FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas secondary coach Deron Wilson is helping Razorbacks get a degree. They won’t receive an official diploma from the university, but he’s hoping that by the time his defensive backs get their degrees from him, it will translate to more wins.

“We talk about in a defensive back room having a PhD in football,” Wilson said. “When you think about elite players, they’re just not playing off ability. They’re playing off of ability and football IQ. When you get a PhD in football that means you’ll be in the NFL for six plus years just off of, ‘Hey, I understand when two go in, what one is going to do; when two go out, what one is going to do.”

That’s the jump that he’s hoping youngsters like Jaheim Singletary and Jaylon Braxton take in their second years with the program as sophomores to rely on more than just their raw talent. Both of them showcased that with successful freshman campaigns, with Braxton picking up All-SEC Freshman honors from the coaches poll.

“When I see something a third time and I come back in and I’m about to walk up to them and talk to them I’ll be about to walk up and they say that,” Wilson said. “They say exactly what I was thinking. I’m like, ‘All right, we’re heading in the right direction.’ We’re definitely climbing and we’re trending upwards.”

The players have felt that growth within themselves as well, allowing them to play with a renewed confidence.

I think I’ve gotten better with just knowing what the offense is trying to do to me, Braxton said. “What they’re trying to do to the defense. Just recognizing route concepts.”

Coach Sam Pittman will probably require even more out of Wilson’s unit, despite a marked improvement in his first year in Fayetteville. Arkansas finished last year with 202.8 yards allowed though the air, the team’s best mark since 2011, but there may be even more to unlock with the perfect mix of athleticism and now smarts with their “PhD”.

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This article was originally published in Arkansas Advocate.

Amber Govan often can be found inside an unassuming building off 12th Street in Little Rock working with students during after-school programs or consulting federal agencies on community violence intervention through her nonprofit, Carter’s Crew.

Carter’s Crew helps teens in Central Arkansas who have been in the justice system or live in crime-heavy neighborhoods; it stems from Govan’s personal experience of being considered “at-risk” in her own life.

With $200,000 in settlement funds from the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, the nonprofit will add opioid prevention education to its repertoire.

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“We want to be a one-stop shop for everything that families need, as much as possible,” Govan said. “Part of our process is that families, not just the teens but the whole family, go through an intake [process] and identify areas they need assistance with. Substance abuse is a major one, right behind mental health.”

More than 108,000 people in the United States died of a drug overdose in 2023, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same data shows Arkansas had 572 drug overdose deaths in 2023, though the figure could change as the data is finalized.

Carter’s Crew will use the settlement funds to hire a peer recovery specialist, substance abuse educator and a case manager tasked with mitigating risk factors for misuse among teens. Staff will manage a program that will run four 12-week sessions annually, followed by nine months of follow-up for each participant, Govan said.

The program mimics a 12-step program and participants will be referred for outside assistance, such as inpatient services or medication management, when necessary, Govan said.

The settlement funds will also help staff develop an online opioid prevention curriculum, which Govan said will be the first of its kind in Arkansas for the demographic.

Content will include 30-minute videos led by other young people and quizzes to test participants’  knowledge along the way. They will receive certificates upon completion, and Govan said she’s currently working to have court judges accept them as part of the conditions for teens who are completing substance abuse programs.

The program is similar to one used for medical professionals at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Govan said.

Along with creating new programs, Govan also hopes the funding will help break down a stigma among different communities.

“In the Black community, people are afraid to bring up the topic of, ‘I’m struggling with being addicted to prescription pills,’ or whatever it may be,” Govan said. “For us…we want families to understand that there are more people out there who are like you, who need this assistance as well. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just something we need to provide services for.”

Breaking down that stigma will hopefully help people feel more comfortable self identifying and letting any agency or healthcare provider know they need help, Govan said.

Available funding

The funding for Carter’s Crew is part of $26 billion in opioid settlement funds to be distributed nationwide. Of that total, Arkansas is set to receive $216 million over 18 years.

The Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership was created in 2022 using city and county settlement funds. The initiative works to distribute funds to projects aimed at abating the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment and recovery.

Kirk Lane, director of the initiative, said staff look for several features of a project when considering funding, including heart, innovation, location and prevention efforts. For Carter’s Crew, Lane said he was intrigued by the nonprofit receiving referrals from the juvenile courts.

“We look for the heart first,” he said. “If people are looking at the money as money, that’s not the direction we’re wanting to go.”

Every Arkansas county has at least one active program funded by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, according to its website. The announcement from Carter’s Crew increased the funded projects in Pulaski County to nine, joining the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, the Crisis Stabilization Unit at UAMS, the Natural State Recovery Center and others.

“[Carter’s Crew] was one of the ones that we weeded through,” Lane said. “They were providing something different that the state was doing, was in a county that had a tremendous overdose situation and it was empowering young people that came from strong problem areas.”

Meeting the needs in every Arkansas county is one of Lane’s goals, and he said funding a project in a county that has fewer active programs may be prioritized if it has met the requirements.

Funding opportunities are ongoing, and the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership doesn’t have a deadline for organizations to submit applications. Funding proposals must follow a list of guidelines, including evidence-based strategies to abate the opioid epidemic and signatures from the county judge and mayor where the program will take place.

Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. pledged their support for Carter’s Crew.

After an organization has been awarded funding, the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership conducts regular check-ins over the course of five years to ensure the goals are being met. The initiative collects quarterly data specific to the milestones of each program and completes an annual review.

If money was distributed to an organization and not used toward abating the opioid crisis, that amount is returned to the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership. So far, approximately $1 million has been returned, Lane said.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

FAYETTEVILLE — Cam Little’s decision to skip his senior season at Arkansas and enter the NFL Draft worked out well for the most accurate kicker in Razorback history.

The Jacksonville Jaguars picked Little in the sixth round and now he’s won the starting job and signed a four-year contract worth $4.158 million.

So how do the Razorbacks replace a kicker who hit 53 of 64 field goal attempts (82.8%) and made all 129 extra points?

Special teams coordinator Scott Fountain is working on it.

“I think it’s going to be a great competition,” Fountain said. “And we’ll see how it plays out over the next two weeks.”

Transfers Matthew Shipley and Kyle Ramsey are competing to be the kicker along with Vito Calvaruso, the top candidate to handle kickoffs as he did previously at Arkansas before a detour to Wisconsin.

Shipley, a fifth-year senior, signed in December after making 56 of 73 field goals (76.7%) in 48 games at Hawaii.

In Shipley’s last game he hit a 51-yard field goal as time expired against Colorado State to lift Hawaii to a 27-24 victory.

As a junior, when Shipley made 16 of 20 field goal attempts, he had a 63-yarder against Wyoming.

Sounds like a pretty good replacement for Little. Except Shipley struggled last spring at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, as did Calvaruso.

Shipley and Calvaruso both hit 2 of 4 attempts in the Red-White game. Shipley hit from 40 and 33 yards and missed from 45 and 40. Calvaruso hit from 45 and 33 yards and missed twice from 40.

Fountain said they also were hit-and-miss kicking in the stadium in another spring scrimmage, but did well otherwise.

“I really like Shipley, and Vito had a good spring, it’s just when we got in the stadium,” Fountain said. “We try to grade them three ways. One is when nobody is around, just called charting. Nobody but me, just me yelling at them a little bit and then we have live. With live, we have a rush and then we have scrimmages.

“They were pretty dang good in live and just charting with nobody watching, but in the stadium is what concerned us. They were 50% in the spring.”

To add more competition, the sixth-year senior Ramsey transferred from Abilene Christian, where last season he hit 14 of 15 field goals and was 4 of 5 from 50 or more yards with a long of 55.

Ramsey also played four seasons at Houston, where he primarily handled kickoffs.

“Really excited about him,” Fountain said. “Great kid, already graduated with an engineering degree. Had a good summer.”

Fountain said Shipley has responded well to Ramsey’s addition.

“I’ll tell you, Matthew is a phenomenal kid,” Fountain said. “Just very well-centered, comes from a great home and to be honest with you, he’s never said one word about it.

“He just has to work and do better. That was the one thing I was attracted to with him was his personality.”

Devin Bale, a junior and Arkansas’ No. 1 punter with Max Fletcher’s transfer to Cincinnati, has worked with all of the kickers in practice as a holder.

“Everyone’s competing really well,” Bale said. “It’s really hard to tell who’s going to win the job. Anyone could.

“They all have great mindsets, they all have really strong legs and they’re charting pretty similarly. So it’s really hard to tell, but it’s a good, healthy competition.

“They’re all friends too, so that’s good. They all get along.”

Bale redshirted last year after transferring from Northern Colorado, where he averaged 41.2 yards as a punter for two seasons and also handled kickoffs as a sophomore.

“It was hard,” Bale said of sitting out. “It was also a really good learning experience. I got to compete with Max, who is a great punter and one of my really good friends.

“We competed hard. We learned from each other. I learned a lot from him. It was really awesome to sit back and take in the whole environment and learn from it.”

Bale transferred after Coach Ed McCaffrey was fired at Northern Colorado.

“I had dreams and aspirations to go to a bigger school,” Bale said. “After my head coach got fired, I just knew it was time. I took my chances.

“Coach Fountain wanted me to come out and visit, and I visited and fell in love with it here.”

Bale was put on scholarship after Fletcher’s transfer, solidifying his hold on the punting job.

Junior Eli Stein is back for his third season as the long snapper, junior Isaiah Sategna is back to return kickoffs and punts and Calvaruso should be ready to resume kickoff duties.

Calvaruso, a fifth-year senior, had 63 touchbacks on 74 kickoffs in 2021 before transferring to Wisconsin. He then went back to Arkansas and sat out last season because of multiple transfer rules.

The only job that looks to be up for grabs is placekicker, a critical role for any SEC team with so many close games in conference play.

The Razorbacks’ scrimmage Thursday inside the stadium figures to be big for the kickers. There also will be a scrimmage on Thursday next week.

Arkansas is scrimmaging on Thursday because its opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff is on Aug. 29 — the Thursday night leading into Labor Day weekend.

Fountain said in practice the kickers have been working with different holders and snappers.

“We’re going to see how that plays out, and then we’ll go to the scrimmage,” Fountain said. “So that’s the tough part right now, but if a guy can continue to make it with a different holder and snapper, it makes you feel better about him.

“We’re going through that process. As we get closer and it kind of starts showing its face, then we’ll start narrowing it down for those guys.

“But we’re giving them every opportunity to be the guy for the next two weeks.”

Arkansas special teams

Returning starters: KOR/PR Isaiah Sategna, LS Eli Stein

Key losses: K Cam Little, P Max Fletcher

Who’s back? P Devin Bale, K Vito Calvaruso, LS Ashton Ngo, LS Max Schmidly

Who’s new? K Matthew Shipley, K Kyle Ramsey, P Sam Dubwig, K Charlie Van Der Meden

What to know: Shipley and Ramsey, both transfers, are the top candidates to replace Little, who is now an NFL rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Finding a consistent kicker to replace Little — who hit 53 of 64 field goal attempts — is critical because the Razorbacks figure to be in a lot of close games. Bale, who redshirted last year after averaging 41.2 yards on 103 punts in two seasons at Northern Colorado, is ready to take over for Fletcher. Stein is going into his third season as the long snapper. Sategna is a dangerous returner on kickoffs and punts. Calvaruso, in his second stint at Arkansas after returning from Wisconsin, likely will handle kickoffs.