FAYETTEVILLE – Eli Henderson is responsible for keeping track of the latest stats during University of Arkansas football practices.
He counts “daps”.
Henderson, a former center who retired from football after last season for health reasons, counts how often the offensive linemen high-five each other during practice – with hand gestures like high fives and fist bumps.
Offensive line coach Eric Mateos had the idea to promote cohesion in a room with many newcomers.
“We’re currently talking about having 100 daps a day,” Mateos said Saturday. “That’s our goal, simply because it creates a sense of togetherness.”
Mateos said the linemen hit a camp-high 131 daps on Friday and surpassed 100 on Saturday after missing the mark in Thursday’s scrimmage.
“I think we’ve been so focused on playing the game instead of saying, ‘Hey, let’s play this together,'” he said of the practice game. “So it’s good to see that it’s been a high number the last few days.”
Veteran right guard Josh Braun, who started 11 games last season, said the daps seemed cheesy at first.
“But as the day goes on, you get used to it and it brings a certain energy to the beginning of the period that you really need to have a good session,” Braun said. “So we do an inside run and we slam each other. The defense is thinking, ‘Oh man, these guys are playing together. They’re here to have fun and they’re here to beat us up, basically.'”
Fernando Carmona, a redshirt junior transfer and 24-game starter at San Jose State over the past two years, is the first-team left tackle.
“It’s just fun, man,” Carmona said. “I think it fosters the mindset that we have to stick together during these long practices and try to continue to show love and support our brothers.”
The goal for the offensive linemen is to score a lot of hits in games after good plays, which were in short supply last season.
Arkansas ranked 128th in the country with 47 sacks allowed – resulting in a loss of 351 yards – and averaged 139 rushing yards, ranking 89th.
These numbers didn’t just affect the offensive line, but the problems at forward defense led to Mateos replacing Cody Kennedy, who left the team to become Mississippi State’s offensive line coach, and numerous transfers.
Redshirt junior Keyshawn Blackstock, a transfer from Michigan State, works as the No. 1 right tackle. Redshirt sophomore Addison Nichols, a transfer from Tennessee, has played as a first-team center and left guard, and Joe More, a seventh-year transfer from Syracuse who also played at Richmond, works as a tackle and guard.
Patrick Kutas, a junior who started at tackle last season, moved to guard in the spring and worked with the starters at the beginning of training camp. Due to a back injury, Kutas missed the final eight practices, in which Nichols and redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins rotated on the top unit as center and left guard.
“I wouldn’t say it caused any problems,” Mateos said. “It gave other guys an opportunity to prove themselves, and it’s never a problem when there are too many centers.”
Redshirt junior Josh Street and redshirt sophomores Tim Dawn – a transfer from Baylor who followed Mateos to Arkansas – and Brooks Edmonson also work at center.
“It’s been really fun to watch these guys with their different leadership styles,” Mateos said. “We all need to get better at communicating more loudly and understanding that we’re going to be in hostile environments.”
“You can never have too many people willing to play that position.”
Wiggins transferred from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College last season and played in two games.
“He’s a short-legged guy who can play with leverage, but also adjusts his hip angles really well for different running schemes,” Mateos said. “He’s got really strong hands. He’s got a really good handle.”
“He’s done a great job and his football knowledge is underrated. People think that guys like him and I who played juco ball aren’t smart, but he’s a smart guy.”
Fifth-year senior Ty’Kieast Crawford, who appeared in nine games with four starts last season, is fighting for playing time at guard but has been slowed in practice by an ankle injury.
“Ty’Kieast is right in the middle of it,” Mateos said. “He’s doing a great job. He’s really improved his leadership skills. He’s really improved his football IQ.”
Due to a lower-body injury, More played only three games for Syracuse last season after starting 33 games for Richmond.
Redshirt sophomore tackle E’Marion Harris, who played in six games on offense and special teams last season, is also among the players Mateos said can help.
“Our depth is pretty cool because every day I go out there I’m scared, man,” Carmona said of his spot as a starter. “E-Harris has played fantastic.”
“You just want to train harder when you train because you know those twos could be ones.”
Braun, who moved from Florida to Arkansas last year, said the newcomers have fitted in well.
“They’ve done a great job of settling in and understanding what it means to be a Hog,” Braun said. “I feel like last year’s team did a great job of accommodating them.”
“From my personal experience, I can say that this is definitely the closest and most collegial team I have ever been a part of.”
Running back Ja’Quinden Jackson praised the offensive linemen’s cooperation during the camp’s first practice game.
“They’re going to be great,” Jackson said. “Their communication is what makes them great. They communicate through everything, on the field, off the field.”
Mateos said the inspiration for the attack dap-ups was a video of Steve Nash, the Hall of Fame NBA point guard and two-time MVP.
“I saw an old video a few years ago where they counted the number of times Steve Nash touched his teammates while playing and how contagious that is,” Mateos said. “It’s all about making a connection.”
“The game is about connections. There are young people who are feeling a lot of pressure from outside and there is a lot at stake.
“How do you continue to grow and be resilient? You have to be connected in your room, so to me this is just a silly way to keep our guys connected.”
Braun said that sometimes during practice, receivers would outsmart the offensive lineman.
“They caught the ball, got a first down, came around and smacked the O-line, then ran back to line up,” Braun said. “To see that spread on offense just shows how close we are and how we can accomplish anything together.”
