Woodson, Arkansas secondary turning page from last year
It's important to learn from the past, but never a good thing to dwell on it. That's the mentality that first-year co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson is bringing to Arkansas.
At his previous stop with the Florida State Seminoles, Woodson turned around a secondary that ranked 13th in the ACC in pass defense before he arrived as defensive backs coach, to the No. 1 pass defense in the ACC last season for allowing just 158.9 passing yards per game.
After finishing dead last in the FBS in passing yards allowed in 2022, the Razorbacks needed a coach like Woodson to help flip things around. The co-defensive coordinator prefers to focus on moving forward and that's the same approach he's taking in Fayetteville.
"I never look back to last year," Woodson said. "You obviously want to have an idea of what you’re inheriting, if you will. But at the end of the day, it’s about today and moving forward, not yesterday."
Identifying what the 2022 Arkansas secondary did and didn't do well is crucial in the development of Woodson's current players.
"What I do is go back and look at what are the things we did good, or fairly good, and what’s the biggest areas of improvement," Woodson said. "Whatever those areas of improvement are, that’s what we’re going to emphasize."
One of the takeaways for Woodson was that the 2023 secondary needed to bond as a group more. Oftentimes, the 2022 secondary wouldn't play as a team and communicate — leading to blown coverages.
"Coming here to Arkansas, I felt watching film and just getting some history of what went on last year, the first thing was just coming together as a group," Woodson said. "It was the same way at Florida State. I tell the guys all the time, if you want to go far, go together. If you want to get there fast, go by yourself. But it’s a long journey and we want to go far, so we’re going to go together."
So far, the players in the Razorbacks' defensive backfield have done a good job of building chemistry and creating a brotherhood. That mindset can carry a team a long way.
"It’s a brotherhood and it’s amazing how much you can accomplish just by bringing guys together and having some oneness, if you will," Woodson said. "I’m excited with the chemistry in the room and where we’re going. They know it’s going to be a collective deal for us to be successful. It’s a we and us mindset and not an I and me."
Going into fall camp, Woodson instilled two goals for his players — stacking good days together and being consistently competitive in every single rep.
"Well, we started camp off by saying two things," Woodson said. "We wanted to continue to stack good days. The very first day of camp wasn’t a good day for us on the backend, but ever since then, we’ve stacked good days and we’ve been consistent with doing that."
"Then we said every rep we put on film has to be a competitive rep. If you put a non-competitive rep on tape, then you won’t be on the field. Just putting the emphasis on competing every play and making every rep at practice a competitive rep and that’s what the guys have responded to."
After 11 fall camp practices, a point of emphasis for the players going forward will be better communication, according to Woodson. If one person is offbeat from the rest, it could result in a touchdown.
"We want to play clean Razorback football," Woodson said. "And, you know, 10 guys can be playing the same call and one guy get the wrong call and it’s a breakdown in the defense on the back end. And as you know, we can’t have any breakdowns because when something bad happens on the back end we the last level of defense and everyone in the stadium knows it."
As a defensive back, being disciplined with your eyes is just as important as your hand and foot technique. That's the second point of focus for Woodson during fall camp.
"And just continuing to be disciplined, to do your job with the right technique and making sure your eyes are on the right spot," Woodson said. "You know, so communication and eye discipline — those are the biggest two things for me that I want to see as a coach improve in the group."
Arkansas football's defensive success in 2023 likely hinges on the improvement of the secondary. With Woodson leading the way, the defensive backs are already showcasing the exact attitude they'll need to grow as players and as a group.
"I think we’re headed in the right direction," Woodson said. "It started with what I just said, coming together as a group with a lot of new faces in the room. And then just coming together to improve daily. That’s what those guys have done. They seek daily improvement. They have a ‘coach me, coach’ mindset. As long as they continue to come to work every day, we’ll continue to improve that stat for sure."
The Razorbacks have 14 fall camp practices remaining ahead of their season opener against Western Carolina on Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.