Braun brings veteran presence to young Arkansas offensive line
The first player to commit to the Arkansas Razorbacks out of the transfer portal following the 2022 regular season was Florida transfer offensive guard Josh Braun.
Head coach Sam Pittman played a big role in Braun choosing the Hogs and it was actually the second time he committed to Pittman.
When Pittman was still the offensive line coach at Georgia, Braun committed to the Bulldogs as part of the 2020 class. When Pittman took the Arkansas head coach position, Braun chose to attend Florida instead.
He spent three seasons as a guard for the Gators. Braun served as a reserve offensive lineman his freshman season in 2020, and he saw action in 11 games. As a sophomore in 2021, Braun started seven games and appeared in 13 at left and right guard.
With head coach Billy Napier taking over for the Gators last season, Braun told HawgBeat in December that it just wasn't a good fit anymore after he played just 24 snaps on the year.
The native of Live Oak, Florida, chose the Hogs on Dec. 5 and since then he's done everything right to earn the starting right guard spot. Braun leads by example on and off the field, according to redshirt senior left guard Brady Latham.
"The biggest veteran thing you can see with Josh Braun is just the way he takes care of his body and the way he prepares pre-practice, pre-football," Latham said. "He’s always in the film room, he’s always taking care of his body. Through that, you can tell that even though he’s a little bit younger, he’s a true veteran and knows how to take care of himself so that he’s ready to play."
A 6-foot-6, 348-pound redshirt junior, Braun is having to work a little bit extra to pick up on the new system, verbiage and pace of coaching the Razorbacks have. The fact that Braun already has SEC experience makes things a little bit easier for him and for offensive lien coach Cody Kennedy.
"He knows how you have to prepare in this league, because he’s done it," Kennedy said. "That provides something along with entire that’s only going to help you. And he’s done a really, really good job taking ahold of the playbook, learning it and coming into our system and providing value."
Braun has ran as the first team right guard during the 11-on-11 fastball periods that the media has been allowed to watch. Pittman said Braun earned the right to start and he's holding on tight to his spot so far.
Arkansas has 10 fall camp practices in the books with 15 remaining ahead of the season opener against Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.