FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas linebackers coach Michael Scherer will call plays for the Razorbacks’ defense during the Liberty Bowl game against Kansas on Dec. 28.
Scherer, 29, is a second-year position coach who does not have any coordinator experience. Former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom was hired as UNLV’s head coach on Dec. 6.
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Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said he consulted with Odom before appointing Scherer as interim play caller.
“They (the defensive assistant coaches) are all in there working together,” Pittman said. “Michael just happens to be calling the plays that they’ve all decided. You know how it is — you decide what you’re doing and you look on the (call sheet) and you call it. You have to have a little bit of sense of what (the opposing offense) is getting ready to do and those things, but that’s really why I just talked to Barry about it, and that’s really honestly how I felt about it, too. I kind of just wanted to be confirmed.”
Scherer, defensive line coach Deke Adams and cornerbacks coach Dominique Bowman are full-time defensive assistants who are on staff for the bowl game. Adams and Bowman each have past coordinator experience.
Pittman said he hopes to retain Scherer on his staff next season. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported Dec. 9 that Scherer was expected to get a coordinator role on Odom’s staff at UNLV. Scherer played for Odom at Missouri.
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Odom had not contacted Pittman about interviewing Scherer as of Friday, Pittman said.
“Certainly we want guys to do what's best for them and all that,” Pittman said, “but it's just like I've told the recruits, Mike Scherer has a job here as long as he wants one, and I think he likes it here.”