ESPN College Football

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A few notes, thoughts and observations after chatting with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, a few of his coaches and some of the Hogs' players:

• Junior running back Knile Davis is up to 228 pounds after playing around 218 last season. Davis told me he recently maxed out at 415 pounds on the bench-press and ran a 4.29 in the 40-yard dash. The big thing for Davis is that he’s finally healthy, the first spring he can say that. He broke his collarbone in last year’s spring game and broke his ankle two springs ago. “I think what Knile really needs to understand is that the harder and more physical he runs and the faster he plays, that’s how you stay healthy,” Petrino said. “That’s what he did when Dennis (Johnson) got hurt last year. He just said, ‘I’m going to make sure the coaches know that I’m going to be the guy by finishing every run in practice and being more focused.’ It jumped out. We’re watching video of practice, and there’s not one coach in the room who doesn’t say, ‘That’s a little different No. 7 right there now.’ ”
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Matthew Emmons/US PRESSWIREJake Bequette finished with 7.5 sacks for Arkansas last season.
• When you start listing the top returning defensive ends in the SEC next season, don’t forget about Arkansas senior Jake Bequette, who had 7.5 sacks last season. Arkansas defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said there’s no ceiling for Bequette, and Caldwell knows a star defensive end when he sees one. At Tennessee, Caldwell coached the likes of Shaun Ellis, Leonard Little, Parys Haralson, Will Overstreet and Robert Ayers, all of whom played or are still playing in the NFL. “Jake has as much talent as anyone I’ve ever coached. We just have to get it all put together,” Caldwell said.
• Speaking of the defensive line, the Hogs’ top two tackles are out this spring with injuries -- Byran Jones and DeQuinta Jones. That's meant a lot of quality reps for junior college newcomer Robert Thomas. “Man is he active and probably as good an athlete as we’ve had inside with the combination of size and power,” Petrino said. The other thing about Thomas is that he’s just a sophomore. He redshirted one year at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.
• A guy who’s really exploded in the Hogs’ strength and conditioning program is sophomore defensive end Chris Smith, who’s bulked up to 250 pounds and recently ran just a shade under 4.5 in the 40. Smith’s another guy the Hogs hope to turn loose rushing the passer next season.
• You don’t see very many 17-year-old true freshman offensive tackles who look like Brey Cook, the Hogs’ top recruit in this class who enrolled early and is going through spring practice. The 6-7, 317-pound Cook is working with the first team in DeMarcus Love’s old quick tackle spot. Cook had his struggles last Saturday in the scrimmage going against junior defensive end Tenarius Wright, but Cook sure looks like one of those guys you can build around in the offensive line. Petrino says he’s not sure he’s ever played a true freshman offensive tackle. “That makes you nervous, but he’s a special young man,” Petrino said. “Sometimes when you’re out there at practice, you forget he’s 17 years old and should still be in high school. But I’ll tell you what: He’s very talented. He’s very strong. You very seldom get a young man who has that type of strength. He was very well-coached in high school and cares a lot, so competitive and a perfectionist. He’s in here studying, trying to get better, taking his lumps against those experienced defensive ends, but keeps coming back and keeps competing and is going to be real special before it’s over with.”
• The Hogs have built enough depth that they’re not going to be counting on nearly as many first-year players coming in and playing right away next season. “The nice thing is that they’re really going to have to be good to come in and compete because we do have so much depth coming back,” Petrino said. That said, he thinks at least one of the defensive ends will have a chance to come in and play. Lonnie Gosha of Lake Butler, Fla., was one of the Hogs’ most prized signees. Petrino said junior college linebacker Alonzo Highsmith, Jr., has the kind of speed Arkansas is looking for at that position and is a strong candidate to play early. Highsmith is the son of former NFL running back Alonzo Highsmith, Sr., who played collegiately at Miami. Also, Petrino said it would be nice if one of the freshman cornerbacks (Tevin Mitchell and Kelvin Fisher, Jr.) could come in and be a part of the secondary rotation next season.
• I asked Petrino if he's ever been around a more talented collection of pass-catchers than his top four of Greg Childs, Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton. He smiled and said he's been around some good ones, mentioning the group with the Jacksonville Jaguars when Petrino was there as an assistant that included Jimmy Smith. He also mentioned his Louisville receiving corps, but I think it says something that he brings up an NFL receiving corps when offering up comparisons. Replacing tight end D.J. Williams won't be easy, but junior Chris Gragg has made his share of plays down the field and over the middle this spring. The bottom line is that it's difficult to imagine a deeper, more talented receiving corps in all of college football than what Arkansas will put on the field this fall.

Some SEC links to wrap up the week with:

• Georgia coach Mark Richt is aware of the police report that's out there and the allegations that some of the Bulldogs' football players threatened and hit a couple in a taxi cab last weekend.
• Don Kausler Jr. has a touching story about Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus and all he's overcome in his life to get to this point.
• The bronze statue of Nick Saban is coming to Alabama's Walk of Champions plaza in August.
• Ole Miss safety Tig Barksdale has been suspended from the team for the rest of the spring, and coach Houston Nutt said Barksdale's future with the program is in jeopardy.
• There's no indication that running back Bryce Brown will rejoin on Tennessee's team, and it doesn't sound like he would be welcomed back by some of the players.
• Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's assistant head coach for the defense, looks past all the hype, writes Joseph Person of The State newspaper.
• Brandon Marcello of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette chats with first-year defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell.

Here’s a Western Division breakdown of who’s out and who’s in for the 2010 season. Auburn was the only team in the league without any turnover:

ALABAMA

Who’s out: Associate head coach/linebackers coach James Willis

Who’s in: Alabama coach Nick Saban promoted Jeremy Pruitt from director of player development to fill the vacancy left by Willis, who went to Texas Tech to be Tommy Tuberville’s defensive coordinator. Pruitt had been Alabama’s director of player development for the last three seasons and coached at Hoover High School just outside Birmingham prior to that.

ARKANSAS

Who’s out: Offensive coordinator/receivers coach Paul Petrino, assistant head coach/offensive line coach Mike Summers and defensive ends coach Kirk Botkin.

Who’s in: Garrick McGee was promoted to offensive coordinator after Paul Petrino left to take the Illinois offensive coordinator’s job. Kris Cinkovich will coach receivers after spending the last six seasons coaching receivers at UNLV. Steve Caldwell, who was out of coaching last season, will coach ends. Caldwell was on Phillip Fulmer’s staff at Tennessee for 14 seasons. Chris Klenakis will coach offensive line after coming over from Nevada.

LSU

Who’s out: Assistant head coach/running backs coach Larry Porter, receivers coach D.J. McCarthy and tight ends/recruiting coordinator Don Yanowsky.

Who’s in: Frank Wilson, who was at Tennessee last season, will coach the running backs and serve as recruiting coordinator. Billy Gonzales will coach receivers and serve as the passing game coordinator. Gonzales spent the last five seasons at Florida. Steve Ensminger, a former quarterback at LSU, will coach tight ends. He spent last season coaching high school football, but was at Auburn the six seasons prior to that and has also coached at Georgia, Clemson and Texas A&M.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Who’s out: Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush and defensive line coach David Turner.

Who’s in: Manny Diaz will be the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator and also coach linebackers. He was the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State the previous four seasons. Chris Wilson will serve as co-defensive coordinator and coach the defensive line. He spent the last five seasons coaching the defensive line at Oklahoma.

OLE MISS

Who’s out: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kent Austin.

Who’s in: Dave Rader will coach quarterbacks and take over as co-offensive coordinator for Austin, who left to take the head-coaching job at Cornell. Rader was out of coaching the last three seasons, but was the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Mike Shula from 2003 to 2006. He was also the head coach at Tulsa from 1988 to 1999. Rader will share the coordinator duties with Mike Markuson, who was promoted by Houston Nutt and will also continue to coach the offensive line.

Arkansas' coaching staff looks a little different than it did at the end of the regular season.

The newest addition to the staff is former Nevada offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis, who will coach the offensive line. He replaces Mike Summers, who left to join Joker Phillips' staff at Kentucky.

All told, the Hogs have three new assistants. Steve Caldwell will coach defensive ends and Kris Cinkovich will coach receivers.

Garrick McGee's not a new face on the staff, but he was promoted to offensive coordinator after Paul Petrino left to take the offensive coordinator job at Illinois.

Bobby Petrino announced Wednesday that he's added a couple of assistants -- Steve Caldwell to coach defensive ends and Kris Cinkovich to coach receivers.

Caldwell didn't coach anywhere this season, but spent the previous 14 seasons on Tennessee's staff under Phillip Fulmer. Cinkovich was the receivers coach at UNLV for the last six seasons.

"I’ve known Kris and Steve for a number of years and know the transition for our program will be smooth,” said Petrino. “Steve’s experience in the Southeastern Conference will be invaluable, and the record of success Kris has had with wide receivers speaks for itself. They are both relentless recruiters and great teachers who are familiar with our philosophy.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has made a move on his defensive staff and is bringing in former Tennessee assistant Steve Caldwell as his new defensive ends coach.

Caldwell will replace Kirk Botkin, who resigned. Caldwell didn't coach anywhere this season after spending the last 13 years on Phillip Fulmer's staff at Tennessee. Arkansas wasn't the only school interested in Caldwell. He'd also talked to Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher about a job on the Seminoles' staff.

Caldwell has strong Arkansas ties and was able to go into Arkansas and sign several highly rated players while recruiting that state for the Vols the last decade.