Arkansas’ football coaches are in the midst of hosting or attending nine football camps in eight days.
Whether it’s camps hosted on the Fayetteville campus or satellite ones in Memphis or in Texas, they are trying to make sure they symbolically turn over every rock in case there is a prospect underneath it.
In that same vein, prospects like Memphis White Station running back/linebacker Eli Neal (6-0, 210) are going to as many places as they can.
Neal was at Arkansas’ overnight camp on Monday and Tuesday and will be at camps at Tulsa and Oklahoma also this week while traveling with some teammates and Spartans head coach Joe Rocconi.
“This trip alone is about nothing but getting exposure,” Neal said. “I can’t thank our coach enough for doing this for us. He is doing more than expected because that is not really in their job description. I don’t want to let him down, myself down or my family.”
Rocconi is a big fan of Neal, who has offers from Marshall, East Tennessee, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead and others.
“He is a hitter, a striker, a competitor,” Rocconi said. “He knows when to be mean; he knows when to flip it on and off. I think he is the full package. He keeps hearing that he is too short, and frankly I like that because it is motivating the you know what out of him. That chip is growing like crazy on his shoulder, and that is only going to make him better.”
Neal agrees that is a big chip on his shoulder.
“Of course I play with a chip on my shoulder,” Neal said. “You have to in this game. You grow up hoping to go to Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and be on TV, and sometimes a coach comes and sees you, and its measurables that they see first. But when you see my film, it speaks for itself. Size plays a part — don’t get me wrong — but it is not a bigger factor than skill. If someone can ball, they can ball. I don’t care if they are 5-foot-1 or 6-foot-7. And I can ball.”
Rocconi notes that Neal is White Station’s leader.
“He is our alpha male,” Rocconi said. “He is our leader, one of our leaders, but he is the guy. I say this to every coach: ‘He is the guy that if I told the team to take a break, get a water break, I can pull it up and say practice is not what I want and he tells me ‘Give me two minutes’ and immediately practice picks up.’”
Neal loved what he saw from Arkansas and its coaches.
“I love the atmosphere here at Arkansas,” Neal said. “I love the way every coach is hands on. It was very competitive out here, which is a motto that I play by. It makes everybody better, and it makes the work fun.
“I got to see the whole campus, and it was nice. I mean who does not want to play in the SEC?”
Neal said being a leader is just someone he is, not someone he tried to become.
“My role as a leader has always just been one of it just being who I am,” Neal said. “I don’t try to force myself on anybody, but when I or the team needs something done or we are not performing like I know that we can then I take a timeout and say ‘Coach, just let me get them.’
“Instead of him yelling or scolding, if they hear it from my perspective, I think they listen even more. It was not really a choice. It is just the kind of person I am, and I am glad they respect me.”
He sized up his strengths and weaknesses.
“I feel like it is my leadership, my instincts, my break on the ball, and I feel like I have very good lateral speed from sideline to sideline,” Neal said. “I make a lot of plays that other people can’t make.
“I think my weakness is that sometimes I try to do other people’s jobs, too. If they are messing up, I try to go help them out, too, instead of just doing my job. I just have to work on being more disciplined and finishing my job instead of trying to finish somebody else’s. I just have to trust them.”
Dudley E. Dawson can be reached at ddawson@nwadg. com .