The ninth in a series of position previews for the University of Arkansas football team.
FAYETTEVILLE — The transfer portal was an offseason revolving door for linebackers at the University of Arkansas.
Out went Jaheim Thomas to Wisconsin, Chris Paul to Ole Miss, Jordan Crook to Arizona State and Mani Powell to UNLV.
In came Xavian Sorey from Georgia, Anthony Switzer from Utah State, Stephen Dix from Marshall and Larry Worth from Jacksonville (Ala.) State.
Second-year defensive coordinator Travis Williams has put together a new linebackers corps led by the transfers and sophomore returnee Brad Spence.
Arkansas had to go heavily into the portal considering Thomas and Paul were the team’s top tacklers last season with 90 and 74, respectively.
The Razorbacks also lost their seventh-leading tackler in linebacker Antonio Grier, who had 36 stops in his final season of eligibility. Crook’s 28 tackles ranked 10th.
“Went in the portal and got guys and also went into high school and recruited well, and now it’s our job to figure out where the pieces fit,” Williams said. “We definitely think we’re talented. Now we’ve got to put it all together. But we’re very encouraged by the depth of the linebackers.”
Sorey, a redshirt junior, played in 27 games over three seasons at Georgia, during which the Bulldogs went 42-2 and won back-to-back national championships in 2021-22. He played in 11 games last season and made 19 tackles, including 5 against Alabama when he started in the SEC Championship Game.
“I’ve been knowing Sorey for a long time,” Williams said. “I recruited him in high school.”
Williams said he called Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann when Sorey, who had two starts last season, went into the transfer portal looking to become a full-time starter.
“He helped me with (Sorey),” Williams said. “And he didn’t want to lose him, but it got to the point where the kid, he was like, ‘OK, I need to go somewhere else.’
“And Glenn was like, ‘He’s unbelievable. Unbelievable player, unbelievable person.’”
Sorey is set to start alongside Spence for the Razorbacks this season.
“I feel like he brings a lot of knowledge to the room,” Spence said of Sorey. “He’s been around a bunch of ball, especially being from Georgia.
“He’s got a lot of lateral speed on him. He’s very mobile in the box. He’s got good eyes as a ‘backer, too.”
Switzer called Sorey a “freak” athletically.
“Can jump out of the gym, hit 21, 22 miles an hour,” Switzer said. “He moves different. He’s not normal. He looks like an alien out there.”
Sorey went through spring practice with the Razorbacks.
“He’s been awesome,” Williams said. “So, so humble. He says all the time, like, ‘Man, I’m so happy to be here.’
“But watching him progress from the spring to now, he’s taken another step, another leap because now he’s understanding the defense. In the spring, he was just running around playing football.
“Now he’s understanding why we’re calling different things. He’s been a good get for us.”
Spence is ready for a larger role after making one start last season as a true freshman. He had 16 tackles in 11 games along with an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown in the opener against Western Carolina.
“I’ve improved on my speed and getting to know the playbook, and getting to know it faster,” Spence said. “Really just honing in with the guys, getting used to being out there with the starters.”
Williams said Spence has the ability to play inside or outside and rush the passer.
“He’s just so talented to where we can put him at different positions, and whatever that position may be is what fits the overall defense,” Williams said.
Co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson, who coaches the secondary, praised Williams and Jake Trump, a senior defensive quality control analyst, for how the linebacker room was replenished.
“Right now, one of our strongest positions is the linebacker room,” Woodson said. “Coach T-Will and Coach Jake Trump, they’ve done a really good job in terms of replacing some guys and bringing guys in that fit what we do.
“So with that we have to find packages to get more of the linebackers on the field, that puts four linebackers on the field.”
Dix, who is getting second-team work with Switzer, had 67 tackles and 2 sacks in 13 games at Marshall last season. He played in 21 games at Florida State and combined for 59 tackles in 2020-21 and redshirted in 2022 with an undisclosed injury before joining the Thundering Herd.
“I didn’t know anything about him,” Williams said. “We were looking to get linebackers and we reached out to him and got him on the visit and he committed. I didn’t know him from a can of paint.”
Williams said he wanted Dix once he got to know more about him and said he can plug the middle of the defense and get his teammates in the proper fits.
“Really quick to diagnose in the box,” Williams said. “Very smart. Quiet, but he asks the right questions and he can run. He can run, run. When you see him, he looks like a linebacker. He’s put together, like a created player out there.”
Arkansas is also the third program for Switzer, who is from Marion. He played three seasons at Arkansas State, transferred to Utah State in 2022 and redshirted with a knee injury.
Switzer had 85 tackles in 12 games last season with 3 sacks at Utah State. In 28 career games, Switzer has 175 tackles.
“I’ve been around some great coaches at Arkansas State and Utah State, and now here,” Switzer said. “But through that whole process, you get to pick different defensive coordinators’ and defensive coaches’ minds. You just learn a lot of things and you get to see other people’s perspective on things.
“I’d say that’s one of the biggest things that helped me. Some things I learned, I can tell T-Will how I see things. I learned that from another DC’s perspective. He might not have looked at it that way. Just helping him to become a better defensive coordinator so that he can help me become a better player.”
Defensive backs coach Deron Wilson said Switzer has the ability to play safety as well as linebacker.
“I think one day, he’s going to be a really, really good coach,” Wilson said. “Just talking to him, that guy is extremely intelligent and he has the ability to run. He has the toughness of a linebacker but the ability of a defensive back.”
Bradley Shaw, a 4-star recruit, has stood out among the freshmen and is getting third-team reps along with sophomore Alex Sanford, who played 135 snaps on special teams last season.
“I think we’re pretty good, and I think we’re deep,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said of the linebackers. “We’ll wait and see till the games come, but I think we’re in pretty darn good shape right there.”
Linebackers at a glance
LOSSES Jaheim Thomas (10 starts in 2023), Chris Paul (9), Antonio Grier (2), Jordan Crook (1), Mani Powell
WHO’S BACK Brad Spence (1), Carson Dean, Alex Sanford, Kaden Henley
WHO’S NEW Xavian Sorey (2*), Anthony Switzer (11#), Stephen Dix (7@), Larry Worth (5&), Justin Logan, JuJu Pope, Bradley Shaw, Wyatt Simmons
WALK-ONS Brooks Both, Preston Davis, Mason Schueck, Joseph Whitt, Brooks Yurachek
*at Georgia; #at Utah State; @at Marshall; &at Jacksonville (Ala.) State
ANALYSIS
The linebacker room underwent major changes. Top players left and were added via the transfer portal, notably Sorey, who is talented enough to have started for Georgia. Spence, a sophomore, has been running with the starters since the spring. Switzer, a sixth-year player, brings versatility and experience. Dix had starts at Florida State before redshirting in 2022 with an injury and becoming an impact player at Marshall. Among the freshmen, Shaw is getting reps on the third team. Coaches like the depth.