Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Kiero Small epitomizes the Bobby Petrino recruit. As a 5-foot-10 runner whose strength was blocking, he fell below the radar of the national recruiting "gurus" as Petrino and the Razorbacks signed Small out of Hartnell Community College in Valley Forge, Pa., in February 2011. But immediately, when the former Hog coach was discussing that particular recruiting class, his eyes lit up over the way Small could light people up as a blocking back and how he hit as a linebacker.

While never wowing the recruitniks with his signing classes, Petrino recruited complementary players for the handful of 4-stars in his time as Hog head man, and it's hard to argue with the success of Petrino's last two teams who went a combined 21-5 and finished last season ranked No. 5 in the country. Petrino's style of finding players to fit a system was similar to another very successful UA coach — Nolan Richardson, who reached three Final Fours and won the 1994 national championship by finding overlooked players to complement the few stars.

No better example of Richardson's style of recruiting was 6-6 forward Lenzie Howell, who couldn't crack the starting lineup on his talented San Jacinto, Texas, junior college team but was the straw that stirred the drink on the Razorbacks' 1990 Final Four team. Howell was unsung among the basketball recruiting "experts," but he fit Richardson's style perfectly. From that point on, fans always hoped Richardson would "find another Lenzie Howell."

Small, a Baltimore native, regularly showed fans last fall what Petrino had long known when he pancaked defenders from his fullback position, opening up gaping holes for the Arkansas running game near the end zone.

In the spring, Arkansas began looking at the 255-pound Small helping out the thin linebacking crew under defensive coordinator Paul Haynes to go along with Small's fullback duties for offensive coordinator Paul Petrino. That experiment has moved further along to the "likely to happen" phase now, Haynes indicated on Thursday at a media gathering at the annual Razorback Coaches Golf Scramble.

Senior Tenarius Wright shifted from defensive end to the apparent starting middle linebacker in the spring. Returning weakside linebacker Alonzo Highsmith missed spring drills recuperating from a torn pectoral muscle, but he will be full-speed when Hog preseason practices begin Aug. 2.

Wright will need to continue to grow comfortable in the middle spot, Highsmith will require many reps to get back into a playing groove, Haynes said Thursday, and Small will take some reps at linebacker as well — "As much as possible," Haynes said — when Small is not on the opposite side of the ball.

"As Coach [John L.] Smith has said, he's too good of a football player to have on the sidelines," Haynes said. "So, when Paul [Petrino] and those guys are not using him, he'll be over there with us. We've just got to figure out what's the best way to put him in there, the smartest way to put him in there, and get him in there and do it."

What's noticeable, if not maybe somewhat troubling, for this team is that few other names pop up when the 2012 linebacking position is discussed. Wright had to be moved there to fill a major void. There are backups, but none seem to fit the prototype of the 250-pounds-plus, run-stopping linebackers of the Southeastern Conference. The stumpy Small certainly doesn't resemble the rangy 6-4 types at Alabama, either, but at least he brings some stopping power and has shown the propensity for deliving a hit.

Haynes' No. 1 goal for his defense is to stop the run. His early focus, as it was in the spring, will be on tackling, he said Thursday. Small will need every rep he can get, so his fall practices figure to be busy.

"He's excited about doing it," Haynes said. "He's a leader on this football team, and that's the great thing about him."

Notice the effort of the coaching staff to make sure every designated "leader" is on the field as much as possible and not sitting, standing or holding clipboards on the sideline. For instance, leadership qualifications are a major reason Paul Petrino said he wants to have quarterback Brandon Mitchell on the field as a receiver, too. Mitchell doesn't figure to play a great amount at quarterback as long as senior Tyler Wilson is healthy, and Mitchell trailed redshirt freshman Brandon Allen in the spring rotation of quarterbacks after returning from playing basketball for the Hogs. But he's 6-6 and has shown on the basketball court that he's clearly athletic enough to help at a position such as receiver.