Foreman Coach Mark King believes college coaches will make his town of slightly more than 1,000 people a must stop in the future to check on sophomore defensive end Chris Haywood.
King said Haywood showed well at a Mississippi State camp during the summer while also attending a satellite camp in Texas.
"Mississippi State sent me a handwritten letter and they invited him to camp, and he want down there and pretty much showed out to them," King said. "I expect just about every D-I school in the country the next couple of years to be down here to try and get him."
Haywood, 6-4, 240 pounds, recorded 98 tackles, including a mind-boggling 48 tackles for loss as a freshman to help the Gators to a 13-1 record and the Class 2A state title. He also had six sacks and two forced fumbles.
Once his fundamentals catch up with his physical ability, the sky is the limit, according to King.
"He's an outstanding football player and he's just going to get better," King said. "He has a motor that never quits. Once he really learns to play with his hands, he has tremendously long arms and he's strong and has a great first step, he's going to be one of those phenomenal players that catches your eyes at everything he does."
King said Haywood is still growing.
"He's probably going to be 6-6 or bigger," King said.
Haywood, who runs 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has recorded 15 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in four games this season. King has urged Haywood to participate in track and field, and the results are quite impressive.
"As an eighth-grader, he won the 200 and long jump," King said. "He never long jumped and long jumped almost 18 feet as an eighth-grader. We put him in the open 400, and I think he finished third in that in a district track meet. Last year he finished second in the long jump as a ninth-grader, third in the 200.
"He's a big kid, but he can run. We have him run track because we want to keep him active."
Haywood, who's drawing interest from the University of Arkansas, is a coach's dream because of his attitude and team-first approach.
"He's one of the more quiet kids I've ever been around," King said. "He's great to coach. He listens, he absorbs it. It's not about him. He's just happy to be out there. He just loves to play. He could careless if he ever got his name called."
His athleticism and high motor are also being used to play at offensive tackle this year.
"It's full go all the time," King said of Haywood's effort. "Last year he played on the defensive side. This year, he's playing both sides. He's so quick he can get off to the next level and block linebackers and people at the second level."
Email Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 09/25/2018