If the season opened today, the Arkansas secondary would look completely different than it did at the end of last season.
In fact, there would not be a player in the same position and three new starters would be in the lineup.
Sophomore-to-be Kamren Curl (6-2, 188 pounds) has moved from cornerback to strong safety, bumping senior Santos Ramirez (6-2, 195) over to free safety. Veteran Ryan Pulley (5-11, 199) and sophomore Chevin Calloway (5-10, 183) are running first-team at the corners.
“So far Kam has really learned that position very fast,” Ramirez said. “I feel like Kam is a natural safety. He has nice size and nice strength to him. He is a very coachable kid and he is adjusting to it very well out there. I'm very amazed with what Kam is doing with it so far.”
Ramirez, speaking after Arkansas’ third practice of the spring on Tuesday, is a three-year starter and the old hand in the secondary. Pulley suffered a season-ending injury in the 2017 opener.
Calloway saw spot action as a true freshman last season and Curl started the last 11 games in Pulley’s spot.
“Kam has shown great coachability and, of course, he saw that last year playing corner and everything,” Ramirez said. “Kam is not afraid to come down and put his face on someone. For Kam, the main thing right now is just to make sure his eyes are in the right place and when he gets his eyes in the right place, he can be a shutdown safety.
"Like I said, he is not afraid to put his nose in there in the box and make plays.”
Ramirez said he feels like he can play either safety spot.
“I am playing free,” Ramirez said. “I have been playing free this whole spring so far, but I can play both safeties pretty good. It is all about reading your keys.”
The second-team secondary, so far, has redshirt freshman Montaric Brown (6-0, 181) and redshirt sophomore Micahh Smith (6-0, 204) at the safeties, and senior Nate Dalton (6-3, 183) and junior Britto Tutt (6-1, 171) at the corners.
It is a group that is getting its first experience under new defensive coordinator John Chavis.
“We are going to get way more pressure with coach Chavis out there,” Ramirez said. “He has a very aggressive mindset and I love the mentality he brings to our defense.
“He lets us go out there and compete at the highest level possible. If we make a mistake, he allows us to go out there and experience those mistakes and learn from it. That’s the main thing you can get as a player.”
Ramirez is happy that the 4-3 has returned after last season’s 3-4 experiment under the former coaching staff.
“I think I like the 4-3 better just because from the experience that I have been in both systems and in the 4-3 I get to insert and blitz a bit more,” Ramirez said. “ … I get to show my versatility at safety.”