defense right now.
11:30 And I don't think Arkansas has ever had
11:32 all African-American defensive staff.
11:36 What do you think about maybe being a part of it?
11:39 It's a blessing for me to be a part of it, for sure.
11:42 Regardless of race, you know,
11:44 you want to have a room of good men
11:47 that are good football coaches.
11:49 That's going to help Arkansas Razorbacks
11:51 be the best that they can be.
11:52 So the all African-American part of it,
11:57 that doesn't faze me.
11:58 It's just about having the right group of young men
12:00 or men around the table that's going to come together,
12:04 be as one, and go help the kids
12:06 be the best versions of themselves.
12:09 You and Darren and Hippie Ground
12:12 running pretty good and recruiting.
12:13 How big do you think it is for all you guys to have,
12:16 you know, kind of an SEC background
12:18 being from SEC State and such?
12:19 Oh, it definitely helps, for sure.
12:22 But at the end of the day, if you're a good person
12:26 and you work at recruiting
12:28 and consistently stay in communication
12:31 with the guys that you have as priorities,
12:34 you will have a chance.
12:35 And again, I continue to say,
12:37 if we can just get a kid on campus, we will be in it.
12:41 You know, that's the key for us.
12:43 It's a little different being here at Arkansas
12:45 compared to the last place I was at, even Coach T.
12:49 Will, it was easier to get to Tallahassee on our team,
12:54 you know, and even Orlando,
12:56 because those are destination locations for tourists.
13:00 You know, so Fairville is a little more challenging
13:03 to get to, but when we get them here on campus,
13:06 this place sells itself.
13:08 You know, the people that we have in the facility,
13:11 the staff that Coach Pittman has assembled,
13:14 and then the facilities and the place,
13:16 and it's Fairville.
13:18 I mean, this is a great place.
13:20 The NWA, if you will, Northwest Arkansas,
13:24 this is a great place.
13:25 So, you know, for those recruits that we are identifying,
13:29 if we get them here on campus, we're going to have a chance.
13:32 AJ's not here anymore, but you guys brought in five,
13:35 I think, defensive backs out of the transfer portal.
13:38 What was your philosophy going in?
13:39 I mean, I know you probably have connections with some guys,
13:41 but probably not others.
13:43 What was your philosophy going in,
13:44 and just how you worked the portal?
13:48 Well, first off, you know, obviously finding out the needs
13:52 that we had on defense,
13:54 and once we identified what those needs were,
13:57 we had to go out and identify the right players first
14:02 because you watch the film before you do any research
14:05 from a character standpoint.
14:07 So once we watched the film and saw the guys
14:09 that we felt had the physical attributes to help us,
14:12 we then reached out and did our research on them
14:15 to make sure that they're the right fit.
14:17 You know, it was some other high-level players
14:20 that can come in that wasn't the right fit, you know,
14:23 but we made sure that we stuck true to who we are,
14:27 the guys that can come in and be the right fit
14:29 for the players that we already had,
14:32 and that really could come in
14:34 and obviously impact us on defense,
14:36 and I feel like we did a phenomenal job
14:38 not only on the back end,
14:41 but with the defensive line and the linebackers as well.
14:43 Every kid that came in out of the portal
14:46 has been a great addition
14:48 and has fit right in to the defensive locker room.
14:51 When you say the right fit,
14:53 are you talking more personality or technique?
14:56 Absolutely. All of the above.
14:58 You know, the character part of it is really important.
15:03 You know, it's some really high-level players out there
15:05 that can come in and have an I-need kind of mindset,
15:09 but it has to be a we and us kind of mentality.
15:12 So, you know, we wanted to make sure we found guys
15:17 that were selfless, right, that was about the team,
15:22 but also that can play SEC football,
15:24 and I think we hit the jackpot with the guys that we got.
15:28 One of those guys was Al. Yeah.
15:29 When he came in the room, he was like,
15:31 "Hey, everybody," just like you did.
15:32 Yeah. I'm wondering what's the fit been like for Al,
15:35 just what he means to the room and who he is.
15:38 Yeah, he's a kid that makes it fun to come to work every day.
15:41 You know, he has good energy.
15:42 What you saw is what you get every day,
15:45 and that's the thing that has rubbed off on the room.
15:47 You know, like, I hate leaving my family to come to work,
15:51 but I love coming to work, if you will,
15:53 and these kids are so fun to be around,
15:56 and the best part of my day
15:58 is when we start meetings with the players,
16:00 and they come in the building, and they bring that energy,
16:03 and they consistent.
16:05 I know exactly what I'm going to get out of each player,
16:08 and it's been really good energy thus far.
16:11 Somebody wants some heat between now and the game.
16:13 Y'all haven't had a lot of heat,
16:15 but I guess that makes the players happier.
16:17 What do you think about maybe the temperature, gentlemen?
16:19 Well, that first week was a little warm.
16:21 It was not warm, but hot, you know, so.
16:24 But we've been fortunate.
16:25 Coach Pittman has done a phenomenal job
16:27 setting up the schedule for the day
16:29 to be at the time of the day that's the coolest, if you will,
16:34 and he's done a great job of taking care of the players.
16:37 So, bottom line, we'll be acclimated enough
16:41 to the temperatures with the forecast
16:43 that we're going to get on game day,
16:45 and I know Coach Pitt is going to set everything up
16:48 for those guys to be ready.