Arkansas Razorbacks running backs coach Jimmy Smith with the media for only time this year after Saturday morning's practice on the outdoor practice fields at the football center.
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00:00 your impressions of 2023 fall camp,
00:03 first-team practices so far?
00:05 Oh, it went well, man.
00:06 The first day was pretty good.
00:08 The guys was -- I heard it's been a little busy.
00:10 A lot of young guys, but overall, the guys did a good job.
00:14 Isaiah -- how do you say his name exactly?
00:16 Augustov? Augustov.
00:17 Isaiah Augustov.
00:20 Your thoughts on him and just how he's jumped in so far,
00:23 what his offseason was like as well?
00:25 Offseason went well.
00:27 We gained about eight pounds of muscle.
00:29 He's always a strong guy, but the biggest thing with him
00:31 is he's going to learn.
00:32 He's been improving daily.
00:34 A long way to go, but he's improving daily.
00:36 He's going to be pretty good.
00:37 In my experience, the running backs who are good
00:40 usually bite as freshmen.
00:41 Do you think he has a chance to help you all early,
00:43 even though you got a pretty loaded run?
00:45 He'll have a chance.
00:46 The thing about running back position is,
00:47 I tell my guys all the time, everybody got to be ready
00:50 because you're going to get banded up a little bit
00:52 and the opportunity comes.
00:53 Be ready to take it. So he'll get a chance.
00:56 Hopefully, he'll get a chance to get involved in that.
00:58 Hey, Coach, big story has been about Rocket
01:00 and putting on all the muscle that he has,
01:02 but still not losing any speed.
01:04 What is your observation of Rocket
01:05 so far this offseason?
01:07 Exactly what you just said.
01:09 Bigger, faster, stronger.
01:11 It was kind of surprising because, honestly,
01:12 we set up, we set up, we set certain weights
01:14 we wanted to be at.
01:16 I hit the 235, and I talked to him about it,
01:19 and he was like, "When we get to 235, you got to lose muscle."
01:23 I said, "Well, we're going to do that."
01:24 And we stayed where we at.
01:26 He's in great condition.
01:27 Rocket, one of those guys who he competes every day
01:29 like he's eighth string or something.
01:32 He competes all the time, so he's going hard all the time.
01:35 About his leadership quality, he was pretty vocal today
01:38 during practice and team life when we were there.
01:40 Yeah, that's something he's been focusing on.
01:42 Understand that he's a guy that's going to be a leader
01:44 for us, and he's not a talkative person,
01:47 so it's kind of hard for him at first,
01:48 but now he's starting to do it even more
01:50 because the guys look to him for it,
01:51 so he's kind of taking on that role.
01:54 Coach, there'll be some difficult decisions
01:57 when the season starts with the amount of guys
01:59 you have in your room, but those are good decisions to have.
02:01 Have you ever been a part of kind of a running back room
02:03 where, you know, one through five,
02:05 it seems like anybody you put in there
02:07 is going to have the chance to be really successful this season?
02:10 Honestly, from the outside, it looked difficult for me.
02:13 It's fun.
02:14 So I got 1A, 1B, 1C, and I got Dominick on the way,
02:18 and I had Dale on the way, so it ain't difficult for me.
02:21 It's fun. They compete, like I say,
02:24 about the guys all the time.
02:26 It's fun because I know one going there and running for 10,
02:27 I know the other one is saying, "Give it to me,
02:29 so I can run for 15," and the next one is saying,
02:30 "Give it to me so I can run for 20."
02:32 They're not selfish at all.
02:34 All they want to see is each other be successful.
02:36 All they want to do is do better,
02:37 so that's a beautiful thing for me, so it's fun to me.
02:40 What offseason did you see AJ have,
02:42 and maybe is he different, better, last year in what areas?
02:46 I told him this is one of the biggest jumps
02:49 I've seen in the offseason.
02:50 AJ was already -- He's special.
02:51 I mean, he's very fast, athletic,
02:55 but now he's starting to trust himself and trust the speed.
02:56 He's really evolving to a college running back now.
02:59 Before, I had to put him in certain situations,
03:00 and I was like, "Oh, he can do that,
03:02 but he might not be able to do that.
03:03 He can do everything now." He trusts himself,
03:05 so I'm looking at good things, so I'm really excited about it.
03:09 You know, whenever Rocket went down in the Liberty Bowl,
03:12 AJ and D'Binion both really stepped up,
03:14 what have you thought about kind of having that close
03:16 to the end of the year for them moving forward?
03:19 Say it one more time for me.
03:20 For them having that type of game to end the year,
03:22 just moving into their offseason.
03:24 It was exciting.
03:26 Like I say a lot of times, from outside of the community,
03:28 it was a big deal, but for them, it wasn't.
03:31 Rocket was ready to go into it.
03:32 Rocket was like, "Okay, Coach, they ready."
03:34 They're usually like, "I can go back in,
03:35 but after now, okay, Coach, they got it."
03:38 We got it, and they were excited about it.
03:39 We were going two-back personnel.
03:41 We only had two backs.
03:42 We still stayed in it because we trust those guys that much.
03:46 Sam was in here the other day, and he said one of the marks
03:48 of a good coach is his players stay out of Sam's office.
03:52 Apparently, the running back stayed out of his office.
03:54 What do you want people to know about your whole group?
03:57 Great kids, man.
03:59 I hold them accountable from the beginning.
04:00 I hold them accountable.
04:01 Expectations are what you're given.
04:02 You give them expectations, they meet them.
04:04 They don't meet them.
04:05 They don't meet them to get consequence.
04:06 They meet them, give them praise.
04:08 My guys hold each other accountable.
04:09 It's kind of funny to them when somebody say,
04:10 like, "Make sure you're not late."
04:13 One of them might say, "You got everybody running backs."
04:15 Because they know they hold each other accountable.
04:17 It's easier for me because they hold each other
04:18 so accountable.
04:19 Went into last year, I don't know if anybody
04:21 would have counted on Rocket getting 1,400,
04:23 the reps might have been more.
04:26 Do you think that AJ and DaVinion could maybe take
04:30 a little bit more off KJ this year, or how do you see it?
04:33 Yeah and no.
04:39 It's a tough question just because when you're rolling,
04:43 I have a rotation for the first two backs,
04:48 and after that, it's more of a field.
04:50 So the first two guys know when they're getting in.
04:52 They know who's going to start, and they know who's coming
04:54 in second, know when they're coming in.
04:55 After that, it's more of a field.
04:56 So I don't know if it'll be less carries,
05:01 but I do want to get the ball to another guy
05:03 as much as possible because they are doing a good job.
05:06 Good to see Dominic out there with you guys.
05:08 How has he been coming back from injury?
05:11 I know you guys are taking it a little slow with him,
05:13 but how has he been adjusting?
05:15 Honestly, it was, like, surprising
05:16 because mentally he's doing a great job, Mike.
05:18 No fall off. He's doing a good job.
05:20 He wasn't playing, but staying involved,
05:22 and I had him on the other field kind of coaching the guys up
05:25 and staying involved so he knew what to do.
05:26 So when he did come back, he won't have no setback mentally.
05:31 Got to get his body going back like it was before,
05:33 but he's doing a great job
05:34 of knowing exactly what I want him to do.
05:36 Now we just want to give him too many reps,
05:37 and I don't want to break him down.
05:39 I want to build on it bit by bit.
05:41 We talked about that, so he understands what the situation is.
05:44 Last year when he joined you guys
05:46 after the first three weeks, Chunky's a strong guard,
05:49 but he looked a little extra heavy.
05:50 Yeah. You said he needs to do some things now,
05:52 but he looks like he's ahead physically
05:55 of where he was last year,
05:56 even though I think he's listed at 252, same as he was.
05:59 Yeah, it's the same weight, but different,
06:03 you know, whatever the word is for it,
06:06 but his body is different.
06:07 He's more muscle. It took care of him.
06:09 So even when he was hurt, he did a good job of doing stuff,
06:14 just keeping the conditioning going,
06:15 so they did a good job of it.
06:17 He's kind of ahead of us just because he was already conditioned.
06:19 So when we started back and running,
06:20 he could do it more running.
06:23 A really good addition y'all got is Emmanuel Crawford.
06:26 I mean, 5A, all-time leading rusher in Oklahoma.
06:31 He's only 168 pounds or so, though.
06:33 What do you envision for him, say, a year from now?
06:35 Obviously, he's got to put on some weight.
06:37 What do you think he looks like in a year?
06:39 He'll have a roll, you know, a scat bag.
06:42 I thought he was scooting down.
06:43 He was quick in the adjustment, scooting around.
06:45 I got to slow him down a little bit.
06:47 I tell him all the time, like, at running back,
06:49 it's not about going fast all the time.
06:50 It's about the pace and understanding
06:52 and being able to handle the pace of certain runs.
06:54 So right now, he's going everything fast,
06:56 everything fast, but we'll fix that.
06:58 I'd rather he go too fast than too slow,
07:00 so he'll be all right.
07:01 He's not going to be -- He'll get to 175, 180 max.
07:10 Other than that, I think it'd be too much for him.
07:12 I don't want to put too much on his body.
07:13 Everybody have a roll right now.
07:14 I got -- Look at my backs.
07:16 You got guys -- You look at all of them.
07:17 It's good backs, but all of them are different.
07:19 You look at them, you got Rockets,
07:21 fast and powerful, AJ, fast, fast, fast,
07:27 the bend, change direction, and quickness.
07:30 So there's some things you look for in backs,
07:32 and all of them got a little bit of all of them,
07:33 but some of them have different staples,
07:35 stuff they're really good at.
07:36 So that's what you're looking for.
07:39 Eric, you know, obviously, everybody thinks
07:40 about the running backs carrying a ball,
07:42 but especially with Dan making some changes,
07:45 who would you say your best pass blockers
07:47 or who does a good job in pass blocking from your view?
07:52 The best?
07:54 Boy, that's kind of tough.
07:56 Probably Rocket because he's so much bigger.
07:59 Pass blocking is one of those things where it's kind of like
08:02 defenders know who's back there, too, now.
08:04 So when they see Rocket, they might slow down.
08:06 They don't come as fast when they see Rocket back there,
08:08 but all of them understand it.
08:10 All of them have to do a good job of it.
08:13 So I trust any of them back there.
08:17 Dominic, you mentioned the other guy's kind of strengths.
08:20 People might forget two years ago,
08:22 he had a great yard for carry and everything.
08:24 What are Dominic's strengths?
08:26 Dominic is a big back that don't always run that way,
08:29 so he kind of set to change direction.
08:32 So he can stop and change direction
08:34 really well for a big guy.
08:36 I think earlier in the week, Sam said that Rashad
08:39 had his best summer, and he's in shape now.
08:42 Where might that benefit him most?
08:45 It's going to benefit him a lot.
08:47 Rashad is a football player. He loves football.
08:49 But when he first got here, the weight room was
08:52 something he had to do, not something he wanted to do.
08:54 So as time went on, he started lifting weights.
08:56 He started body changing.
08:57 Now he knows he started enjoying going to the weight room.
08:59 So Coach Soutter held him accountable
09:01 and started making him do it.
09:03 Then once he started making him do it, he started changing.
09:05 He started wanting to do it,
09:06 and it's going to be really good for him.
09:09 You mentioned earlier that, you know,
09:11 you've got a game plan for the one and two,
09:13 and then after that, it's field.
09:14 So there is a little separation there
09:16 between one and two and the rest.
09:17 Is there a point in training camp
09:19 where you'd like that separation to kind of show itself,
09:22 or is that something that's going to go all through
09:25 until week one against Western Carolina?
09:28 Honestly, it's not really a separation.
09:30 It's just I want that guy, that second guy,
09:31 to know he's going in.
09:33 That's the way I think about it.
09:34 And I want him to be prepared for it.
09:35 I don't want him to throw me there.
09:37 One big thing with my guys, I like them to be on special teams
09:40 so their first time playing football won't be --
09:42 playing the game won't be hitting the ball.
09:44 So a lot of times, they'll be on special teams.
09:45 So it's a rotation.
09:47 What's the second part of your question?
09:48 Yeah, I was just wondering, like, the pecking order,
09:51 is that something that you have a date in mind
09:53 on when you'd like that, you know, behind Rocket,
09:55 or is that just going to go all the way
09:56 through the rest of the season?
09:58 It'll go through the rest of the season.
10:00 That can change weekly.
10:02 They know, like, it'd be two if you're having a hard practice.
10:05 You better have a good one on Wednesday.
10:07 So every week.
10:08 So that's what puts Rocket so hard,
10:10 because he learned -- he learned when I first got here,
10:12 he learned, like, you have to start it for a week.
10:14 There's not a starter for a season.
10:15 You start it for a week.
10:16 So everybody got to earn their keep every week.
10:17 So it's a big deal for you to practice every day,
10:19 because we're about winning games.
10:22 I'm in the business of putting the best person out there.
10:23 So that's our philosophy,
10:24 the best person out there at that time.
10:26 So every week, you never know who's going to be the starter.