Wonder Boys unveil defense
BY DOUG CRISE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Arkansas Tech vs. North Alabama WHAT NCAA Division II second-round playoff game WHEN Noon Central today WHERE Braly Municipal Stadium, Florence, Ala. RADIO KWKK-FM, 100.9, in Russellville INTERNET http://athletics.atu.edu FLORENCE, Ala. — It was a bad day at the office for Jeff Byrd. Byrd, Arkansas Tech’s first-year defensive coordinator, stood on the sideline of North Alabama’s Braly Municipal Stadium on Oct. 3 and watched as North Alabama quarterback Harrison Beck riddled the Wonder Boys secondary for 431 yards and five touchdowns, and the Lions rolled to a 42-17 victory. Things haven’t been the same since. “Every week, we got a little bit better,” said senior linebacker Matt Kitchens of Russellville. “You could feel that people were believing.” The Wonder Boys have not lost since that long night in Florence, earning them a second shot at the Lions to-
day in a second- round NCAA Division II playoff game, again at Braly Municipal Stadium. Arkansas Tech held three of its last five regular-season opponents to 24 points or less, turning in its best performance in a 41-13 first-round victory over No. 11 North Carolina-Pembroke. “For us, we know our finest football on the defense has yet to come,” said Tario Dansby, a junior safety out of Ashdown. The Arkansas Tech football program has been waiting for its defense to rise in recent seasons. The Wonder Boys allowed 461 yards per game and 33.6 points per game in 2008. The year before, Arkansas Tech was giving up 444 yards per game and 31.7 points per game. Going into today’s game, the Wonder Boys are allowing 364.5 yards per game (96.6 yards less than 2008) and 24.4 points per game (9.2 points less). Arkansas Tech is also holding teams to 120.5 less rushing yards than it did a year ago, while improving its turnover ratio to plus-4. That’s what Wonder Boys Coach Steve Mullins was aiming for when he hired Byrd away from Gulf South Conference rival Southern Arkansas in the off-season. Byrd had spent four seasons with the Muleriders, three out of those four seasons being losing ones. Mullins said he noticed the defensive talent Byrd had assembled in Magnolia despite the losing. But beyond that, he noticed the way the Muleriders’ defensive players approached the game, even in the final minutes of blowouts. “Even when things weren’t going their way, the defense would come out and play hard,” Mullins said. “Whether it was 41-7 or 21-21, when Jeff was coaching there they played with the same intensity.” “Intensity” is a word that gets bandied about a lot when it comes to Byrd, whether it be from Mullins or his players. But Byrd isn’t the typical tightly-wound yeller and screamer. “Kids either know you care, or they know you don’t,” Byrd said. “I tell them all the time, I’ll be the first one to get on their tail and the first one to hug their neck. We talk about family all the time. We talk about being brothers. I don’t have one problem about looking them in the eye and telling them that I love them.” There are different ways to show love. Byrd rolled into Russellville without much in the way of platitudes about the values of hard work. Rather, starting in winter workouts and carrying over into spring football, Byrd made it clear that lack of effort would mean lack of playing time. Yet given Arkansas Tech’s recent lack of defensive success, a shakeup of old attitudes was just what was needed. But with every demand and every sweeping change, Byrd injected his own unshakable confidence into the mix. And a long-struggling unit got a crash-course in self-perception. “He really brought it to a standpoint where you believed that what he does can make it in this conference,” Kitchens said. “Because he did it in places in this conference.” Byrd’s confidence and demanding nature float very close to the surface, but so does his sense of humor. He’s not afraid to crack self-depreciating jokes about coaching a unit that plays alongside one of the nation’s best offenses, and he said on a recent radio interview that he’d love to give quarterback Nick Graziano a few snaps at linebacker. Byrd said he’s not bringing any personal feelings into today’s game, even with the Oct. 3 drubbing fresh in everyone’s mind. Then again, it’s hard to be bitter given how his defense has played since. “I talk a lot about passion and emotion,” Byrd said. “I think a lot of times, when bad things happen, it’s how kids react to it. If you’re not matching the other team’s passion and emotion, then you’ve got problems.” Tale of the tape ARKANSAS TECH NORTH ALABAMA Russellville Location Florence, Ala. 8,832 Enrollment 6,300 Gulf South Conference Gulf South 528.18 (2) Total offense 428.64 (20) 364.55 (89) Total defense 286.73 (20) 382.09 (3) Pass offense 316.73 (8) 146.09 (73) Rush offense 111.91 (115)