Gaines with experience

FAYETTEVILLE - In an ideal world, Rohan Gaines would have been a part-time performer at safety as a redshirt freshman last season at Arkansas.

In the Razorbacks’ world, Gaines was an 11-game starter who learned on the job for a defense that was thin in the secondary and left on the field too much by an offense that did not specialize in ball control.

What didn’t kill the 5-11, 190-pound Gaines made him improve.

“It made me a better player, smarter on the field,” Gaines said.

Arkansas’ new coaching staff inherited a sophomore starter in Gaines, who was second on the team with 75 tackles last season, but had his share of mistakes and did a lot of chasing, as did fellow safeties Ross Rasner and Eric Bennett.

“I can’t honestly tell you what he did a year ago,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash said. “My gut tells me he was a young player and when he got out there against some really good competition, he probably wasn’t in the right spots very much. This spring, that’s something we’ve really tried to work on.”

Gaines’ early playing time netted the Bainbridge, Ga., native SEC All-Freshman honors, and an appreciation for the finer points of playing strong safety.

“It made me realize I just can’t go throughout my career just hitting people,” Gaines said. “I’ve got to add more to what I do.”

One of those things is being a better communicator before the snap.

“I’m being more vocal and working on putting people in the right spots,” Gaines said. “I like that aspect and I’m working on it.”

Gaines did some hitting as a freshman. He had a punishing shot early in fall camp, just as he rose into a role with the starting unit.

He hit a runner so hard against Texas A&M that he knocked himself out of the game, then did it again against Mississippi State.

“I like to hit, so that’s something I do, and it was just the right time, the right moment to do it, so I did it,” Gaines said. “I just so happened to knock myself out a couple of games.”

Ash said Gaines has worked with Bennett to form a solid pair at safety.

“He’s done an outstanding job being in the right spots, executing the calls and it’s allowed him to make plays,” Ash said.

Gaines has earned a nod of approval from one of the defense’s top veterans, end Chris Smith.

“That’s like my little brother right there, Rohan,” Smith said. “He’s grown as a player and his maturity level is off the charts. He’s turned into a field general and he’s playing better on the run, as far as he’s coming up and hitting people.

“Sometimes I’m fixing to make a tackle and he’s right there on the assist.”

Gaines said he thinks he and Bennett can pair up for something special in the fall.

“We can be great,” he said. “We have the potential to be great, two of the best in the SEC.”

Gaines and junior college transfer Tiquention Coleman (5-10, 198), who is backing him up at strong safety, are both undersized for their position, but each of them has delivered multiple big hits this spring.

“You know, we’ve got the heart of a lion,” Gaines said. “Just because you’re undersized doesn’t mean anything.”