FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Since arriving at Arkansas in 2019, redshirt junior Malik Chavis has seen his share of ups and downs.
He came to Arkansas and immediately saw the worst season in the program's history, finishing 2-10. He was also a part of last year's team that hoisted an Outback Bowl trophy just two short years later.
While Chavis didn’t see much playing time his first two years with the team, he was a contributor in 2021, appearing at safety in 11 games and starting two, registering 14 tackles and one interception.
The Rison native moved from back from safety to cornerback — where he played at his first few seasons — during spring football, and first-year cornerbacks coach Dominique Bowman said on Monday he can see Chavis playing at the next level if he continues to put in the work.
"Every single opportunity that he gets to play corner, he gets better,” Bowman said. "So, every single day he lines up at corner, he's just better. I think he's a pro if he buys in to the technique and the fundamentals and gets it from the neck up, he'll be a good player. He's long, athletic, he's big, he's strong. Fastball starts, he has been going with the ones, but it's still a competition.”
Chavis came out of high school as a 5.6 three-star recruit, ranked the seventh best player in the state of Arkansas. Coming from a small school, he played both sides of the football as a defensive back and running back.
"Really when I got here, coming from a 2A school, small school, I really didn’t know a lot of (defensive back) stuff,” Chavis said. “So my first couple years, I had to get accustomed to (defensive back) technique and all that. Then just switching from corner to safety. At safety, you’ve just gotta look a lot more for the whole field, and then for corner, it’s just you’ve got to focus more on that one guy.”
At 6-feet-3-inches and 200 pounds, Chavis has the size to compete with the wide receivers he’ll line up against, but he said he’s got the speed to help correct his mistakes, as well.
"Really just my speed,” Chavis said. "Like, if I mess up, you know, just bite on the wrong thing, I have a lot of catch-up speed. So I would just say just catching up and being long, a receiver has to go around me and stuff like that.”
Chavis also said Bowman’s coaching style has helped him grow into his new role.
"Coach Bowman is more of a detail guy. He’s focused on the details. There are a lot of things you can take from him, different stances and stuff. Basically like just an inch step closer to being in the right position to make that play. That’s what I’d say about Coach Bowman. He’s a very detailed guy.”
With where Arkansas has been in the last four seasons, playing with a chip on the shoulder is almost a given. Being ranked in the preseason top-25 doesn’t change that culture.
"Last year was great, but last year was last year,” Chavis said. "We've definitely got something to prove."
