FAYETTEVILLE — As someone who has covered Razorback recruiting for 33 of my now 55 years on this earth, I have seen plenty of hits and misses from the seven full-time head football coaches that have been in place during that time.
I’ve seen so-called can’t-miss, four-star prospects definitely miss while some unrated or preferred walk-ons have turned out to be key players on the team in certain years.
You aren’t winning 10-12 football games — especially in the SEC — if you have a team loaded with preferred walk-ons, but you also aren’t doing it if you don’t have a few guys with chips on their shoulders for being overlooked.
That would be guys like Arkansas sophomore linebacker Grant Morgan, who joined kicker Connor Limpert and defensive back D’Vone McClure in being awarded scholarships recently.
It was announced in a unique way by Razorback head coach Chad Morris, who had the trio get together for a successful field goal illustrating how all players need to stay ready.
Morgan had been asked about that lack of a scholarship just a few days before.
“I use it as a chip on my shoulder every day,” Morgan said. “The chip’s grown into a log, so I think one thing that’s going to motivate me even more is when people keep saying that. I kind of don’t like that, but I like it because that motivates me more than anything.”
Obviously, the late Brandon Burlsworth, the former Harrison standout who went from walk-on to All-American offensive lineman to NFL Draft choice before his tragic death in a car accident, is held up as the gold standard of going from walk-on to major contributor.
That’s why there is the Brandon Burlsworth Trophy that has been presented annually since 2010 to the best football college player that began his career as a walk-on.
Previous winners have included such notables as quarterbacks Matt McGloin of Penn State, Luke Falk of Washington State and Austin Davis of Southern Miss, wide receivers Jarred Abbrederis of Wisconsin and Justin Hardy of East Carolina, and inaugural winner and Georgia Tech center Sean Bedford.
The only two-time Burlsworth Trophy winner has been Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, who won the award in 2015 and 2016 and was the NFL’s top draft pick in April.
His ability to escape was legendary, except for that one Fayetteville police officer who took down the future Heisman Trophy winner on Dickson Street with the best form tackle at or near Razorback Stadium in 2017.
Limpert, Morgan and McClure are eligible for the award. McClure is a former Cleveland Indians minor league baseball player who is the oldest member of the team at 24.
They join starting offensive lineman Johnny Gibson, sixth-year defensive back Kevin Richardson and sophomore linebacker Hayden Henry on the Arkansas roster as former walk-ons now on scholarship and expected to be significant contributors this season.
Somewhere in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri or other states, some possible Razorback walk-ons turned full scholarship players will be on a high school field next Thursday, Friday or Saturday and likely will be a big cog in the outcome of his team’s game that night.
He’ll do it with that chip on his shoulder because not enough coaches are coming to see him, he’s not getting his name in the paper, the recruiting services are giving him few stars or he is not getting the elite offers that he believes his play warrants.
While celebrating the fact that Arkansas is currently sitting 16th in Rivals recruiting rankings, it’s important to scan the field Saturday afternoon and see just how many former or current walk-ons will be involved in the action.
One only has to look across the field to see an example in Eastern Illinois head coach Kim Dameron, the former Arkansas walk-on defensive back and wide receiver who became a contributor for the Razorbacks in his freshman season in 1979.
Odds are one of those guys just might have a hand in getting the higher-ranked kid to the end zone or to the quarterback.