FAYETTEVILLE — It’s not surprising that Arkansas wide receivers coach Justin Stepp is walking around with a big smile on his face these days.
In addition to being the proud father of 16-month-old Courtland Spencer Stepp with his wife Brooke, Stepp is the Razorbacks position coach that most benefitted from an influx of ready-to-play talent in the 2019 recruiting class.
He added a quartet of four-star prospects in Trey Knox (6-5, 205), Treylon Burks (6-3, 223), Shamar Nash (6-3, 195) and TQ Jackson (6-4, 197). Knox and Nash both enrolled early and went through spring practice and offseason conditioning.
“I am so excited about our youth and obviously having two of them in there this spring helped,” Stepp said. “I wish I could have gotten the other two in there and I know the other two wish they could have been there.
“These guys bring a level of competition and when you have competition in that room, it makes me a better coach and I know I have got to bring it every day.”
The four freshmen have gotten the lion’s share of the publicity, but holdovers Deon Stewart (5-11, 161), De’Vion Warren (5-10, 188), junior Jordan Jones (6-1, 185), sophomores Mike Woods (6-1, 203), Kolian Jackson (6-2, 211) and Tyson Morris (6-1, 201) and senior Jimmie Stoudamire (6-2, 204) have welcomed the rookies in.
Pulaski Academy’s John David White is a talented freshman walk-on addition and quarterback Daulton Hyatt (6-4, 197) has been moved to wide receiver.
“I can’t say enough about the older guys and how they have performed and treated the younger guys,” Stepp said. “They could very easily have a chip on their shoulder and maybe not help out as much, but that has not been the case.
“I have got to tell you I walk into my room and there is an excitement. I love everyone of them and they have worked extremely hard and I am really excited about getting a chance to work with them.”
Stepp has seen the holdovers work harder since the arrival of the talented youngsters.
“I know they are all saying that you young guys are coming in and I am going to have to step my game up,” Stepp said. “I am not going to name names, but I can see guys that weren’t consistent daily who have all of a sudden turned into a different dude. It makes everybody better and you have to bring your A-game every day.
“I am not naive to think that some of these guys don’t have a chip on their shoulder, but they are going about it the right way.”
Stepp has been pleased with everything he has seen from his wide receivers this summer.
“We haven’t had one guy in our group that you look at and say he had an average summer,” Stepp said. “I think all of our guys have had a great summer and all are glad to go out.
“I told my guys, 'Y’all are playing with something to prove and I am coaching with something to prove every day.'”
Stepp has seen a connection between his group and Arkansas’ two new graduate transfer quarterbacks Ben Hicks (SMU) and Nick Starkel (Texas A&M)
“The leadership that those two guys have, holding them accountable and telling them, ‘This is what we are trying to do here,’ ... those two guys have helped my whole group of receivers, especially the young kids,” Stepp said. “When that room (the quarterbacks) is on the same page as mine, it has got a chance to be special and there is no doubt about that.”
Hicks and Starkel have combined to start 40 college games and thrown for over 11,000 yards and 86 touchdowns. Hicks has 8,977 of those yards and 71 passing scores in his career.
Starkel, who has two years of eligibility left, was 42-of-63 passing for 499 yards and four touchdowns in 55-52 loss to Wake Forest in the 2017 Belk Bowl.
“Ben was here during the spring and Nick has an instant credibility with those guys because of what he has done in this league. It will be fun to watch that competition and there is competition everywhere that is making everybody better.”
Stepp’s signees have grown since they first committed to Arkansas and seen strength gains under Razorbacks strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll.
“It’s amazing the growth of these guys since they committed,” Stepp said. “The very first time TQ Jackson visited he was like 6-1 and 170 pounds. Now he is 6-3 1/2 and 200 pounds. He looks like a different kid.
“Treylon Burks is getting back in shape from his injury and looks unbelievable. Shamar Nash looks good, as does Trey Knox. I can’t say enough about Coach Tru and his guys…what those guys do on a daily basis with our kids, it makes all the difference in the world.”
All the young ones seem to have maturity, per Stepp, but also have some great leaders in making sure not to be on lists of players not doing what they should have done.
“They do, but they are still kids and we still have things we have to get through here or there," Stepp said. “I think the best thing is you have guys like Deon Stewart and De’Vion Warren, who are the model of consistency of how to bring the work ethic every day, how to stay off a list, how to get to class, how to take your books to your tutor.
“When you have guys like that and Mike Woods that don’t show up on lists, if they can do it there is no reason you can’t.
“We are going to have our issues here and there, but it is a mature group and I think those guys know they were brought here for a reason.”
“Deon is a machine,” Stepp said. “He is the picture of consistency every day. A lot of these guys, it is like a rollercoaster and they are a different guy every day. But that guy just brings consistency. As his position coach, I lean on Deon a lot because he brings the same effort and attitude every day.
“Mike Woods is a guy that has done a great job of becoming more of a vocal leader for our group, so I am really excited about him.”
Strepp would be pleased if some of his current wideouts can follow the path of former SMU receivers Courtland Summer and Trey Quinn, who went from great college players to the NFL.
“It helps,” Stepp said. “When you have guys like Courtland Sutton and the Trey Quinns at SMU, obviously it makes you a lot better receiver coach, but it also helps our team. It helps the quarterbacks and helps the whole offense to know that I have a guy out there that it doesn’t matter what is going on, just throw it over there and he can get us a first down.
“We have an idea of who we think some of those guys can be and I am really looking forward to seeing it because there is always a guy that comes out of nowhere and has that good fall camp.”