Last night Razorback football coach Bobby Petrino held court at the Fort Smith Razorback Club's April get-together. The event was held at the Oaks in front of a packed house of football diehards. Optimistic, engaging, informative---label Petrino's speech with whatever adjective label you want; the clear message is that Razorback football is once again infused with a sense of excitement that's been missing for quite some time.
Below are some of the comments from Coach Petrino that caught my ear:
On QB Casey Dick: "It's been a very productive spring for him, but we won't know just how good Casey's going to be in this offense until I see him get hit under the chin in a game. That's when I'll know just how much better he is."
On WR London Crawford: "He was our most consistent wideout all through April . . . I really feel like London's come a long way, but for him, catching the football is very unnatural. Which means, he's fighting the mechanics with his hands every time. He's still a work-in-progress."
On TE D.J. Williams: "As good a spring as anybody. A major weapon for us over the middle of the field. He's blessed with rare talent for a receiver, so now it's my job to make sure we get him the ball as much as possible. Feeding the studs, I like to call it."
On RB Michael Smith: "He's got a different style of running than most of the backs I've been around, but that's okay. He's smaller and shiftier, but has the ability to break a big play every time he touches the ball. He's really quick, so we've just got to try and get it in his hands, whether it's via the toss or the screen pass."
On C Jonathan Luigs: "Far and away the best center in the country. We're lucky to have him and we need him to be an offensive leader. Probably the best player at any position on the team."
On the defense as a whole: "We're still trying to figure out some roles as far as who's going to be on the field in certain situations, but I feel like there's a lot of talent there for us too. Our front four should be a strength, particularly once we get (DT) Ernest Mitchell back into the fold. The linebackers are a bit thin, in terms of depth, but I feel like it can become a strength over time. And the secondary is a question mark. Not having (CB) Jerrell Norton out there this spring really hurt us." (Norton missed almost all of Spring practice with an ankle injury.)
On expanding recruiting: "It's my goal to make the University of Arkansas a top destination for the best recruits in the country . . . I really feel like once a kid takes a step on the campus, once we get him to Fayetteville and he drives down Razorback Road with us and sees what we've got to offer---I feel like getting him to sign here will be the easiest part."
On why he became a coach: "My dad was a coach, so I grew up around the game. It was there around me at all times and I just tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could about every position on the field."
On throwing the ball more: "Obviously it's going to be on our players to throw it and catch it, first and foremost, but we're going to attack down the field whenever we can."
On SEC Fans: "Intense. Passionate. You can feel how much they care just by talking to them."
-JAB
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