FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If anybody knows the process of going from player to coach it's Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom.
He's done it, playing then being the coach at Missouri.
Razorbacks safety Simeon Blair could be the next one.
"If I can talk him into it, he is going to be an unbelievable coach when football is over," Odom said to the media after Thursday morning's practice. "He’s got a great understanding of the game. He’s a terrific leader. He’s got the passion and the competitive spirit of the way you’re supposed to play the game."
Blair, a fifth-year senior from Pine Bluff, also has what he's trying to make his biggest year after starting as a walk-on and seeing his playing time increasing every year.
Mostly through his work ... and the way he plays.
"He plays with a chip on his shoulder," Odom said.
There is a much bigger positive with Blair, though.
"I trust him," he said.
Blair "definitely" is considering going into coaching when he's done playing. He likes the part of coaching that keeps a lot of people out of it.
"I love the X's and O's of the game," Blair said Thursday morning. "I’m able to help my teammates with stuff like that because I’m able to go out on the field and see things more from that kind of perspective."
His relationship with preseason All-American safety Jalen Catalon gives the Hogs a solid starting point in the secondary playing in a league against the likes of Alabama's offensive machine with a Heisman quarterback plus coaches like Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach, two of the most respected offensive minds in the game.
"You look at him and Catalon, the way that they talk on the field and communicate," Odom said about Blair. "They have reached and elite level on what that’s supposed to look like.
"The great thing about Blair is he brings it every single day. You know exactly what you’re going to get. I know when I see him, I know exactly what I’m going to get. He’s the same dude every day and he brings such terrific value to our program."
Blair has earned the leadership role he has. Even the younger guys look to him.
"Coach told me if I wanted to play,hang around Sim," defensive back Jayden Johnson said Thursday. "If I have any questions, then I know I can go ask him, and he's going to tell me. Then, we're on the field and he'll see a formation and he's calling out routes.
"'Jay you've got this, you've got that,'" Blair told him. "I would just go with it and he'd be right."
Which is a big part of why Hogs' fans have such high expectations.
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