FAYETTEVILLE — No matter what University of Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool decides on his playing status for 2022, the Razorbacks will be coming to the end of an era on his level of the defense following their Outback Bowl matchup against Penn State on Jan. 1.
The Razorback linebacker room has never been bursting at the seams with as much experience as it has this season.
Pool, a fourth-year senior, and bonus-year seniors Hayden Henry and Grant Morgan have combined for 829 tackles and countless scrapes, strains and aches in 156 career games as Razorbacks.
The trio is about as close as teammates can get, and their families are, too.
“It will be a bittersweet moment,” Henry said of the aftermath of the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. “These are some of the best memories of my life. Playing this season, especially with Grant and Bumper, was extra special and it was a lot of fun.”
Henry and Morgan, who took advantage of the NCAA’s decision to allow an extra year of eligibility due to covid-19, brought loads of experience to the linebacker corps. Both are in-state talents whose families are intertwined with Razorback legacy.
Morgan, a two-year defensive captain from Greenwood, redshirted with the Razorbacks as a walk-on in 2016, the last year Arkansas had played in a bowl prior to this. His brother Drew was a standout receiver for the Razorbacks from 2013-16.
Morgan won the Burlsworth Trophy this season as the nation’s best player who began his career as a walk on.
Henry came aboard the following year in 2017 as a gray shirt, and saw action in all 12 games before earning a scholarship after the season. His father Mark was a starting Arkansas center, older brother Hunter was an All-American and Mackey Award winning tight end in 2015 and a long-time NFL standout, and younger brother Hudson is a redshirt sophomore tight end.
Pool came on the following year and his career began with a load of playing time in his first game after veteran Dre Greenlaw was injured in the 2018 season opener against Eastern Illinois. His father, Jeff, attended Arkansas and sister Maddie is a key football staff member.
Pool, who has a team-leading 120 tackles to tie for 11th in the FBS, has an offer to compete in the National Football League Players Association Collegiate Bowl and to start his professional journey. But he’s also being heavily recruited to return for a super senior season as Henry and Morgan did before him by Coach Sam Pittman.
“We’re focused on winning this bowl game, and then that will all take care of itself when it needs to,” Pool said. “But a perfect example, Hayden and Grant coming back.
“It’s been such a privilege to play next to them and what they’ve done for the university. I don’t think that people realize the impact that two players coming back can make, and I’m just so proud that I can call them friends and got to play next to them.”
Morgan touted the improvements in his game this season under linebackers coach Michael Scherer after winning the Burlsworth Trophy a couple of weeks back.
“I’m so glad I came back,” he said. “I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I’m so excited to be able to say I came back and I made a really good decision for myself. I became a much better football player, too.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh, you don’t have as good of stats as last year,’ but that doesn’t define a football player. I’ve played so much better games this year against better teams. Like the Alabama, Georgia games. Go look at Grant Morgan and how he played. I credit that to Coach Pittman and Coach Scherer.
“I’m a better football player now because of it, a better man now because I’ve taken steps toward a better leadership role.”
Pittman attended the Burlsworth Trophy ceremony in what felt like a home-field advantage at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
“I was so proud for Grant and his achievement there,” Pittman said. “He’ll have it forever.
“But for him to come back, like all these other super seniors, and experience winning and experience having the trophies and all that kind of stuff and then to get the Burlsworth Trophy, I’m so happy for him and he deserves everything that he’s getting.”
Morgan has 95 tackles, 16 fewer than last season, when he racked up 111 and tied for the NCAA lead with 12.3 per game
There are reasons. Henry and Pool were both healthier this year, meaning the splitting of more reps in a mostly three-man rotation. Additionally, Morgan fought through injuries, just as he did in 2020.
“Yeah for sure. I went through a lot,” Morgan said. “Same stuff as last year. I got beat up against Texas. Everything … there’s a lot.”
Morgan wore a cumbersome brace to protect an elbow injury last season and the same problem bothered him again in 2021.
“The elbow,” Morgan said. “I’m so grateful we got this time off for a bowl game. I feel great right now. I feel ready to go. Like I said earlier, we’re playing for the national championship in our eyes. We’re ready. This is the biggest game we’ve played in and we’re excited to be able to do it.”
Scherer looked like a beaming older brother while attending the Burlsworth Trophy ceremony in the company of Maddie Pool in support of Morgan.
“He plays the position of linebacker the way it’s supposed to be played and you even look at Grant, all three of them, they played a lot less snaps than they did last year because we’re such a better team, such a better defense,” Scherer said. “So numbers don’t really tell the whole story.”
Henry and Pittman have described the play of the three linebackers as a “race to the ball” in some instances. Particularly early in the season when all three were fresh, the linebackers were stuffing gaps, meeting runners at the line of scrimmage and chasing down edge plays with great abandon.
“It’s gotten to the point where I feel if I’m not there to make the play, I know Grant’s going to be there to make the play or Bumper is going to make the play,” Henry said Tuesday, referencing his remark on the “Sam Pittman Live” radio show earlier in the year. “So I meant the race to the ball because we’re competing to make the play with each other.”
Pool played through a couple of broken ribs suffered in Week 2 last season, the same game Morgan suffered his elbow injury. Henry’s shoulders have been a constant source of pain for much of his career.
The trio played through the aches and bangs again for another huge season together after some down years and even a three-game skid this season.
“That’s what I think I’m most proud of is, you know, we lost a couple games and we didn’t fall, we didn’t quit. This team got stronger as the season went on,” Pool said. “And that’s a testament to Coach Pittman, our strength staff and just everyone involved.”
Pool hasn’t given an indication of his intentions, but Pittman and the defensive staff would love to see a team leader like him return.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” Scherer said. “We have a good relationship. He’s a heck of a player and we can probably make him even a little bit better so we’ll see what happens.”