Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson and wide receiver Andrew Armstrong on Kenny Guiton taking over playcalling duties in Saturday's game against Florida.
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00:00 - AJ, so there's been some change since we last talked to you.
00:03 How would you say things have changed?
00:07 What's the mood like now with the change?
00:10 - It's been great.
00:11 Everybody is bought in, everybody excited
00:14 to go out there and play for Coach Guy.
00:17 He's excited as well to have an opportunity
00:22 like this one he has coming up.
00:24 So everybody's excited, everybody's buying into the process
00:26 of what he's trying to get done with the offense side.
00:29 So everybody's buying in, it's been a great environment.
00:32 - How might things look different for you
00:34 just from your personal standpoint?
00:36 - It's pretty much the same.
00:40 But from a standpoint, I mean, Coach Guy didn't come in,
00:44 he's more kind of a laid back coach.
00:47 He corrects us when we make mistakes,
00:49 but he's not just really, really hard on us.
00:52 He kind of tried to let us play,
00:53 I mean, 'cause he played the position,
00:54 so he know what to expect from the quarterback position.
00:57 So he kind of just laid back and let us do our own thing.
01:00 But when he needs to coach us, we're very coachable.
01:04 - Andrew, you lost your position coach,
01:06 but I guess now he's the boss of the whole offense.
01:09 What's your take on this change?
01:11 - I mean, I'm really happy for both of them.
01:14 Coach Keefe coming up, being a receiver coach
01:16 and Coach Guy becoming an OC.
01:19 That's a life changing thing for both of them.
01:22 And I'm really happy for them.
01:23 And I know they're grateful for the opportunity as well.
01:25 But it's still the same.
01:27 It's still the same.
01:28 We still go through our receiver drills, same.
01:32 Just making sure that nothing was lost as much.
01:35 - What can you say about Coach Guyton's
01:38 maybe communication skills
01:40 and maybe how you feel like he'll handle
01:42 the new responsibilities?
01:43 - He handling good right now.
01:46 He's not panicking as you would think a new coach
01:50 or anything like that would do in this time that we're in.
01:54 Getting in here in the middle of the season.
01:55 He hasn't, he shows a lot of poise.
01:58 He's very calm, like KJ said.
02:00 He makes sure everything is right.
02:02 If it's wrong, we just do it again,
02:04 get it right and then go on to the next thing.
02:07 - KJ, you've been to the Swamp.
02:08 Can you talk about what you remember from 2020
02:10 and just what you expect from this Florida team?
02:13 - Well, it was really humid down there.
02:16 So hydration will be a big thing for us.
02:18 I mean, we really weren't much, I mean,
02:20 'cause of COVID.
02:21 So it was kind of hard to be able to get the full feeling
02:25 of being in a stadium,
02:26 but I feel like it's going to be a great atmosphere
02:29 this weekend and looking forward to just both teams
02:34 just coming out, competing at a very high level.
02:36 We coming out, establishing what we want to establish
02:38 on the offensive side of the ball,
02:40 getting into a rhythm early.
02:41 I think that's going to be key, getting into a rhythm early
02:43 and then putting together a four quarter game
02:46 and a game plan that we can be efficient on
02:49 and score points.
02:51 - All right.
02:52 And then Andrew, just your thoughts on what you see
02:54 from Florida defensively.
02:56 - You know, I just, I'm not going to say what I see.
02:58 I'm going to just say, you know,
03:00 we're building up a game plan against them, you know,
03:03 ready to go into the Swamp and just, you know, do what we do.
03:07 - Bob, go ahead.
03:10 - Bobby Mute.
03:18 - Yeah, Mike Mute.
03:20 - Sorry, can you hear me now?
03:21 Sorry about that.
03:22 Hey, Coach Pim was saying the other day
03:25 that they've cut out 30 to 35% of the playbook.
03:29 What's that been like?
03:30 And how do you think that could be a positive
03:31 for the offense?
03:32 Maybe KJ, you could take that first.
03:35 - It's just been a positive.
03:36 I mean, guys don't have to think as much.
03:38 Guys can be confident in the plays that we're calling,
03:42 calling plays that we're good at or we had success on
03:44 and try to get guys to play faster and play more confident
03:47 rather than thinking a lot, playing slower
03:50 and scared to make a mistake.
03:51 So we have, the plan has been good so far.
03:55 We've cut down, trimmed down some of the playbook
03:57 so guys can be able to play faster and just move forward
04:00 and be able to play confident.
04:01 - Andrew, you can take that too.
04:05 - Yeah, same as he said, you know, making it smaller,
04:08 you know, it's less thinking you have to do.
04:10 You're more focused on the play you got to do at hand
04:13 and it makes you play way faster
04:15 than you having to think about, you know,
04:16 another play that sounds like that player
04:18 and things like that.
04:20 - And KJ, another thing Sam said was that,
04:23 I think you had like 29 drop backs against Mississippi State
04:27 and he said that should really be eight to 10.
04:29 How do you think that'll help you maybe
04:31 being on the move more,
04:33 maybe doing more what you did last year,
04:35 not just dropping back as much?
04:37 - Like I said, I mean, the game plan we have,
04:40 I mean, we want to make sure that I'm comfortable
04:42 with the game plan that we have that's building up
04:46 and make sure everybody else is comfortable
04:49 with what we got practicing on,
04:52 what we've been building on,
04:53 what we've been watching film on.
04:54 So it's all around team efforts, the unit thing.
04:58 So for whatever the game plan might be
05:01 and the look that they give us,
05:02 I mean, we're going to take full advantage of it,
05:03 but I mean, I don't want to say too much, so.
05:06 - And then obviously, you know, you guys are on offense,
05:09 Jaheim Thomas is on defense,
05:10 but he's having a big year as a newcomer, like Andrew is,
05:14 but just what have you guys thought about
05:16 what Jaheim's, the season he's had
05:18 and how he's helped the defense?
05:19 Maybe KJ can take that first and then Andrew.
05:22 - He's been a great asset to the team.
05:24 I mean, guys look up to him.
05:25 He's a leader on that side of the ball.
05:29 So, I mean, when you're a leader on the defense side
05:31 about guys look up to guys, respect you,
05:33 and guys want to be able to compete with you
05:36 at a very high level.
05:37 I mean, he have a great football IQ.
05:39 He has a nose for the ball, so he's always around the ball.
05:42 And it's just great to see a guy that come,
05:44 that's transferred in and had the ability to come in
05:47 and make plays early on and had great success
05:49 on a team that he's known as coming from the portal.
05:53 - Just like KJ said, you know, Jaheim, you know,
05:55 he's very, he not so much, you know, a vocal guy,
05:58 but he just know, you know exactly what he's doing.
06:00 Like he knows exactly what he's doing.
06:02 He know what plays to, what plays he's doing.
06:06 And he just, he just all time, you know,
06:09 playmaker all around.
06:10 - Thanks.
06:13 - Excellent, all you.
06:14 - Yeah, KJ, obviously you got, you know,
06:19 Kenny's the new OC,
06:20 but he's also the new quarterbacks coach.
06:22 I'm just wondering like, you know,
06:23 how much have you worked with Kenny before this change?
06:26 And, you know, what has it been like
06:28 kind of working with him, not only with the whole offense,
06:31 but just on the quarterback side of things?
06:33 - We kind of working on the things that we was doing,
06:37 which, you know, as far as quarterback drills
06:39 and everything.
06:40 So he's, he's learning as well, different drills
06:42 and different things we do.
06:44 So, I mean, it's been fun so far.
06:46 I mean, like I said, he played a position before,
06:48 so he kind of know,
06:49 he kind of knows the quarterback thing that he brought
06:51 and that we've added to our toolbox
06:53 and had a great outlook on different things
06:56 from the quarterback perspective
06:57 and what we're seeing and an easy way to be able to
07:01 dissect what the defense trying to disguise
07:04 or what the defense trying to get into.
07:05 So he's been a great asset to the quarterback room.
07:07 I mean, we've been coaching, but we took his coaching.
07:09 And like I said, we all, we all around,
07:11 we've learned that Coach Guyton,
07:13 not as a receiving coach,
07:14 but as our quarterback coach and as an offense coordinator.
07:17 And I mean, he's learned from us as well.
07:19 So it's just all around great team effort, group effort.
07:22 - Have you, have you,
07:24 I know some of his highlights from playing at Ohio State
07:27 have gone around on social media.
07:28 Have you watched any of his highlights?
07:31 - Oh yeah, I watched some of them like a while back.
07:33 We always go back and forth about who was the best,
07:36 the best runner and who had the best run
07:38 and all things like that.
07:39 So, I mean, we all would have fun,
07:41 we would have jokes with it.
07:42 I mean, just having a guy like Coach Guyton,
07:44 just a positive person, a great person to be around,
07:47 great coach, great man.
07:49 So just having a guy like that to be able to coach you
07:51 and have fun with, and also he played the position.
07:53 So it's just fun to be able to just take some time off
07:56 and just joke around.
07:57 - And Andrew, I'm curious if maybe when he was working
08:02 with the receivers, was there any ways
08:03 that you could maybe tell that, you know,
08:05 he played the quarterback position in college
08:08 when he was working with y'all?
08:10 - Definitely, you know, when we were in meetings,
08:12 the way he describes, you know, certain zones,
08:14 certain defenses, you just know that he knows
08:17 the defense inside out.
08:18 You know, he points out, you know, a stud or, you know,
08:23 what side the Knick was going to play on
08:25 and things like that.
08:26 It was just, he just, you know, knows exactly
08:29 what he's talking about.
08:30 You could tell, like, he played quarterback
08:31 at a high level.
08:32 - Tom, close it out.
08:37 - Andrew, you guys have to win out to be bowl eligible.
08:39 Does that feel like that puts a little pressure on you
08:41 to go down there and win?
08:43 - We just going, you know, we just going to go out there
08:45 and play football, you know, I don't feel any pressure.
08:47 I just feel like we know how we are as a team
08:50 and we're going to, you know, we're going to do great.
08:53 - Yeah, KJ, same to you.
08:54 - I feel like we just got to go out there
08:58 and execute at a very high level,
08:59 go out there, play a high period of ball
09:01 and then just go out there and just have fun with it.
09:03 I mean, just, that's the main thing,
09:04 take advantage of this opportunity,
09:06 knowing that we got four games left
09:07 and take them one day at a time, one game at a time,
09:10 just have fun with it and just keep building a bond
09:13 and being close together as a football team.
09:16 - Had you felt like there was too much offense,
09:18 like there was just too much to deal with,
09:21 that had it gotten frustrating to you?
09:23 - At times it did get frustrating from my play perspective,
09:28 but I mean, just being able to just have, like I said,
09:31 have guys just playing fast and playing confident
09:33 and not scared to make a mistake
09:35 or be thinking a lot during the play
09:38 or before the play,
09:39 their mind is thinking about a thousand different things
09:42 when you just slim it down a little bit
09:44 and don't focus on one thing
09:46 and make sure to execute that one thing
09:47 at a very high level,
09:48 which creates confidence having guys play faster.
09:51 - Yeah, that applies to you too, right?
09:53 You feel like you'll be-- - Yeah, of course.
09:56 - All right, and just finally,
09:57 Arkansas has never won a game at Florida, KJ.
10:00 What if you guys are the ones to do that?
10:05 - It'll be, go down in history.
10:06 I mean, it'll be fun.
10:08 I feel like that'll bring some excitement
10:10 and some pride back into the building
10:14 and for the state as well.
10:15 And my teammates and myself,
10:17 we need that spark, that pride,
10:20 and just to be able to go into a hostile environment
10:23 like Florida and be able to come away victorious
10:25 will be a big deal.
10:27 - Thank y'all.
10:28 - Bob, Sarah, hand come up.
10:29 - Yeah, I had a couple more if that's okay.
10:33 You guys had an open day,
10:35 Florida got bashed by Georgia pretty good.
10:38 How do you think maybe,
10:39 you had to go on the road and everything,
10:40 but how do you think that could help y'all
10:42 that y'all had an open day,
10:43 just like Mississippi State had an open day
10:44 before they came up to Fayetteville?
10:47 - I mean, it's always good to have an open week,
10:50 get guys back healthy,
10:52 get a start on your opponent,
10:56 get some things to work in for us plays,
10:59 practice different plays,
11:00 and see if they like the plays,
11:01 see if it's going to benefit us on Saturday.
11:03 So it's always a great advantage
11:05 to be able to have a bye week
11:06 and then roll into the next week
11:08 and have an opponent to play.
11:11 So, I mean, we're looking forward to it.
11:13 - You got a thought on that, Andrew,
11:14 just how the open day could benefit y'all
11:17 getting a little break finally?
11:18 - Man, you know, just like KJ said,
11:20 everybody getting healthy,
11:21 us being able to watch film early,
11:23 you know, more days than they get to.
11:26 It was a great opportunity for us
11:28 to get the bye week when we did,
11:29 and we're just going to come out and play strong.
11:32 - Let's got one more.
11:33 You know, Josh Braun obviously played at Florida
11:36 last couple of years.
11:37 What do you guys,
11:38 how do you guys think he'll react to going down there?
11:40 Has he been talking much about it
11:41 or just kind of what are your thoughts on Josh
11:43 going back to play at Florida?
11:45 - I feel like he'll be fired up about it,
11:48 just knowing that's his former team.
11:50 He played in that stadium.
11:51 I mean, he know what to expect.
11:52 And so I feel like he's going to be fired up about it.
11:55 He's came to practice with a different mindset,
11:59 a very competitive mindset, a different edge.
12:01 So I feel like he has a lot going into this game
12:04 and he just want to prove himself and have fun with it.