Tower of power: 6-7 Louisiana QB arm strong, street smart

The fifth in a series profiling the newcomers to the 2016 Arkansas football team.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Cole Kelley was dressed for basketball practice, but found himself throwing a football.

It was the winter after the 2014 football season, and Kelley, a 6-7 junior at Lafayette (La.) Teurlings Catholic High School, was a shooting guard in basketball as well as a quarterback in football.

But Kelley got word -- just before basketball practice was to begin -- that Arkansas assistant Michael Smith was visiting and hoped to see him do some passing drills.

Teurlings Catholic football Coach Sonny Charpentier broke the news to Kelley.

"Cole hadn't thrown a football in a couple of weeks, but he's one of those guys where it just naturally comes out of his hand pretty good," Charpentier said. "I don't think it took too long for Michael to see that he had an SEC arm."

Kelley said he had about 10 seconds to get ready for the surprise passing workout. He quickly got his cleats on and -- still wearing his basketball jersey and shorts -- went to the football field with a couple of teammates to be his receivers.

"I was very nervous, because it all kind of caught me off guard," Kelley said. "I felt nerves going through my whole body.

"But I threw the ball hard, because obviously my adrenaline was pumping. I probably threw a 50-yard ball on a dime. I think that's what impressed Coach Smith.

"After the workout he said, 'You're going to get an offer from us.' "

Smith, who coaches Arkansas' receivers, said he was immediately impressed by Kelley's arm strength and accuracy.

"I was just like, 'Man, this kid has it,' " Smith said. "He can throw the ball a country mile."

Kelley committed to the Razorbacks in April 2015 after taking unofficial visits to Oklahoma State and Arkansas.

Oklahoma State runs a Spread offense as Kelley did at Teurlings Catholic, but he turned down a scholarship offer from the Cowboys to sign with Arkansas and play in a pro-style offense that stresses balance and a strong running game.

"Oklahoma State's offense definitely was appealing," Kelley said. "What quarterback wouldn't want to pass it 40 times every game?

"But Arkansas runs an offense that I think can help you get to the NFL, and when I visited there, it honestly was just a gut feeling that's where I should go."

Kelley committed to Arkansas the weekend he visited.

"I didn't plan on committing that soon at all," he said. "I planned on waiting it out a good while, but I felt like there was no reason to do that after I visited Arkansas.

"Arkansas felt like family. It's a dream of mine to play in the SEC, too."

Kelley, rated a four-star recruit and the nation's No. 16 quarterback by ESPN, helped Teurlings Catholic to a 19-6 record in two seasons as a starter. He completed 219 of 384 passes for 3,203 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior and passed for 2,980 yards and 27 touchdowns as junior.

"Cole's one of the smartest football players I've been around in my career," said Charpentier, the head coach at Teurlings Catholic for 22 seasons. "I think that's a big plus at his position, being able to make decisions and understand what people are trying to do to you. He has the ability to minimize his mistakes.

"Arkansas did a great job recruiting a guy that I think is going to fit their needs in the future. He's big and strong and he can make all the throws."

Razorbacks offensive coordinator Dan Enos said he was excited to get the scouting report on Kelley from Smith, who played receiver at Kansas State.

"Wide receivers can find quarterbacks," said Enos, a quarterback at Michigan State. "Michael said, 'What are you looking for?' I said, 'I want somebody taller than me and I want a guy that can throw it through a wall,' and Michael said, 'I've got the guy for you.'

"He showed me Cole Kelley a year ago. We evaluated him. If there's a better passer in high school in the country, please show him to me, because I haven't seen one that throws the ball like this guy.

"He's got elite arm strength. He's a passer, he's not a thrower. He's got elite touch. He can extend plays. He's strong, he's smart, he's competitive."

Kelley is the only quarterback signee in Arkansas' freshman class, but he's one of five scholarship quarterbacks on the team along with redshirt junior Austin Allen, redshirt sophomore Rafe Peavy and redshirt freshmen Ty Storey and Ricky Town.

Kelley said Town's surprise transfer from Southern California to Arkansas last August didn't cause him to reconsider his commitment to the Razorbacks.

"Wherever you go, there's going to be competition, " he said. "I'm a pretty confident guy."

Kelley said he gets along well with the other quarterbacks.

"They've been very nice to me ever since I've gotten here," he said. "They've welcomed me with open arms.

"I know how naturally it could be competitive and they could have easily kind of pushed me away and ignored me, let me do things on my own. But they've definitely taken to me as a teammate and helped me out a lot."

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema named Allen the starting quarterback during spring practice.

"I feel like Austin's taken me under his wing," Kelley said. "He was my host when I came up here on my official visit. Ever since then we've built up a good relationship."

Kelley said he hasn't given much thought to whether he'll redshirt this season.

"That's not really on my mind," he said. "It's a possibility, but I don't really pay attention to it.

"I'm just going to go out and work hard and leave that up to Coach Enos."

Sports on 07/06/2016