The University of Arkansas' two offensive line signees from Oklahoma -- Ricky Stromberg and Brady Latham -- got where they are today with the help of a former player of Coach Chad Morris.
Clint Anderson was an offensive lineman at Tulsa from 2008-2011. Morris was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator for the Golden Hurricane in 2010. Anderson and his brother Jerrod operate Lineman Performance Association and Anderson O-line Academy locations in Dallas and Tulsa.
Anderson and his brother helped Stromberg go from 320 pounds to 280 pounds while improving his core strength.
"I try to be brutally honest when they first come to me," Clint Anderson said.
Stromberg, 6-4, 280, of Tulsa Union flipped his commitment from Tulsa to the Hogs on Dec. 18, a day after offensive line coach Dustin Fry extended a scholarship offer.
He recorded the best 2018 Nike testing results of offensive guards or centers in the nation with a score of 103.86 in the spring despite weighing 320 pounds. He recorded 5.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 4.46 seconds in the shuttle, a 27.9-inch vertical jump and a power ball throw of 40.5 feet.
Only Tennessee offensive tackle signee Wanya Morris scored higher with 107.88 points.
Core training focuses on the the front, back and sides of the midsection, including the hips and pelvis. The training helped Stromberg become one of the bigger sleeper prospects in the 2019 class.
"Offensive line is primarily core," Anderson said. "It's not how much you can bench, it's about your explosiveness and your entire rotational core. We worked on that, and he finally bought in and started eating clean."
Anderson, who trains Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson in the offseason, believes Stromberg is in a good position as he gets ready to report to Fayetteville.
"Ricky is going to go to a great school with a great coach, and he's going to have the training table and strength staff," Anderson said. "We ripped it off of him, and now they can put it on him the way they want to."
Latham, 6-5, 290, of Jenks, Okla., was an unlikely major college prospect as a sophomore when he weighed 210 pounds while playing baseball. Then he focused on the gridiron, putting on weight and playing at 245 pounds as a junior before adding 45 more pounds for his senior season.
"He has the frame for it," Anderson said. "He's a big, ole kid. He was worried about putting on weight. The thing I always told him was don't try and rush it. Don't put bad weight on because they're just going to take it off of you when you get to college."
His father, Bob, was an all-Big 8 center for Oklahoma in the late 1980s. Seeing Latham's transformation was an eye-opening experience for Anderson.
"He walks in one day and the next day you go, 'Gosh dang, what are you eating?' " Anderson said.
Anderson believes Stromberg and Latham will enjoy playing for Morris.
"Whatever he says, he's not lying about it and he's going to do it," Anderson said.
He's confident Morris will get the job done at Arkansas.
"Chad just needs his type of players, you just wait and watch," Anderson said. "Give him a couple of years to get his guys in and he's going to win ball games."
Anderson is also a fan of offensive line coach Dustin Fry.
"Coach Fry is a technician," Anderson said. "That's a place I like my guys to go."
WR target
Arkansas associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor's communication with junior Savion Williams has the Hogs in the running for the receiver.
"They are one of my top schools right now," Williams said. "He's always checking up on me to see how I'm doing."
Williams, 6-5, 191, 4.5 seconds in the 40, of Marshall, Texas, holds scholarship offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Texas Tech, Indiana and others. The Hogs were the first Power 5 school to offer him.
The Razorbacks' offense is one of several reasons for his fondness of Arkansas.
"The coaches are cool and the fan base," said Williams, who caught 42 passes for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
Email Richard Davenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 12/30/2018