Age is just a number for Scherer
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FAYETTEVILLE — Just a couple of years ago, Michael Scherer was working in real estate when Barry Odom convinced him to return to football as a graduate assistant.
After one season in that role at Missouri and one season as a quality control coach at Arkansas, the 27-year-old has been promoted to a full-time position, becoming the Razorbacks’ linebackers coach earlier this month.
Scherer, who is just half a decade removed from his playing days with the Tigers, is the youngest member of Arkansas’ on-field staff.
“I'm definitely ready for this no matter what age I am,” Scherer said. “I’m ready to push these guys to be the best they possibly can be, and that's the only way I know. The age thing, I get, but I only know one way to do this thing.”
Although he’s the youngest, Scherer is far from the Razorbacks’ only young coach. Just this offseason, head coach Sam Pittman hired him, 29-year-old wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton and 31-year-old tight ends coach Cody Kennedy. They join a staff that already includes 30-year-old defensive backs coach Sam Carter.
Even new defensive line coach Jermial Ashley is only 38. Throw in offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, 38, and six of Arkansas’ 10 assistant coaches are under 40 years old, but that wasn’t necessarily by design.
“I want a guy that can coach, a guy that can recruit, and I don't really care how old he is,” Pittman said. “Sam Carter is one of the best recruiters we have - and coaches - on our staff, and he's not very old.”
Being just 27, Scherer is in a unique spot as a recruiter. Even though he’s not very good, he said he’s comfortable hopping on and playing video games with a recruit.
He also admitted that he understands it’s not exactly the same as when he was a 5.6 three-star linebacker in the Class of 2012 because of all the new social media platforms, but Scherer still vividly remembers getting hounded by coaches and recruiting services, as well as the ups and downs that come with making the transition to college.
“It wasn’t too long ago that I went through that process of having to go to school, do football and everything else that comes along with it and did it at a high level and successfully,” Scherer said. “I think a big part of it is I’ve been in these kids’ shoes even from a recruiting standpoint not that long ago.”
Recruiting was at the heart of each offseason hire Pittman made, but he also got an idea of what kind of coach Scherer is during his lone season as a quality control coach.
Scherer - who knows Odom’s system “inside and out” because he played for him at Missouri - got a dress rehearsal for the position during the week of the Florida game. With Pittman out because of COVID-19 and Odom serving as the interim head coach, Scherer was promoted to an on-field role.
“I knew that Mike knew everything, at least from the linebacker position, about the defense that Barry’s been running and obviously it’s multiple,” Pittman said. “He was here as our quality control guy and again, our players raved about him. He coached them for that week, so that part of it to me was a pretty easy hire.”
As a quality control coach, Scherer said he did a lot of “deep-diving into our scheme,” which helped him make suggestions and adjustments while up in the press box with Odom during games.
Against the Gators, Odom was on the field, but other than that, it was much of the same for Scherer, but he still made a big enough impact on the players that it made Pittman comfortable hiring him for a full-time position.
“Obviously I had a few more responsibilities that week, but nothing crazy,” Scherer said. “Just kind of carried on what I was doing throughout the year and helped them where I could.”
It’s also worth noting that perhaps no one will benefit more from the NCAA’s blanket eligibility relief than Scherer, as second-team All-American Grant Morgan decided to return to Arkansas for a sixth season.
Scherer has two other linebackers returning for an extra senior season in Hayden Henry and Deon Edwards, plus second-team All-SEC selection Bumper Pool coming back for his traditional senior season.
“They definitely set the tone for the room,” Scherer said. “They're the example for all the guys. Obviously being younger and being new to this, it's good to have them to also be able to hammer those guys into shape because the fact of the matter is they've been very successful in what we've done.”
Those older players, as well as Scherer, will be tasked with improving the depth of a unit that has typically struggled in that department.
The Razorbacks hope to have Oklahoma graduate transfer Levi Draper healthy as a fifth-year junior after he missed nearly all of 2020 because of a shoulder injury, but other than that, it’s a young group.
Andrew Parker was a redshirt sophomore and Zach Zimos was a redshirt freshman last season, while the J.T. Towers and Kelin Burrle were true freshmen. Despite being a walk-on, Jackson Woodard also saw some playing time as a true freshman.
Arkansas added a linebacker duo - Marco Avant and Christopher Paul - in its 2021 signing class, as well. (Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan is listed as a linebacker on Rivals, but Arkansas considers him a defensive back - likely as a nickel.)