Two hours before the kickoff for the Arkansas-Ole Miss game, I settled into my press box seat to begin doing a checklist on the flip card. In the days of covid-19 there must be confirmation that all hands are on deck at a football game.
But there was a nice distraction to this tedious job. The video boards above each end of Reynolds Razorback Stadium livestreamed the Arkansas basketball practice at Bud Walton Arena.
There was second-year coach Eric Musselman putting his suddenly tall basketball team through drills. It was delightful to watch Musselman break down a technique and push his team through defensive sets. Even the 3-point shooting drills were worth a look, fast-paced and then quickly transitioning into a different skill.
There was 7-3 Connor Vanover dropping in treys, just like the Hogs sank bombs last year. His corner shots looked as fluid and easy as an Isaiah Joe free throw. His release put his follow through so close to the basket that it looked like he was reaching into a cookie jar.
I scrambled to find the roster page on the school website so I could begin to put a name to a number and confirm that Vance Jackson and Justin Smith — two transfers with a reputation as shooters — could drop in treys, too. They can.
There was a solid 45 minutes of basketball on the screen before I snapped to the job at hand, putting checks by numbers on the football roster to make sure who would be available at linebacker and cornerback for defensive coordinator Barry Odom.
That was the worry during the week as the Hogs prepared for the Rebels and Lane Kiffin’s juggernaut of an offense. Would Odom have Bumper Pool and Montaric Brown?
Both Pool and Brown sat out, meaning walk-ons would have to provide depth at both cornerback and linebacker against the Rebels. It should not have been a worry. Everyone Odom put on the field was just as technique- and assignment-sound as those who played so well the first three weeks.
What Odom has done with the Arkansas defense is remarkable. He’s taken the same bunch that failed to tackle and committed dozens of penalties before he was hired, and converted them to SEC-level defenders.
It reminds me what Musselman did with the basketball team last year. Mike Anderson always coached effort and his team often forced turnovers in a high-risk pressure-styled defense.
They played a far different style under Musselman. They denied 3-point shots and played mistake-free defense against the pick-and-roll. Old timers were reminded of the way Eddie Sutton’s teams played man-to-man defense where drives into the heart of the lane and baseline penetration was denied. The Hogs were among the nation’s best at 3-point defense all season.
Yes, Mason Jones, Jimmy Whitt and Joe provided offensive fireworks, but the key to the 20-12 season was the defense. Opponents shot just 44.3 percent overall and only 27.2 on threes.
The only problem with Musselman’s first Arkansas team was depth. It was not built to withstand a knee injury that sidelined Joe for seven games.
They were built to shoot 3-pointers, play defense and display perfect technique in every aspect of the game. It was the kind of improvement in some areas that was easy to see, but maybe too subtle in other areas.
One thing that jumped out at me almost immediately was Musselman’s defenders played with their butt down and their hands up — a perfect defensive stance. It didn’t matter if they were playing five minutes or 40, they maintained their perfect stance. That’s not easy. They were never out of position and they didn’t commit silly fouls.
It’s the same watching Odom’s defenders. They are never out of position. They don’t make penalties. They are in the right spots throughout a play. They don’t get beat deep.
Musselman and Odom produce players who look coached. They play hard, too. That’s the essence of coaching.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s basketball, football or soccer; it’s clear that those sports at Arkansas are getting great coaching these days. And, Musselman knows it’s all related.
Musselman’s drills can be only three minutes long, something I noticed during the practice ahead of the football game. He hustles his players into the next drill and it might be only three minutes long.
It reminded me of something I heard on The Hog Pod taped two days after he was hired, episode 5 in Bo Mattingly’s series on UA athletics. There was insight to how Musselman took the organization from football practices to improve transitions in his basketball workouts.
After he was fired by the Sacramento Kings, Oakland Raiders executive Mike Lombardi invited him to spend time at their front office.
“He called me and said he’d been fired before and he could help me,” Musselman said. “I began eating lunch with him and watching practice. He gave me an office where I could make my basketball lab.”
Musselman’s time watching football taught him methods that fit in basketball, too.
“I was intrigued on how organized football practices were,” he said. “A horn goes off and the players sprint to the next drill.”
So Musselman designed drills that featured a one-minute session on 3-point shooting, followed by a one-minute session on right-hand lobs, then one minute on left-hand lobs.
“I spent some time with Jon Gruden when he coached the Tampa Bay Bucs,” Musselman said. “I watched his goal-line defense work against the scout team. They had big cards that showed the plays.
“That’s where I got our scout team cards that we put down on the floor for walk through. I completely stole that from Gruden’s red zone defense scout team.”
Everyone who has seen Musselman deliver the scouting report with those cards thinks it’s great stuff. Jimmy Dykes watched in amazement as the coach went over the detail the day of last year’s LSU game in Baton Rouge.
Musselman has watched Arkansas soccer coach Colby Hale’s practices and copied some of his techniques for emphasizing effort. No team works harder than Hale’s teams.
It’s no surprise that Musselman has gone to football practices this fall to study what new coach Sam Pittman’s staff has done to turn around that program. No doubt, he’s liked what he’s seen on the defensive end. If he hasn’t spent time with Odom, I’d be stunned.
If someone is good, Musselman is going to figure out how he’s doing it. It’s a never-ending process.
There’s a lot of brilliant stuff going on as far as coaching on the UA campus. From Dave Van Horn to Mike Neighbors to Shauna Taylor to Brad McMakin, there are good coaches everywhere.
They are all smart and ready to copy something that works. And, in a few weeks, they will be watching another masterful coach, Musselman, do his thing.
That’s what I was doing before the Arkansas-Ole Miss football game. It was a delightful start to a great day.