Ben there, done that: Hicks' familiarity with offense a boon

The 16th in a summer series featuring newcomers to the University of Arkansas football team. Read previous stories at arkansasonline.com/2019hogs/

FAYETTEVILLE -- When Ben Hicks announced his plan to leave SMU as a graduate transfer last winter, a reunion with his former Coach Chad Morris and position coach Joe Craddock at the University of Arkansas looked like a possibility.

Not a slam dunk for the Razorbacks, but almost.

Hicks not only signed with Arkansas but he also quickly emerged as a team leader and a player who desperately wants the rebuilding program to make a quality move toward contention this fall.

"I think we've got a lot of talent," Hicks said when asked about the potential for the offense. "The main thing for us is just being able to all do our job. That's the main thing.

"Everybody has to understand what their job is on each play, and if we can do that to the best of our ability ... and we can understand what we're trying to accomplish on each play, then we've got a chance to be really good. But if we're all on different pages and we're trying to do our own thing, that's when we get in trouble."

[HOG FUTURES: Read full series on newcomers to the UA football team at arkansasonline.com/2019hogs/]

Hicks left SMU with the school's all-time passing records of 9,081 yards and 71 touchdowns. The 6-1, 214-pounder threw for an SMU-record 33 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2017 under Morris. He completed 55.9% of his passes for 2,582 yards, 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions last year under new Coach Sonny Dykes, who also used freshman William Brown at the position.

Hicks' mind meld with Morris and Craddock -- as if he's an extension of their personalities on the field -- is close to uncanny.

Morris has complimented Hicks for his leadership skills since his arrival, and he was particularly pleased late in spring drills.

"He's been consistent and been steady," Morris said. "He has great command of the offense and leadership. He's got a great, unique relationship with both sides of the ball. Being a veteran player, he understands the importance of knowing the defensive side of the ball and being able to compete with those guys."

Craddock was elated about Hicks' arrival after the Razorbacks struggled to find consistent production at the quarterback position last season.

"It's awesome," Craddock said early in the spring. "He's like a family member to me. A guy I coached for three years. I've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into him, and he's put that back into us.

"Any guy that gives us all that is considered a family member to us. Being able to add him back, honestly it was a little weird at first, seeing him out there and being able to coach him again. Because I didn't know that would ever happen. Obviously, I didn't think it ever would. So when he first got out there, it was kind of weird getting back into it with him. It's been really good."

Hicks has received high marks all around for his football IQ and dedication.

"We all know Ben is here to win football games, and get our program lifted and headed in the right direction," Craddock said. "He's going to do everything he can possibly do, I promise you that, to help this program win football games.

"He's a football junkie. He works extremely hard. He loves watching extra film. NFL film. He loves football. You can't have enough guys like that, so I'm very excited about having him."

Hicks has been on campus half a year, but his stewardship for elevating the program is fully evolved.

"The main thing is just trying to build on what we did in the spring and bringing the freshmen along and teaching the offense and continuing to fine-tune what we installed in the spring," Hicks said. "The guys that are really good are the guys that have talent and they do their job. I think we have the talent thing down. We just have to continue to trust each other and do our job."

Hicks earned first-team reps in the spring, ahead of sophomore Daulton Hyatt and freshmen John Stephen Jones and Connor Noland (who was largely involved with baseball and later dedicated himself solely to that sport) based on his veteran status in the scheme.

He was asked what the dynamic has been since the arrival of Nick Starkel, a Texas A&M transfer with starting experience in the SEC.

"It's kind of cool because we have different perspectives," Hicks said. "I played for Coach Morris. He's played for [Kevin] Sumlin and Jimbo [Fisher], so it's kind of cool to be able to talk about different perspectives and see how they did things and how we do things, and put our heads together and do different things. We're just pushing each other and trying to get better every single day, so it's been fun."

Freshman receiver Trey Knox first met Hicks when the quarterback was on his recruiting visit to Arkansas.

"He seemed like a cool guy," Knox said. "I was thinking, 'He doesn't seem like a guy who holds all of SMU's passing records.' We were just sitting down and chatting, talking about ball. I was thinking he'd be a good addition to the team.

"When he first got here, he texted me and was like, 'We're gonna get together and throw some time.' So I knew he was being assertive and trying to change this whole thing around."

Hicks has embraced the college town vibe of Fayetteville.

"I think it's a great city," he said. "Everything revolves around this school and the football team. That's been really cool. I'm not really used to that, living in the big city [Dallas].

"It's been different for me, but I've thoroughly enjoyed getting into a smaller town, getting into a college town and getting to experience what it's like outside the city."

Knox is blown away by Hicks' preparation.

"He knows this playbook like the back of his hand," Knox said. "So whenever he talks, I try to listen in and try to get some key things that will help me running this offense. He knows a lot. He's a good coach. He's a player-coach like LeBron James. I respect him."

Freshman receiver Shamar Nash also talked up Hicks' persona.

"He came in with a great attitude, and he came in with great leadership characteristics," Nash said. "I feel like that's what we need, as far as him being in competition with other guys. He's a natural leader.

"He's able to pick apart defenses, you know. He's played with great guys. He's played with guys who are in the league right now. He knows where you need to be and when you need to be there."

Hicks kept an upbeat attitude with the offense throughout the spring, even as the defense was winning the daily "championship" belt on a regular basis. The offense was dealing with injuries, at various times, to tailbacks Rakeem Boyd and Devwah Whaley, tight end Cheyenne O'Grady, receiver Mike Woods and various linemen, including left tackle Colton Jackson.

The skill position absences led to some inconsistencies on offense.

"Yeah, I think at times in the spring it was a little chaotic," he said. "That's any spring. A lot of times in the spring, it's hard to keep guys healthy.

"The summer is huge for everybody to get healthy. Now we're starting to see what it could potentially look like in the fall. You get into fall camp and guys rise and fall on the depth chart. ... It's a long process. It's hard to see right now. Especially people outside looking in, it's hard to see, but we see it. We know who the core of our team is and we'll be ready to go when the time comes."

Spoken like a true leader.

Sports on 07/28/2019