Recruiting Guy

Hogs have long-standing alliance with east Texas

Arkansas running backs coach Jeff Traylor is shown prior to a game against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas running backs coach Jeff Traylor is shown prior to a game against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Arlington, Texas.

MARSHALL, Texas -- East Texas is a hotbed for college football prospects, and University of Arkansas Coach Chad Morris and his staff have made the area a focal point in their efforts to rebuild the program.

The area has been key in Arkansas' success through the years with players coming through like NFL All-Pro offensive tackle Jason Peters, All-SEC running back Fred Talley, Outland Trophy winner Loyd Phillips, All-SEC safety Kenoy Kennedy and many others.

Some east Texas high school coaches said Monday and Tuesday they are confident Morris will get the program headed in the right direction.

Marshall Coach Jake Griedl was the receivers coach and strength and conditioning coordinator for traditional Texas powerhouse Lake Travis in 2013-16. Griedl was promoted to head coach after being the offensive coordinator for Marshall the past two seasons.

He said he has approximately 80 colleges visit each spring to scout his players, but none recruit his school and the area better than Arkansas.

"I personally think east Texas gets missed, and what I mean I was at a school like Lake Travis before coming here, and seeing how these big Division I schools recruited Lake Travis," Griedl said. "They're sending their best dudes to those places and what I'm noticing those same schools come here and I'm not seeing that best recruiter. It's kind of like, 'Oh, we'll get to you, when we get to you.' "

"Some of it is the geographical lay out of east Texas where Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio, you can hit 10 schools in two hours, where here in two hours you're going to hit three schools."

Morris' first two stops in his coaching career were the east Texas towns of Eustace and Elysian Fields while associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor had stops at Big Sandy, Jacksonville and Gilmer. It was at Gilmer where he dominated with a 175-26 record with three state championships and two state runner-up finishes.

"The reason why I think Arkansas recruits east Texas better than any I've seen yet, including [Texas] A&M, including Texas, including all those big guys, is because they send the best they got," Griedl said. "Jeff Traylor is east Texas football. He set the standard for east Texas football when he was winning at Gilmer. Chad Morris is east Texas football. He set the standard for winning in east Texas when he started his young coaching career here in his early days."

Griedl said the Hogs' consistency in making contact with the area coaches, prospects and parents sets Arkansas apart.

"At the end of the day, the kid makes the decision, but also the parent and it's also when you're sitting in my chair when a kid asks your opinion, ask your advice, you're going to give them the name of the school of the people that are in contact with you," Griedl said.

Marshall suffered an unimaginable tragedy when senior defensive end Hayden Blalock was killed when his truck went off the road and flipped multiple times after hitting a wild hog on Sept. 18.

"That's something you're never prepared to handle as a coach until you have to handle it," Griedl said. "There were three colleges that reached out to me during that time and offered their condolences and if there was anything they could do to help, which was super appreciated. That being said, there was four Arkansas coaches that reached out to me and that just shows when they invest in your player. they invest into your program and when they invest in your program., they invest in you as a coach."

The Hogs have the commitment of highly regarded Marshall receiver Savion Williams, one of four east Texas prospects pledged to the Razorbacks. Arkansas has also extended a scholarship offer to Marshall junior safety Lyrick Rawls.

"So when Savion and Lyrik sit here and say 'Hey here's the offers I have, what do you think?'," Griedl said. "It's going to be hard for me not to tell you Arkansas should be at the top of your list."

Griedl sees Morris getting the job done at Arkansas.

"I know they've taken some lumps early and I know they walked into a tough situation, but Chad Morris is a winner and he surrounds himself with other winners and those winners go recruit winners," Griedl said. "Pretty soon, it might not be this season, but that program is going to explode and people will start questioning why they ever questioned Coach Morris in the first place."

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 09/29/2019

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