Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/15/2010 at 8:42pm

Check out the interview with University of Arkansas Defensive Coordinator Willy Robinson here:

Arkansas Defensive Coordinator Willy Robinson has taken plenty of heat for the Razorbacks' defense the last two seasons, but people can't take away his confidence.

Robinson visited the Little Rock Razorback Club this evening at Park Hill Baptist Church in North Little Rock and spoke confidently about the defensive strides the team has made since the Liberty Bowl. Robinson focused on defensive expectations, improvements, freshmen and linebackers. 

Robinson spoke confidently about the Razorback players getting ready for the upcoming season, especially after spending two years in the system. The main focus for the coaches have been to bulk up players to prepare for ruthless SEC offenses.

"Our kids were a little lean lean, they didn’t have the bulk on them," Robinson said. "We looked at it from a different approach, I know [Strength and Conditioning Coach Jason] Veltkamp and Coach [Bobby] Petrino sat down and [decided to] continue working on the bulk this summer 'cause obviously we'll get [the players] lean when we get to camp."

Robinson feels that the program has been successful so far.

"We got what we wanted with the mass and the strength and surprisingly enough we didn't lose any speed."

While the defense builds up its strength, Robinson has holes to fill at the linebacker position. Robinson expects Freddy Burton, Jerry Franklin and Terrell Williams to play key roles as returnees, with Bret Harris, Jerico Nelson, Jermaine Love, Ryan Powers and Matt Marshall all showing promise to fight for a spot. Freshmen Braylon

Mitchell and Jarrett Lake are two freshmen who could see time at linebacker this season.

Freshmen have been impressing Robinson as he expects defensive lineman Byran Jones and end Chris Smith to contribute right away, calling them"definite impacts". Robinson had hoped Mitchell would redshirt, but the lack of depth at linebacker may force Mitchell to step up.

The secondary, which gave up too many big plays last year, could see newcomers Daunte Carr, Darrell Smith and Eric Bennett fight for playing time. "[There's] gonna be an interesting competition back there,” Robinson said.

With holes getting filled and two-a-days right around the corner, Robinson sounded pretty optimistic for a defense that was in the lower tier of almost every statistical category in the SEC last year. Arkansas gave up an average of 400 yards a game and finished 89th nationally, but this year is a new season and new expectations follow.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, football, defensive coordinator, Willy Robinson, defense