Coach's Corner: Breaking down what Trey Knox brings to Arkansas
Rivals100 Trey Knox made his commitment to Arkansas on Monday, making him the highest-ranked commitment in the Chad Morris era. Knox is expected to be a big factor in the future of program and will be counted on to have a major impact when he arrives on campus. With that in mind, we caught up with Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Oakland head coach Kit Hartsfield to talk about Knox and what Arkansas fans can expect from Knox both on and off he field.
You've been around some special players in your coaching career, where does Trey stack up with those other players?
"Since I've been in Rutherford County I've had a chance to coach Emmanuel Smith, who went to Vanderbilt and was in camp with the Atlanta Falcons this year, I coached Jacoby Stevens directly as the defensive backs coach at Oakland and since I've been here I coaches Master Teague and I've been with Trey and Adonis Otey since they were freshman. Trey ranks right up there with all of those guys. Measureable wise he might be the best one in terms of length and upside. I think as far as this area is concerned he's as good of an athlete who has come through here in a while."
This season you're using Trey at quarterback, wide receiver and at linebacker, what about him as a player makes your comfortable putting him in so many different roles?
"It's really hard to utilized just a receiver only in high school to get them the ball as much as they need it. He can impact the game so much more than that. Just being able to snap him the ball at quarterback in short yardage situations and let him run down hill with his big frame is just another way to make sure we get him 8-10 touches a game as opposed to just playing him at wide receiver and maybe only getting him 3-4. Going into the season we just wanted to make sure that he's either going to get the ball more or he's going to play defense, too. So we're still kind of playing around with that and finding ways to use him and help us win. He's just so athletic and his style at receiver is that he's a physical guy so we knew that and we knew it would translate to defense or running the ball at the point of attack and it just shows how tough he is and how gritty he is and how competitive he can be."
Some people question Trey's speed. As a coach, what's your take on the matchup problems he creates with his size and strength as opposed to smaller, faster wide receivers?
"Currently he doesn't run a 4.4 but he's 6-foot-4, 200-plus pounds and he's only been 17 for two months. So there's not many guys his size in the country that are considered a speed receiver. Not everybody can be Julio Jones straight out of high school. With his size and his frame and that offense that Coach Morris has, he uses guys like that well. Everyone has corners that run fast so you have fast corners on fast receivers but they can't matchup with his size. Good ball placement and things like that, it doesn't matter if they're covering him or not because he's really always open because of his ability to go up and make plays."
What have the Arkansas coaches talked to you about in terms of their plan for using Trey at the next level?
"He'll obviously fit in great with their scheme, especially if you look at what they did at Clemson when Coach Morris was there and then moved onto SMU and had a couple of wide receivers go onto the NFL. They expect him to come in ready to play and I think that's why he's so high on their list. He's already developed physically and he's ready to play. He's not going to get pushed around and they can still coach him and get him better but in terms of God's gifts that they can coach, he already has that. He's worked hard and prepared himself to be ready to play as a freshman."
What should Arkansas fans expect from Trey both on and off the field from a personality standpoint?
"He's a really emotional and competitive player. He's going to be a guy that competes really hard and it will cause the fans to like him because of his style of play and the emotion he plays with because he loves the game. I think a lot like Jauan Jennings at Tennessee, who the fans love because he plays with passion. The way they play is exciting for a fan base to have a guy like on your team."