Luke Hasz could have thrown his former quarterback under the bus.
The Hogs’ star tight end didn’t have to go out of his way to praise KJ Jefferson, the former Razorback signal-caller who broke so many Arkansas football records but left on a downer after two dreadfully anemic losses to Auburn and Missouri last season.
Still, when given the chance to contrast Jefferson with the new Hogs’ new on-field leader, quarterback Taylen Green, Hasz’s first instinct was to laud the former Hog star who helped him get off to one of the best freshman season starts in Razorback history.
“KJ was an amazing quarterback to play with,” the Razorback sophomore said on the “The Zone” on The Buzz 103.7 FM today. “I was very blessed to be able to have him as a quarterback, for not just me, but for the whole team last year. And he’s going to do great things at UCF.” (Indeed, Jefferson comes into 2024 with the 15th-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy.)
Hasz then went on to lavish praise on Green, a junior transfer from Boise State, as well as his offensive line. He’s excited to be feeling 100% back after breaking his clavicle in last season’s September 30 game vs Texas A&M. On one level, his compliments may come across as run-of-the-mill for this the Optimism Industrial Complex that powers so much of every college football program this time of year. Everything’s hunky-dory when so many tickets need to be sold, after all.
It’s what Hasz left unsaid, however, that points to a healing more significant than even his own.
Luke Hasz on Taylen Green & Arkansas Football
Hasz told Justin Acri and DJ Williams that he’s been especially impressed by Green’s “spark, and his energy, and his genuine care and friendship for all the guys on the team, whether that’s defense or offense, or people who are playing a lot or not playing a lot.”
He continued: “It’s been cool to see that. And just the way he goes about football, and how his IQ, and he’s always in the film room, and then we’ll go out and catch and throw together, and talk about things. So it’s been awesome being able to do that.”
If you think this is the kind of thing every high-major college quarterback would be doing with his group of receivers, think again.
Last off-season, for instance, KJ Jefferson apparently turned down offers to throw with his 2023 receiving corps. That would definitely explain part of why passing production fell off a cliff after Hasz’s injury.
It would also explain why Green’s desire to throw with his own receiving corps stands out to Hasz, as well as this comment about his new QB from the spring:
In terms of attitude, it’s clear Arkansas is getting an upgrade this season with what Taylen Green is bringing to the table. It’s a near certainty that the scheme will be superior with Bobby Petrino rather than Dan Enos running things from the offensive coordinator position, too.
As much as Jefferson apparently mailed it in at times last off-season/season, he wasn’t the only such player on the team – just the most high-profile. And Enos’ role conducting the entire train into the ditch should never be forgotten. He could have insisted that Jefferson throw the ball with his receivers, but didn’t. He also could have done more to ensure the offensive line didn’t become the mess it did.
Can’t Forget the Offensive Line
Last year, Arkansas never found steady help at the tackle position. Each of the guys who manned that position the most – Andrew Chamblee, Devon Manuel and Patrick Kutas – are gone. Chamblee and Manuel transferred out, while Kutas has been moved inside where Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman says he’s doing much better.
In their place have arrived transfers Keyshawn Blackstock and Fernando Carmona, Jr., who’s good enough to become the first Razorback OT taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Luke Hasz loves what he sees so far lining up next to those two: “They have been awesome with communicating. And you can tell too, that we’re all really close to each other. That’s the big thing with this team this year – we’re all really close to each other. So we know that we have each other’s back.”
A lot of credit here goes to Eric Mateos, the new offensive line coach. He’s spent months trying to rectify the broken cohesiveness he found on the offensive line after arriving in the winter. Some of that comes through new faces and new attitudes, some of it comes through more shared meals and NFL film watching sessions and some of it comes from essentially shaming his guys into better camaraderie.
“One of the things I felt like we really needed to improve on from last season watching the film is there’d be guys getting tackled and nobody picked the guy up,” Mateos said in the spring. “If you don’t go help somebody off the ground, it doesn’t matter if it’s a back, a receiver or anybody, then that’s a ‘loaf’ and we’re pointing those things out big time.”
What Really Hurt Arkansas Football
What ailed Arkansas the most in 2023 wasn’t the injury to Hasz’s collarbone, as devastating as that turned out to be when it came to offensive production.
No, what hurt the Hogs the most was as lack of discipline and attention to detail – too little failing to go the extra mile. That shouldn’t be a problem, at least on offense, with the more demanding Petrino around.
When discussing what Petrino has brought to Fayetteville, Hasz added “a big thing is discipline and making sure that whether it’s with football or not with football, that we’re doing every little thing that we can do to prepare ourselves for the season.”
Listen to the whole interview with Hasz here:
More on how Hasz sees his role in the Petrino offense differing from 2023 at 4:20 here:
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