FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Chad Morris said there was a certain buzz and excitement around the football offices in the final 10 days leading up the start of preseason practices.
He noticed a difference, too, in the atmosphere during the team's meeting and weigh-in on Thursday night, and that energy carried over to Friday evening for the first day of fall camp, the official start to his second season with the Razorbacks.
It all led to the best Day 1 he's been a part of as a head coach.
"Year 2, you expect that," Morris said. "And the second part of that is the work that these guys have put in. ... (Everyone was) a lot more comfortable. I think you saw that with the coaching staff today. Everybody was more comfortable in our environment and players (are) understanding exactly what we’re asking of them.
“We have been together now for 18 months," he continued. "They know exactly what we expect, they know how we train, they know what our standard is and there is no doubt in my mind that this football team is obviously more full capacity than we were a year ago."
Friday provided the first live look at quarterbacks Ben Hicks, who went through spring drills earlier this year, Nick Starkel, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, and true freshman KJ Jefferson on the same field. Morris came away impressed and he commended them for their accuracy and communication.
"I thought the ball was jumping out of their hands extremely well," he said. "We pushed the ball down the field early in practice. We challenged them late in practice in some team settings and we hit some deep balls down the sidelines - some guys did. Day 1 I thought went really well."
Asked about Starkel and Jefferson, both going through their first practices at Arkansas, Morris was pleased with their efforts. Both are ahead of where he thought they would be on Day 1.
Morris also reiterated that he does not have a timetable in mind for naming a starting quarterback. He would like to name a starter sooner than later, but isn't going to rush the process. He envisions a "great" quarterback battle playing out the remainder of the month.
"It'll work itself out," he said. "It always does."
The play of Arkansas' offensive line is among the biggest storylines entering this season as well. The Razorbacks fielded 17 linemen on Friday, more than twice as many bodies as they had for practice at times in Morris' first year.
Morris noted that redshirt freshman right tackle Noah Gatlin, who totaled 193 snaps last season and entered camp in competition with Dalton Wagner for a starting role, went down roughly three-quarters of the way through practice with what he believed to be a knee injury.
"We will re-evaluate him and hope to get him back. We’ll find out about that," Morris said. "I don’t know how big of a deal it is."
Morris, however, was clear that he expects the unit to make a jump even after losing three starters from a season ago in Hjalte Froholdt, Brian Wallace and Johnny Gibson, citing the experience and leadership qualities of center Ty Clary and left tackle Colton Jackson.
"There is no doubt that our offensive line will be better this year," he said. "It’ll be better from a depth standpoint, and obviously when you have depth you have competition. The key is keeping them as healthy as you possibly can and get your work in and be ready to go for the season.
"We should be better, without a doubt."
The culture of the program and earning respect - Arkansas was predicted to finish last in the SEC West last month - was a major topic of discussion Thursday night, too. Morris challenged players to push one another and handle adversity the right way, and he's eager to watch how they respond in the coming weeks.
"Nobody’s giving little old Arkansas any credit, and that’s OK," he said. "They shouldn’t. We have to earn it. Everybody right now is grinding. Everybody’s in camp and everybody’s having their first day and everybody’s having a great first day.
"But when it gets to Day 19 or Day 9 and it’s hot, now what are you? We’ve been preparing for these moments."