Sign up for an annual HawgBeat subscription and get $50 for Arkansas gear on the Rivals Fan Shop ––> details

College Students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95. Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to nchavanelle@yahoo.com.

Feleipe Franks admits that his journey from Florida to Arkansas has been “crazy.”

A highly touted recruit - a 6.0 four-star, to be exact - coming out of high school, he redshirted, experienced a coaching change, won the starting job and then lost it after suffering a season-ending injury last season.

Speaking to reporters via a teleconference Friday for the first time since choosing to end his career with the Razorbacks, Franks said Fayetteville felt like it was the right fit.

“It was important for me to find somewhere that kind of felt like that next home,” Franks said. “Somewhere that I felt like I could thrive (and) I wouldn’t have as many distractions around me.

“Somewhere I could just thrive in the classroom, as well as on the football field and get to my main goal, which is obviously playing on the next level.”

When he arrived in Arkansas for his official visit, a conversation with new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles was high on his priority list. Thankfully for the Razorbacks, that was enough for him to decide to join first-year head coach Sam Pittman’s program.

“I wanted to sit down (with him) because that was one of the most important things for me - what kind of offense am I going to be in,” Franks said. “I really liked Coach Briles’ philosophy, Coach Pittman and everything they bring to the table.”

Briles’ success at Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Houston and - to a lesser degree - Florida State is well documented. What Franks specifically likes about his system is that it emphasizes freedom.

It’s not exactly the same, but he said it was similar to what he was used to running at Florida.

“I think it’s a really productive offense,” Franks said. “It’s going to be really productive here. I believe in it, our players believe in it and our team believes in it. … It’s worked before. I’ve seen it work before. It’s been proven to work before.”

In a normal year, Franks - as a midyear enrollee - would have been able to learn that system and get plenty of reps in during spring practice. It would have been capped by the annual spring game that was scheduled for Saturday.

That has of course not happened because of the coronavirus pandemic. All athletics activities were put on hold just days before Arkansas’ first scheduled practice. Instead, the Razorbacks have been implementing the playbook virtually.