By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
This is the ninth and final part in a position-by-position series previewing the 2010 Razorbacks.
FAYETTEVILLE — Debbie Mallett couldn’t figure out what was eating at her son.
Not long after the quarterback walked off the practice field, in what was Arkansas’ final open workout of the preseason, she realized he wasn’t in a good mood. Ryan Mallett was frustrated, disappointed and, in her words, “not pleased,” even though he had performed well in her eyes as she watched from a shaded seat in the stadium.
The rocket-armed quarterback continued to show no affects of the broken foot that sidelined him most of the summer. He threw one touchdown pass to tight end D.J. Williams, who was wide open, during an 11-on-11 drill. He threw another to wide receiver Joe Adams on a nifty-looking touch pass that drew applause from the large crowd a little later. And it all came two days after a sterling scrimmage performance, in which Mallett threw for nearly 500 yards with five touchdowns passes.
“But he said he wasn’t judging practice by his performance,” Debbie Mallett learned after talking to her son last Saturday. “He was judging the whole team — and the team didn’t have a very good day.”
Expectations around Arkansas — from Bella Vista to West Helena — are higher than they’ve been in years largely because of the quarterback, who set or tied 16 school records last season. The sentiment has spread nationally, too, where Mallett and the Razorbacks recently earned their highest ranking (No. 17) in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 25 poll since 1990.
If last Saturday’s practice might attest, none of it can touch the expectations of the 22-year-old behind the controls of Bobby Petrino’s pro-style offense.
Mallett may be the face of the program, the media guide cover body, and a bonafide Heisman Trophy candidate but insists, rather convincingly, he’s not here to pile up individual honors and awards.
Instead, his only interest is showing Arkansas it can rewrite recent history and achieve something greater, which was the reason for his frustration after last Saturday’s practice.
“I’m here to win championships,” Mallett said. “That’s why I came to Arkansas — to win championships.”
LEADING THE WAY
It’s a bold goal for a program that hasn’t won a conference title since 1989. And a national title since 1964. But one would be hard pressed to find a better leader to follow on the path toward those achievements.
The physical gifts, by now, are well-known: Mallett’s confidence and ability to make any throw has brought a never-before-seen dimension to Arkansas. But equally important is the other intangible he possesses.
Leadership is a lesson the Mallett’s taught their two children at a young age. Don’t settle on following others. Be the one to set the example they always said.
Mallett never had any trouble in that area. Perhaps, his mom said, it had something to do with his size (”He has always been bigger than everybody”). Or natural charisma (”He’s great with little kids and old people”). Or maybe it’s the fact he’s from a family of coaches and educators (”And teachers have a tendency to be bossy”).
It’s probably a little of all three. But then again, Debbie Mallett believes something else is at work.
“Some people just have that leadership quality,” she said. “They’re born with it. It’s innate.
“I think maybe he is one of those people.”
Go ahead and point out the obvious: It’s easy to gush about your own son. But how then to explain what has been said about Mallett from so many others?
Take Jimmy Dykes, the ESPN college basketball analyst and Arkansas graduate, who dubbed Mallett the Razorbacks’ “unquestioned leader” last week. If you listened closely, there wasn’t any objection.
Or consider Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, who isn’t one to hand out compliments like candy on Halloween. But he said one “special” trait Mallett possesses is the ability to win over a room in a matter of minutes.
“I think the greatest thing about Ryan is when he comes into a room or steps on the practice field, everybody’s energy goes up because of the smile that he has and how much he loves competition and loves the game,” he said.
Still not enough? Then try former Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner, who was known as an impressive leader himself during his career. Stoerner — who has had quite a few conversations with Mallett the past couple of years — sees someone that anybody would follow.
“It just seems to come effortlessly for him,” Stoerner said last week. “Whether you come from the same background, or act the way he acts, and talk the way he talks, regardless of what you have in common with him when you step on the field, he’s the guy you look to. … And that confidence, that swagger, man, that stuff is contagious. When you’ve got a guy like him doing it, boy the rest of your team can pick up the same confidence, the same swagger and the same beliefs.”
It’s clear teammates pay attention to the confidence when Mallett zips passes into tight coverage. They get a few laughs when he’s not shy about showing off his dance moves in the locker room. They pay attention when he speaks and notice how hard he works to improve.
Mallett is the one who always seems to set the tone.
“You want your quarterback to be the leader of the team,” Arkansas receiver Jarius Wright said. “You want him to grab people and be able to pull them up.
“Mallett has done that for us.”
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
It doesn’t mean leading comes easy. Or goes as planned.
Mallett — who wants to be the guy teammates can come to for anything — was tested after breaking his foot during an offseason conditioning drill. Two surgeries and roughly six months of recovery time kept Mallett either in a walking boot or using his one good leg to roll around campus on a scooter that made YouTube fame.
But Mallett figured out how to use the time off his feet to get better.
He swam laps in the pool to stay in shape. He watched film religiously and gained a greater understanding for defenses. Though hobbled, he continued to work with his teammates, trying to do his part to help mold Arkansas into a championship-caliber team.
“He had a meeting with our guys where they were talking ball in there,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said. “They came to me and said, ‘We were just surprised how much he knew about the run game. He knew all the line checks.’ They went, ‘It really gave us confidence with what all he knew.’ … He’s working.”
Another example: Tight end D.J. Williams recalled an offseason workout in which one of Arkansas’ freshmen wideouts made a splendid one-handed catch, but didn’t finish the play by sprinting downfield. The Razorbacks shrugged it off and moved on. Not Mallett.
“Ryan was still on his little roller thing, scooting as fast as he could with one foot,” Williams said. “He was in this guy’s ear, telling them to go back, do it again and run full speed. The kid went back, did it again and ran full speed and ever since he hasn’t had that same mistake. The leadership he brings is a coach’s dream.”
Mallett wanted to set the example. He knows everyone is watching.
It’s a lesson he learned in the spring of 2009 when he was arrested for public intoxication.
“It was one of the toughest things to go through,” Mallett said. “I put my family through something that they didn’t need to go through. And I was obviously not doing the right things. … It was the most minor violation for alcohol, but I was wrong and I had to understand that. When I understood that, I moved on.”
Petrino certainly helped get the point across and Mallett rated it as an important turning point. It was the moment he fully understood his responsibilities.
“Everybody makes mistakes,” Mallett said. “Mine was kind of a bigger deal with the position I’m in as a quarterback of the team. But I’ve really just took the worst from it and made the best of it as far as growing up and start doing the right things as a leader.”
CHASING THE DREAM
The college football world knows how much a dominant figure can mean to a team. Tim Tebow was the force behind Florida’s success for four years, willing his team to wins through effort and intensity.
Mallett doesn’t like comparisons to Tebow. The quarterbacks are two different types of players and two very different people. But one Tebow trait Mallett surely respects is the command he has earned.
“A lot of people think Ryan is cocky, but I wouldn’t say it’s being cocky,” Arkansas running back Broderick Green said of Mallett. “I would say confident. … He does everything with the attitude, ‘I know I’m right.’”
That’s why you won’t catch Mallett wondering aloud if he made the right decision to return to Arkansas. There was no debate when he met with his mom, dad and high school quarterbacks coach in a hotel room in the hours after Arkansas’ Liberty Bowl win last January.
Mallett basically wanted to hear everyone else’s thoughts on the NFL. Should he stay? Should he go?
In the end, Mallett knew staying was right.
“Growing up as a fan, I’ve seen what it’s like,” Mallett said. “I felt like they let me come to the University of Arkansas to go to school and to play football for them and they expect a lot out of me. I felt like I would kind of been letting the state down.”
Debbie Mallett wasn’t surprised to hear that type of rationale from her son, who used to park cars for Arkansas games and can vividly recount the heartache of Stoerner’s fumble against Tennessee in 1998.
She thought back to the many times her son was playing football in the backyard. Not once did his childhood conquests have anything to do with the Heisman Trophy.
“He was always playing as a Razorback and they were behind in the SEC championship game,” she said.
“It was never about him. It was always about leading his team to the championship.”
So that quest begins when Arkansas opens the season against Tennessee Tech next week.
Mallett has not shown any signs of being affected by the pressure this preseason. Perhaps, Mallett said, it’s because he expects more out of himself than anyone. And perhaps, his mother said, it’s because her son has never really doubted his abilities in any walk of life.
“I think this opportunity is what he’s been working for, really, his whole life,” Debbie Mallett said.
Mallett can’t do it with his right arm alone. The Razorbacks need blocking up front, a stronger run game and improved defense.
But he is confident, motivated and, thanks to his leadership, so are his teammates.
“This is really important to the kid,” McGee said. “He wants to win. He wants to do his job and lead the team.”
