FAYETTEVILLE — Ask any coach on the planet with defensive expertise and they'll say the nose guard is the starting point to play the 3-4 defense.
Ideally, put a big beast in the middle and turn him loose to play either gap. Make it tough on the center.
Perhaps, the Arkansas football team has such a beast in senior Bijhon Jackson, the 6-2, 330-pounder from El Dorado. It is a dream come true for Jackson.
“I think so,” said senior center Frank Ragnow, the man who will get the best view of the installation of the new defense over the next five weeks.
“Bijhon has always been a freak. And he's different now. He changed his body. You will see. Quicker than ever. He went on a diet. He's more explosive and this is the perfect defense for that kind of player.”
Jackson and Ragnow were all smiles Tuesday night, just after the first day of spring drills for the Razorbacks. Jackson likes what's happening with the new defensive scheme, along with new D-line coach John Scott. Ragnow likes it, too.
Jackson had a get-it-done meeting with head coach Bret Bielema in January when the winter classes resumed. Strength coach Ben Herbert gave Jackson a plan soon after that. The diet changed and so did Jackson's body.
“I eliminated the late snacks, the sugar,” said Jackson, who also noted there was a limit to the fried foods, too.
“What happened is that I leaned up. It says I'm 335, but I'm 330. And it's a different 330. I'm quicker, more explosive. I've done a lot of running.”
There was a scare midway through the eight-week conditioning program. A pulled quad forced a change in some of the drills at the end of the winter sessions. It also changed Jackson's spring break plans.
“I went home, but I came back Wednesday,” he said. “I wanted to get some treatments and rehab to be ready today. I was fine. I didn't have any trouble today. I've run so much over the last three months. I was ready.”
It's about like what the team has been like all winter, early for everything. Jackson and Ragnow said there was never a doubt that the entire team would be on time for every meeting, every weight workout, every other thing that had a starting time assigned for the last three months.
“And we went through the toughest eight-week session that we've had in my four years here,” Jackson said. “It was strain and finish, strain and finish. We had not seen anything like it. All four years have been different with Coach Herb, but nothing has been this tough.”
Ragnow said the accountability factor was on high alert all winter as the Hogs tried to recover from a 7-6 season that included second-half collapses in the last two games.
“We did things different,” Ragnow said. “We had a new system. Coach Herb explained how we were going to do it and the seniors did it. We were early all winter. It wasn't about being on time, it was early.
“For the 5 in the morning workouts, we were all there and ready at 4:45. We didn't text each other. We called. Everyone had someone to check on, to make sure was there. And we didn't rely on a text. You can text from bed. You can say you are up and you aren't. You just send the text and close your eyes again.
“So you sent a FaceTime message. You see what they are doing. And the system worked. The accountability was there. We never had anyone close to being late. I remember one morning, we were worried about someone. A car got turned around, but then came the FaceTime message. They were on the way.”
Ragnow sees something special happening with Jackson.
“First, I know he's excited about his new coach,” Ragnow said. “I know he likes him. You see the excitement. They are having fun.
“Then, you see what he did with his diet. I think he likes the system, too. He's able to play more aggressive. He's a load to handle.
“I understand this system. They are not playing one gap at nose (tackle), and that makes it tough on the center. As a game goes on, you figure out which gap they are playing and you can control them. But they are playing zero technique at nose, no real gap. You can't get comfortable with what they are doing.”
Jackson just beams when he discusses the change.
“It is exciting,” he said. “When I met Coach Scott for the first time, he said it starts with the nose and with me. What we are doing is so simple, but what it requires is great effort. As soon as I found out this is what we were playing, I was excited.
“What we had been doing was all gap control. You held that gap. You couldn't attack. Now, it's attack, aggressive and fast. Now, we are not worried about getting reached. That was always the worry in the front we were playing. Now, you can go after the ball carrier. You can attack. It doesn't matter if they try to reach (block). This is so much fun to play against when it's a zone blocking scheme.”
In other words, the nose tackle and the other two defensive linemen are going to try to play in the backfield. It won't be about catching and controlling a blocker. It will be about beating their man.
“It's a lot more freedom,” Jackson said. “You don't have to hold your man up. Now it's about coming out and playing ball.”
Scott's coaching style suits Jackson. He said the other defensive linemen feel the same way. Jackson said he's joined with Austin Capps and Jonathan Marshall at nose. It's smiles as they change places in the rotation.
“He's a fun guy, Coach Scott,” Jackson said. “He's cracking jokes. He's making it fun in the meeting room. He's tough on the field and when he needs to be, but we really like his energy and the way he makes it fun on the field. Coach Scott makes us laugh.”
The first day was all about basics.
“We played one front,” Jackson said. “I know we've got some things that will come later, but today it was about making it simple and playing hard. It was about being explosive.”
There is a love for new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, too.
“He's real energetic,” Jackson said. “Of course, we knew him. We already saw what he was like coaching the secondary last year. But he talks to us in a way that makes us stay up, not get down on ourselves.”
Jackson has faced that in the past. A star in high school, there were great expectations placed on him well ahead of his arrival at Arkansas. There were times that he wasn't getting a lot of snaps behind Taiwan Johnson, who exhausted his eligibility last season.
“Yes, there were expectations,” Jackson said. “I'm not worried about that anymore. Maybe things haven't turned out quite the way I wanted them to be, but now it's just about having fun.
“I know what we are doing fits me. I know this is going to be fun. We are playing something we love to play, attack and play aggressive. That's all I can ask for my final year."
Jackson said this year should be fun. He's "ahead" on his academics and won't have to focus on much other than football this summer.
"I've got a few hours to go, just this spring and next fall," Jackson said. "I'm going to get to work on football.
“We are free to play. I'm free. That's where I'm at right now - free to play football with everything. That's what I feel about this scheme. We are really excited.
“I heard it from the rest of the defensive line on the sideline between plays during practice today. They think we can be good at this and that it fits us.”
It may fit Bijhon Jackson the most.