FAYETTEVILLE -- Connor Noland joined fellow Arkansas baseball pitchers on Nov. 27 just days after he ended his freshman football season relieving junior starting quarterback Ty Storey during a 38-0 loss at Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on Nov. 23.
Noland will again be a freshman on the football team in 2019 because he did not exceed the new four-game limit that still allows players to count the season as a redshirt year. He was recruited out of Greenwood as an All-State two-sport athlete by both Arkansas head baseball coach Dave Van Horn and head football coach Chad Morris.
Both coaches asserted he will continue to be a two-sport athlete in Fayetteville. They said they will soon meet once Morris returns home from the recruiting road to hash out the particulars of Noland's responsibilities in both sports during the spring.
Morris was asked after the Missouri game about Noland playing baseball and he replied, "Absolutely, you bet. He will play baseball. We love guys that want to compete."
Noland led his high school Bulldogs to Class 6A state championships in both football and baseball as a senior.
Greenwood defeated Pine Bluff, 52-14, in the football title game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock a year ago with Noland as the starting quarterback. Noland finished his senior season 225-for-323, 69.7 percent, passing for 2,801 yards, 34 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for 239 yards and five more scores.
Noland pitched a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the baseball championship game at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville as Greenwood defeated Benton, 4-0. He was 10-0 for the season with a 0.42 ERA in 66 2/3 innings over 13 appearances, striking out 123 batters. He also hit .424 with four home runs, 37 RBIs and 26 walks.
Van Horn introduced new pitching coach Matt Hobbs on Nov. 28. Hobbs was hired from Wake Forest to replace Wes Johnson, who was named the head pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins earlier in November.
"One reason Connor selected the University of Arkansas, obviously he loved it here and went to school in state, but he was recruited all over the country to do both," Van Horn said. "It was a big part of his decision that we work this out that he could play baseball."
Noland is attending the university on a football scholarship, and Morris' Razorbacks will conduct 15 spring practices. He was 21-for-43, 48.8 percent, passing this season with 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in spot relief for Storey and sophomore quarterback Cole Kelley, who announced last week he will transfer.
"I mean, obviously if he's in the mix to be the starting quarterback next season, he needs to be out there," Van Horn said. "Our biggest concern is not with Connor and his work ethic, because it's second to none. He's very mature for his age, he's very strong.
"The biggest concern that we have to get right is the physical part. What do they want him to do in the weight room and all that? We're going to need to back off that upper body a little bit. We've got to keep him loose and healthy. The strength coaches have to get together, the pitching coach and we all have to be on the same page. I think football's going to work with us."
The Arkansas football team was 2-10 this season in Morris' first year with the program, including an 0-8 mark in the Southeastern Conference. The baseball team is coming off of a 48-21 season and an appearance at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., in which the Razorbacks were one out away from the national championship.
For now, Noland is apparently devoted to baseball before and after the semester's final exams.
"Connor was here yesterday (Tuesday)," Van Horn said at Hobbs' introduction. "He was introduced to the team. Actually, I made him introduce himself like all the other players do when they get here.
"So, there's a little stress involved there. You know, example, he's got to stand up in front of everybody and say his name, his hometown, his year in school and what position he plays and he did a great job. Connor will be on a throwing program, maybe starting in the next day or so."
Hobbs pitched for Missouri and was a pitching coach at the University of San Francisco and then Missouri before becoming Wake Forest's pitching coach four years ago He was also asked about coaching a two-sport athlete.
"This will be my first one," Hobbs said. "I think we have to work through what they need from him on the football field and what he needs to do on the baseball field and figure out what he best plan is for him.
"Like I said, this will be my first go-around with a football player, but I feel pretty confident in my ability to kind of work through those things."
Arkansas missed out on recruiting former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant to Fayetteville as a graduate transfer. The only quarterback currently committed for the class of 2019 is North Panola senior K.J. Jefferson, who led his team to an 11-2 record and the Class 3A state semifinals in Mississippi.
Jefferson was 166-for-275, 60.4 percent, passing in his senior season for 3,180 yards and 37 touchdowns versus eight interceptions. He also ran for 916 yards and three touchdowns.
Sports on 12/11/2018