FAYETTEVILLE -- Inheriting two 1,000-yard running backs and adding the special title of special-teams coordinator enticed Jemal Singleton to leave his Oklahoma State's running-backs coaching position and join Bret Bielema's Arkansas football staff.
Officially hired Wednesday, Singleton was introduced Thursday to state and local media at the Razorbacks' Fred Smith Football Center.
Singleton comes to Arkansas as an Air Force Academy graduate and 3-year letterman running back who served in the Air Force, including at the Little Rock Air Base in Jacksonville, then coached 11 years on the Air Force football staff before coaching running backs the last four years at Oklahoma State.
Asked about inheriting 1,000-yards running backs Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, Singleton replied smiling, "Doesn't hurt."
"It's good to have some bell cows to rely on from the get-go," Singleton said. "Not just from their playing ability but just from their ability to lead. Really, I can rely on them and lean on them a little bit on things they have done here and success stories that they have had to help those younger guys. So, definitely a great setup to come into and have two great running backs waiting for you."
They ought to be waiting eager to learn. For all of 2014, Oklahoma State running backs committed no turnovers, recovering their one fumble of the season.
"I am not going to guarantee the same thing here but you can understand that is definitely going to be a focus of mine," Singleton said. "I think you ... can all remember games that had it not been for a fumble, the outcome may have been different. As a running-backs coach. for me that is the starting point for everything. It all starts with taking care of the football. If you don't take care of the football, you don't play. "
Singleton said he seized a special opportunity coordinating special teams for Bielema.
"It's the opportunity to kind of move forward in my career and get the chance to be the special-teams coordinator and work a little bit more in that arena," Singleton said, adding he has seen the Razorbacks from Bielema's 3-9 first season to last season's 7-6 campaign with a throttling of Texas in the Advocare Texas Bowl.
"Just watching how this program has developed since coach B has been here, I think there are some things that are uncommon," Singleton said. "Just how he recruits and things that came up during the interview process that made me think, 'Man, this is my type of guy. This is my type of place with how he is leading this program.' So that was definitely part of it."
Singleton said his 2001-2003 tenure at the Little Rock Air Base in Jacksonville always intrigued about the what-ifs of coaching at Arkansas.
"You walk into the state you are going to feel it. You are going to see it," Singleton said. "Growing up in Texas you can walk down the street and see a Longhorn or an Aggie or all those different type things. Well, when we walk down the street in Arkansas all we saw were Razorbacks. That was definitely a thing that really hit us kind of strong."
While defensive-line coach Rory Segrest worked with the kickers and punters in 2014 and will continue to do so, Bielema said Thursday, Singleton becomes the first that Bielema has designated at Arkansas as special-teams coordinator.
"He will kind of handle it the same way as our offensive and defensive coordinators," Bielema sad. "He's had a lot of experiences at Air Force as well as Oklahoma State."
Bielema was asked about the status of third-year sophomore defensive end Tevin Beanum, 20, of Forrest City, charged with driving while intoxicated registering .08 as a minor after being pulled over because Fayetteville police reported he did not dim his brights while passing a vehicle.
On the field and off, 16 hours of A's and B's, Bielema said of Beanum's last semester, Beanum has been exemplary, Bielema said.
"When I got the phone call that he had been arrested on that charge, that kind of shocked me, set me back," Bielema said. "Thankfully not only did he not injure himself, he didn't injure anyone else. Tevin is going through a mandatory counseling that we always have for anybody that's involved in those situations."
Bielema also said he temporarily removed redshirt freshman receiver/punt returner Jojo Robinson from the program but poises to return him given Robinson's response.
"I removed him and basically told him you're going to do these things the way we ask that you do them or you're not going to be a part of what we're doing," Bielema said. "The results this week have been very, very positive. I'll reinstate him on Sunday and he'll get back with us on Monday."
The Razorbacks are in their winter conditioning program leading into spring practice.
Because of offseason surgeries, Bielema said senior defensive back Davyon "Sleepy" McKinney, of Forrest City, sophomore defensive back Kevin Richardson, of Jacksonville, and spring semester enrolled freshman defensive tackle Daytrieon Dean, of Fort Smith Northside, will be limited when spring practices begin next month.
Sports on 02/27/2015