I’m guessing the same thing jumped out at you as it did me when Grant Morgan and Hudson Clark earned SEC Player of the Week awards.
Both are walk-ons.
Technically, Clark is still a walk-on but Arkansas coach Sam Pittman was quick to announce Clark will be placed on scholarship in January after he had three interceptions in Arkansas’ 33-21 victory over Ole Miss. Clark played high school football at Highland Park in Dallas, but his Arkansas roots run deep. Both of his parents, Travis and Jennifer, graduated from the University of Arkansas and his grandfather, Ronnie Clark, is a former longtime coach at Berryville and a member of the Arkansas High School Coaches Hall of Fame.
“I was very excited and nervous, of course, watching Hudson play,” Ronnie Clark said of his grandson, who was selected SEC Freshman of the Week and the Jim Thorpe Award winner at defensive back. “Playing for the Razorbacks was all he ever talked about growing up. He made up his mind early he was going to come here. He plays a position at cornerback where you can be the hero one play then they’re throwing a touchdown against you the next. But he was exposed to some really good athletes in Texas and he received some great coaching at Highland Park, and that helped.”
Morgan, who arrived in Fayetteville as walk-on from Greenwood, shared SEC Defensive Player of the Week with Jaycee Horn of South Carolina. The Football Writers Association of America and Athlon Sports also recognized Morgan as their national Defensive Player of the Week.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Grant,” Greenwood coach Chris Young said after Morgan made 19 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown against Ole Miss. “I told our players the story about when Grant was a senior here and a local, state college came in and wanted to see him play before they offered him a scholarship. The head coach walked into coach (Rick) Jones’ office after the game and said, ‘Guys, we’re sorry, but I can’t take him.’ ”
Young didn’t specify which team, and I didn’t ask. Probably one of those teams giving up over 40 points a game. But it doesn’t matter now. Morgan followed his dream, earned a scholarship at Arkansas in 2018, and became a starter at linebacker as a senior.
“It’s a great example about how kids determine their future,” Young said. “It’s not about statistics, or height, or size. It’s about performance and Grant has earned everything he’s gotten.”
Clark and Morgan are extensions of what Arkansas football is all about, guys with strong ties to the state who grew up wanting to play for the Razorbacks and refused to take no for an answer. Guys like the late Brandon Burlsworth, college football’s ultimate walk-on whose likeness appears on a trophy that is handed out each year to a top college player who began his career in the same fashion.
Quick reminder: A walk-on is a player who joins a program without the benefit of a scholarship. He’s basically told, yes, we kind of like you, but we don’t think you’re good enough to receive one of the 25 scholarships we offer each year. If you want to come up and try out, fine. If not, that’s OK, too.
It happened to Morgan, who was our Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year after he helped Greenwood to a 12-1 record in 2015. Morgan followed the same path as his brother, Drew, who became an outstanding receiver at Arkansas after beginning his college career as a walk-on.
Greenwood is known in Arkansas as a football town. Former Greenwood quarterback Jabe Burgess sang about it when he began his career as a singer and songwriter in Nashville. Perhaps Burgess needs to update the video and add shots of Morgan’s performance against Ole Miss.
Oh, yes, and don’t forget to insert a few images of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin with his hands on his knees while watching his quarterback throw six interceptions against the Razorbacks.
No one knows for sure yet how improved Arkansas (2-2) is from recent years. We’ll know more about the Razorbacks against Texas A&M (3-1), which has won eight consecutive over the Hogs.
But one thing is for certain: Sam Pittman has tapped into that “Fightin’ Razorbacks” spirit former Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield used to talk about so much. That winning formula begins — not with 4-star recruits from Florida or Texas — but with young men with Arkansas ties who wanted to be Razorbacks and refused to take no for an answer.
Guys like Grant Morgan, Hudson Clark, and Brandon Burlsworth, whose story inspired an entire nation.