Patience, fundamentals key Coates' 'best game' of season

Arkansas defensive lineman Julius Coates (13) sacks Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral (2), Saturday, October 17, 2020 during the first quarter of a football game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Check out nwaonline.com/201018Daily/ for the photo gallery.

FAYETTEVILLE — Julius Coates received loads of praise from teammates and coaches in the preseason.

They raved out his size and physicality and the immediate impact he was sure to make after arriving from East Mississippi Community College. Things did not go according to plan, though, the first few weeks of the season.

Against Georgia, Coates totaled one tackle. At Auburn, one more tackle. The Saturday in-between those games, he did not travel with the Razorbacks to Mississippi State for an undisclosed reason.

Others on the defensive line, particularly at defensive end, were simply outperforming him.

“Just transferring (from) one level to another, things can be a little fast at the beginning,” Coates said Wednesday via Zoom.

He at long last began to make his presence known in Week 4 against Ole Miss. Coates finished with four total tackles, including a sack of Rebels quarterback Matt Corral, in the Razorbacks’ second win.

He admitted frustration set in early on, but keeping his composure and remaining poised was paramount when he was not involved in many plays and tackles were tough to come by.

“That was big for me. Naturally, I just want to consider myself a playmaker,” Coates said. “I try to make plays. Being at end, the play doesn’t always come to you. You’ve got to understand that. You’ve got to play your role, sometimes getting in the gap you need to be in, hold the backside down if you need to hold the backside down.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of patience that goes into that. I know I want to make some plays, but I’m playing my role, man. It’s a learning process, but it’s definitely a lot of work that goes into it.”

The game is starting to slow down for Coates, he said, as Arkansas hits the back half of its schedule. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman has taken notice.

Although Coates finished with only one tackle in last week’s loss at Texas A&M, the first-year head coach saw plenty of improvements in his play and has made mention of that more than once this week.

“I thought Coates got better last week, which will help our football team,” Pittman said. “I thought he had his best game.”

Coates was Arkansas’ second-highest graded defensive lineman against the Aggies (63.7), according to Pro Football Focus. For the season, he has a grade of 61.4 over 156 total snaps.

Playing more fundamental-centric football led to the compliment from Pittman.

“I think I was in my gaps more when I needed to be. I think I've been trying to work on shedding blocks more,” he said. “Me and my coaches and have been working on that. I feel like I can two-way a lot of the blocks — shedding and getting off of the blocks, just coming off of my releases. Everything technical.

“I think the more I focus on just being technical the better I do out there. So, the keyword is being technical to everything I do out there, and it's less work for you when you're being technical. I need to be fundamental."

Technically sound players, he added, line Tennessee’s front. Slowing a Volunteers run game led by tailbacks Eric Gray and Ty Chandler is a “big focus point” for the Razorbacks.

Coates knows the keys to winning matchups against talented offensive linemen are being efficient in his moves and trusting his work.

“The more you do film study and just go through practice every day like it's game day, things start to slow down,” he said. “That's what it's been for me. Everything started to slow down and (I am) seeing everything and see what's coming.

“That's really what it's been, just seeing everything, and then from there making plays."