Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Pay close attention when Arkansas is defending kickoffs Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.

You’ll likely notice backup kicker Cameron Bryan taking part in kick coverage. Bryan will very likely be one of the first — if not the first — players to make it downfield.

Bryan, believe it or not, might be the most athletic guy on this Razorbacks roster. His 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash ranks among the team’s Top 10 (seriously, 4.4) and his 3.95 time in pro agility drills is the team's best.

Knowing he wasn’t going to overtake Zach Hocker on kickoffs, Bryan began looking for other ways to help the team and lobbied Coach John L. Smith for more responsibility. Bryan has never played any other position than kicker, but figured his athleticism could be an asset to the Razorbacks elsewhere.

“I told Coach I’d play wherever they want me to play,” Bryan said. “I’ll be whatever they need me to be on this team. Just so I can have a chance to contribute and not sit out my senior year. This is my last year.”  

Why are we talking about a guy who sees the field almost exclusively on special teams? Shouldn’t this be more worthy as a note in a 3-and-Out report?

Bryan’s story is worth mentioning here for a couple of reasons.

Here is yet another example of the “doing whatever I can to help the team” attitude that permeates the Razorback locker room. This roster is full of guys of whose “grind” has included switching or adding positions in hopes, not just of getting on the field, but making some meaningful contributions as the Razorbacks attempt to break through and win the SEC Western Division.

There’s former junior college linebacker/fullback turned fullback/linebacker Kiero Small. Brandon Mitchell has transformed from quarterback to one of the top five receivers in the country after Week 1. Tank Wright left behind a defensive end position where he could have been all-SEC to alleviate serious depth concerns at linebacker.

Now we have the backup kicker turned kick coverage specialist who happens to be one of the best athletes on the team. It’s nearly unheard of, really.

Not that we should be all that surprised. Oddities abound with this year’s team and Bryan is another example.

National outlets have dubbed the Razorbacks as the most “intriguing” program in college football. CBS even has a camera crew here for its seven-part College Football Confidential series on Arkansas.