Hard-hitting linebacker ready for contact

Fourth in a series profiling the newcomers on the 2016 Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

All it takes is one look at Giovanni LaFrance's recruiting video to see he loves contact.

Highlights from LaFrance's junior season at New Orleans St. Augustine show him repeatedly making hard-hitting tackles at middle linebacker.

Even when he orally committed to Tulane in the spring of last year, LaFrance remained on the Arkansas staff's radar, most notably receivers coach Michael Smith, who helped bring defensive lineman Briston Guidry, linebacker De'Jon Harris, along with LaFrance, from Louisiana to Fayetteville in the Razorbacks' spring signing class.

LaFrance, 6-1, 240, 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, said the Razorbacks are getting "a great mind and a hard worker that is going to bring it every day."

"I like to hit people," LaFrance said. "I love contact. I like running sideline to sideline and making a play. Linebacker is the leader on defense, and I think I'm a pretty good leader, too."

St. Augustine Coach Al Jones quickly embraced LaFrance after taking over the program last year.

Jones said he was drawn to his senior's size, speed and ball-hawking attitude at middle linebacker along with his leadership qualities.

"He's a hard hitter, one of those players that makes the crowd go 'Oooooh,' Jones said. "It's nothing we teach. We teach them to wrap up and make the tackle first. There was one time a team was on the goal line and he stopped a guy right in his tracks. There was no running over him. He always stood his ground."

Jones said the Purple Knights (2-9 last season) were competitive each game thanks to players like LaFrance.

"Many of the kids looked to Giovanni to get things straight," Jones said. "He knew the calls and was very aware of where the offensive guys were going to be. You need someone like that on the field, and he did a good job at it."

LaFrance contributed offensively, rushing 33 times for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns, while catching 5 passes for 55 more yards. He said his high school coaches felt he was someone they could trust, not only defensively, but running with the ball in clutch situations.

"Yeah, we played him at fullback a couple of games and he had a couple of long runs and scored some touchdowns," Smith said. "There was one game where he cleared out the whole right side of the defense and scored a touchdown. Some of our coaches actually thought he was a better running back than linebacker.

"He definitely wanted to play running back. We had some guys that were better running backs, but we weren't afraid to use him. But linebacker was definitely the better spot for him."

LaFrance, 19, reopened his recruitment in December when Tulane fired Gary Johnson on Nov. 28 after a 3-9 record and Tulane assistant David Johnson, a former St. Augustine head coach, was hired by new Memphis Coach Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas).

LSU was closer to home, but LaFrance said he felt there was something with the Razorbacks he couldn't pass up. He ultimately spurned Les Miles and the Tigers as well as about 15 other offers, from the likes of Arizona State, California, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Utah.

"Arkansas was the best place for me," said LaFrance who often reminded St. Augustine teammate and incoming LSU freshman tight end Jamal Pettigrew about the Razorbacks defeating the Tigers in back-to-back seasons. "There's just something about being a Razorback. Coach Smith stayed in touch with me, and there was a pretty good connection with him and the other guys from Louisiana. It was like a brotherhood."

LaFrance said he had made the eight-hour trip to Fayetteville twice before reporting to the Arkansas campus in early June. He said it was a surprise to see the Ozarks during his first visit but remained confident in his decision to be a Razorback.

"You know when you are there that it is a football town," he said. "You know that people love the University of Arkansas and the Razorbacks. It's a pretty town and similar to New Orleans in a couple of ways."

Jones said LaFrance, whose father was the team's bus driver, comes from a close-knit family and has been prepared with the initial hurdles from being away from home.

"I'm ready to get down to business," LaFrance said. "I know I will miss everyone back home, but I know my future is waiting on me. It's going be a challenge, but I have never had a problem when it came to accepting a challenge."

"I think he is going to be known as a hard-nosed linebacker with a good attitude where those coaches are going want more like him," Jones said. "A hard-hitting Mike linebacker just like when he was here."

Sports on 07/03/2016