Time and Reggie Herring have worked wonders on Searcy’s Weston Dacus.

Oh, and Dacus himself dealt a pretty big hand in the turnaround, too.

The overweight Razorback sophomore fish-out-of water high school fullback become linebacker that Herring inherited replacing Dave Wommack as Arkansas ’ defensive coordinator in the winter of 2005, now is the senior “ core ” of Herring’s Razorback defense in 2007, the middle linebacker Herring calls “ the glue. ”

“ Weston and [junior defensive tackle ] Ernest Mitchell are probably the core guys, ” Herring said, “ in this defense right now. Weston is probably the most consistent linebacker I’ve got. The most dependable. He is my core guy — the guy I’m going to weigh on heavily. ”

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s been a “ whirlwind, ” Dacus said of advancing to weighed on heavily from too heavily weighed. In three years he’s morphed from failed starter to key handyman to solid starter to star of the defense. Head coach Houston Nutt chose Dacus to represent the defense, while of course 2006 Doak Walker Award winning / Heisman runnerup running back Darren McFadden represented the Razorback offense, last month at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala.

“ I’m thankful Coach Nutt asked me to go with him, ” Dacus said. “ It was unbelievable. Very intimidating to see 900 reporters and ESPN there. That was a great experience. ”

Some reporters even interviewed him instead of mistaking him as part of what became an impromptu McFadden entourage.

“ He made it easy on me, ” Dacus said, smiling, “ because everybody kind of swarmed him everywhere we went. We had to have people like bodyguards walking alongside us. We had to run to the van because of people wanting his autograph. We even had a guy follow us all the way to the airport trying to get his autograph. ”

That must have been freaky.

“ It was, ” Dacus said. “ The guy seemed pretty hacked. Probably just trying to get an autograph and then sell it or something. ”

Some may be wanting Dacus ’ autograph someday, too.

At a strong and now fast 6-2, 235, Dacus has potential to play on Sundays in 2008 and beyond if he continues progressing like he progressed last season.

First, back in 2005, he had to progress from the 215-pounder who reported in August of 2004 to the too-big 245-pounder that Herring eyed upon his January, 2005 arrival.

“ With Coach Herring, speed is the most important thing, ” Dacus said.

So is attitude and aptitude.

“ It’s been a growing process, ” Dacus said, “ and we finally have met a level playing field with each other. It was tough at first. I was really frustrated not only the first year he was here but my freshman year and moving from offense to defense from high school. It was a completely different world for me. A different mindset. It took me two years to finally get that down to what Coach Herring embedded in my head to be a real defensive player. ”

For having Dacus at linebacker instead of fullback, Herring can most thank Peyton Hillis.

“ That was kind of a key factor, ” Dacus said of his fellow senior who also arrived at the UA in 2004. “ He was going to be a fullback and he was an All-American No. 1 fullback in the country. So linebacker would be the best route for me. ”

The route maybe was too fast. Dacus showed enough to letter as a special-teamer and reserve linebacker in 2004.

Sounds good, except he would now gladly trade the 2004 spot play for a redshirt so he could start as fifth-year senior in 2008.

“ I don’t like to think about that, ” Dacus said. “ I do wish I had one more year. But maturity wise, knowing the ropes, I got a lot of experience on the special teams. ”

The experience helped. Herring needed Dacus every game in 2005. He even started Dacus in the 2005 season opener against Southern California though Dacus never started again until ‘ 06.

Dacus evolved in ‘ 05 to the handyman who could play the middle and both outside linebacker slots.

Last year’s season-ending injury to outside Sam ‘ backer Freddie Fairchild eventually shuffled Dacus to starting in the middle of a 10-4 SEC West championship team.

Herring and Dacus wish they could write his middle linebacker slot in indelible ink, but Arkansas is so inexperienced at the outside ‘ backers other than Fairchild.

“ I might still be bouncing around if someone gets hurt, ” Dacus said. “ But definitely, Mike linebacker is my position. If I have to move over that’s fine, I want to do whatever it takes to carry on the winning tradition like we had last year. ”