Captain nod leads to emotional moment for Franks

Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks throws a pass during practice Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman began to see Feleipe Franks taking firm control of Arkansas’ football team around 10 days ago.

During his first preseason radio show on Sept. 9, the Razorbacks’ first-year head coach noted that Franks, the graduate-transfer quarterback from Florida, was finally coming into his own and being the leader the Razorbacks expected him to be.

Earlier this week, Franks’ teammates recognized his leadership qualities by naming him one of Arkansas’ four captains in a team vote. Running back Rakeem Boyd, defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall and linebacker Grant Morgan — all seniors — rounded out the top vote getters.

Earning the captain nod meant a lot to Franks.

“I think he was emotional when we talked about him being elected by his teammates as a captain,” Pittman said Friday via Zoom. “He took a major chance leaving Florida, coming to Arkansas — or leaving Florida to begin with and then choosing Arkansas. And then to go from, ‘I want to play, I want to try to start, I want to do all these things,’ to the team electing him as captain without spring ball.

“That’s pretty reflective of him and his character.”

Pittman did not go into great detail about the moment when Franks learned the results of the vote, but he did say instances like those validate his decision to get into coaching.

“He was very thankful to the football team,” Pittman said. “I’m not going to tell you what he said, but it was an emotional moment. It was really neat. … Expectations of your team have to start with your head coach, but it has to trickle down.

“One of those positions has to be your quarterback.”

Franks has not publicly been named the Razorbacks’ starting quarterback, but every indication is that he will lead the offense on the field against No. 4 Georgia next Saturday. Franks was a multi-year starter at Florida, including last season when he suffered a season-ending injury in the Gators' third game.

Tight end Blake Kern described Franks as a “great leader” earlier this week, and receiver De’Vion Warren also labeled the quarterback a coach on the field. That is music to Pittman's and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles’ ears.

“The quarterback, you can say, is going to win and lose you games, and a lot of that is true,” Briles said last week. “That ball goes through him every single snap, so he’s got to be an extension of us as coaches on the field. One of the things that we tell our quarterbacks is we feel like predictability is the most important ability.

“I should know where that ball is going on every snap and hopefully the quarterback is on the same page as that. Through that, you’ve got to be protecting that sucker, as well.”

Sophomore receiver Trey Knox is eager to hit the field with a veteran quarterback who has experience facing a number of the top teams in the country. He said Franks has a big arm and is a cerebral player.

“It’s always good to have a veteran on your team,” said Knox, who finished 2019 with three touchdown catches. “He’s been doing this for years, year in, year out. Just having that guy that knows the ropes, knows what people do and how to play against this competition is always needed.

“He knows what he’s doing, doesn’t mess up that much, that I’ve seen. He likes to push the ball down the field and he can make plays with his legs, too.”