The Arkansas Razorbacks have as much depth and talent at the running back position as any team in the nation and that is due in large part to fourth-year running backs coach Jimmy Smith.
College football fans across the country learned the name Raheim "Rocket" Sanders in 2022 after he dashed for 1,443 rushing yards and 10 scores as a sophomore. Behind Sanders was a strong duo of AJ Green and Rashod Dubinion, two running backs who could start at a lot of other schools.
The list doesn't stop with Sanders, Green and Dubinion, though. Dominique Johnson — who led the team in rushing touchdowns during the 2021 season — is back from multiple ACL tears and true freshman Isaiah Augustave is coming along quickly in practice.
Simply put, the Razorbacks have five legit SEC running backs. How the heck did the coaching staff manage to pull that off? Jimmy Smith.
Head coach Sam Pittman named Smith associate head coach during the spring and part of that was likely due to the way Smith's players act.
"You know, a good coach keeps his players out of my office," Pittman said of Smith. "Now, they come in to visit but it’s not … 'Hey, hey' … Jimmy does a great job. They respect him. Obviously we haven’t gone in the portal there, so that means two things to me: We’re recruiting really well there, and, two, there’s not conflicts in there."
It could be very easy for players like Green (junior) and Johnson (redshirt junior) to transfer out and find a school that will let them be a workhorse running back. Green even admitted Saturday to knowing they could transfer if they wanted to.
"We all know like if we wanted to go somewhere else we could play, but why do that when we have the best players right here that’s going to push us to our potential?" Green said. "And we’re brothers. We don’t hate on each other like he’s getting this many carries this and that. We’re just pushing each other to be the best we can."
Smith has built a room of guys that feed off of each other. When he was hurt last season with a torn ACL, Johnson was still there with the running backs as if he was going to go out on the field on Saturday. Those things don't happen if the culture isn't strong.
Having so many mouths to feed should be a very stressful task for a coach, but it's not for Smith.
"Honestly, from the outside it looks difficult but for me it is fun," Smith said. "I've got 1A, 1B, 1C, and I've got Dominique and Isaiah on the way. It ain't difficult for me. It's fun. They compete. Like I say about the guys all the time, it's fun because I know one is going in to run for 10 and the other one is thinking maybe I can run for 15.
"The next one is saying give it to me and I'll run for 20. They're not selfish at all. They all want to see each other be successful, and they all want to do better. It's a fun thing for me."
Making sure your players that are disciplined and unselfish starts with recruiting, which is something Smith excels at.
Before moving to the college level, Smith was a coach at Cedar Grove High School in Metro Atlanta for 12 years. He was the head football coach for six seasons and he led the team to a pair of state titles an a 67-14-1 overall record.
Smith understands how players function at all levels of football and he's been able to take that knowledge and make the players stand-up young men.
"We hold them accountable from the beginning," Smith said. "We hold them accountable for the expectations we give them. You give them an expectation, and they meet it. If they don't meet it, they get a consequence. If they meet them, we give them the praise.
"Guys hold each other accountable. It's kind of funny to them. They might say, 'Make sure you're not late.' And someone might say they aren't worried about the running backs. It's easier for me because they hold each other accountable."
Smith has his work cut out for him over the next few weeks, though. Arkansas has two practices down and 23 left in fall camp ahead of the season opener on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
