FAYETTEVILLE — Like the rest of Arkansas assistant coaches, Razorback secondary coach Paul Rhoads has spent a lot of of time on the recruiting trail the last two weeks.
He's made visits with a different mindset than he had the seven seasons he spent as the head coach at Iowa State from 2008 to 2015.
“The first difference and the primary difference is that as a head coach you only get one opportunity,” Rhoads said. “When you are going in there, you are going in generally in two ways - you are going in there to celebrate because the young man is yours and it is a time to celebrate or you are going in there to try and be the closer.
“As an assistant, you are always trying to close, but you are also trying to set the table for the head coach when he comes in. You try to build upon relationships and with relationships there needs to be trust - whether it is a position player of mine or a geographical area player of mine. You are always trying to build those relationships.”
One of the stops that Rhoads had this week fit that scenario when he and coach Bret Bielema had a home visit with Blinn, Texas, College defensive tackle Javier Edwards (6-3, 350).
Edwards, who recently de-committed from Florida, said Saturday night that he has plans to announce from among Arkansas, Colorado and UNLV on Wednesday, Dec. 14th. He would be the Razorbacks’ 20th commit of the class if he comes on board.
He had planned to sign with Rhoads at Iowa State out of Houston Aldinem before having to matriculate to junior college.
“It went great,” Edwards said. “They just let me know how much they really wanted me to play for them and how much they need me.”
Edwards to be added to a list of early enrollees that already includes offensive linemen Dalton Wagner, Kirby Adcock and Shane Clenin, cornerback Korey Hernadez, quarterback Daulton Hyatt, tight end Jeremy Patton and wide receiver Jonathan Nance — a group of seven who have confirmed that is their plan.
Some of those - including the three offensive line commits - will likely get the chance to go through bowl workouts with the Razorbacks according to Arkansas offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said.
“Basically the rule is that when they graduate early and they are clear cut qualifiers, they are essentially good to go and have to get all the paperwork done and in,” Anderson said. “The other guys who are not - not that any guy we are bringing in isn’t a great student - but you just have to do a certain petition deal to the NCAA and with those guys grades that shouldn’t be an issue at all.
“Now depending on when you get them, it depends on what they can do by NCAA rules. There is still an acclimation period like in training camp, but just to be able to get your hands on guys and even if it is just helmets, they can get used to terminology, see techniques and work with other guys and not have to spend five days of spring ball explaining certain drills and stuff like that.”
Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney, Jr., has been on the road a lot.
“I've been in my area band obviously you know my position,” Lunney said. “You can do your own math in where that has taken me. I have seen several different states, a few select states multiple times in the last month or so.”
One of those was Arizona, where he went to see Patton (6-6, 248), who has stayed with the Razorbacks despite recent overtures from USC and Texas.
He is the lone tight end commit after pledging to the Razorbacks over Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Auburn among others.
“I think that is what our plan is right now,” Lunney said of just one scholarship for tight ends in the 2017 class. “We have got a lot of other needs and we kind of zeroed in and decided we were going to go a certain route and so I think that will be good for us.”
Arkansas wide receivers coach Michael Smith was pleased at the reception on the recruiting trail after a regular season that ended up 7-5 with a loss at Missouri.
“It’s been great,” Smith said. “The rapport I have with the people I work with in Louisiana has been great. The time I spent in Texas has been awesome. The time I spent in Mississippi has been awesome.
“We are definitely not a school that no one doesn't know about and Coach B has done a great job nationally with his rapport so it’s been great. I’m looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow and then just getting back to football.”