Rodney Hill and Ja'Quinden Jackson discuss fall camp and 2024 season (8-9-24)

a quinnon uh I guess probably disappointed a little bit not to be able to to work in the scrimmage yesterday um how you feeling I'm cool I'm good I'm uh taking a day at a time I'm straight um you guys are cycling back through install right now how's that going um and what do you think of your Camp so far uh it's been a grind I two and a half hour practices is killer so I ain't never been through it before but uh it's been it's been cool the structure of it is organized so it's been a good it's been a good camp so far Rodney how's your U I guess working with uh with Kobe Smith and and working you know obviously you're a new guy so what what do you think your first impressions I guess oh it's been pretty good I've been enjoying myself pretty much I'm like it's been a great experience just to be able to come back and play football again like for you obviously coach Smith came in you know during the Spring what have you kind of learned from him since then and how's that relationship with him grown between the two of you uh as y'all know he came from the Miami Dolphins last year so he kind of giv me the aspect of what to expect next year so he uh he basically just Tred to talk to me as in if he was still as he was still a NFL coach so he tell me what to expect and stuff like that so he uh he's been great and then Rodney for you what went into the decision to just choose Arkansas and you know how's it been so far since you've been here uh the decision came just because of the people that was here like I like it was a family environment and it gave me the same feeling that like FSU did and just the people that was already here that I already knew like R duub and JJ and stuff like that and I just been enjoying it R yesterday y'all got more opportunities with j j quinon and rub slowed down just what do you think you guys made of uh the chances you got with the scrimmage yesterday I feel like we did good with the Unity we had you know they they went down so you know we had our you know we got our next guys up so it was it was a great experience to just get out there and do it with the new team and stuff uh what do you make of the depth in the room J quinon and the various uh strengths that you guys maybe bring to the table uh like I told like I try to tell them we got to set the tone for every practice every game and every moment that we step out so that's that's basically what we that's basically what I expect what coach Smith expects what ouro room expect and Quinton so Utah didn't practice this long oh no it was probably an hour and a half and we was we was out of there a little cooler out there too I yeah most definitely it's humid yeah and then um I know you had to watch the scrimmage you would have rather been been playing but what was your take on on the the running back since you got to be an observer um they got a lot of work to do I honestly can say say that but they they play the tails off every every play every down and they they are very coachable like I like I get them few pointers like hey do this or when he do this do that and they take it and they run with it so we got a very cable room yeah BR russley he's an instate kid he was here in the spring and seems like he had has is doing good in Camp wonder what what what both y'all think of him as a young guy and how he's developing uh br he he got he got a lot he got a lot to develop cuz he is a freshman so uh and he he's just he's a goofy kid too bro like he always going to crack a joke we we'll be in a serious moment he he know how to light light the room up like but uh he's going to be a great player like once he figure everything out and and the speed of the game he's going to be one he's going probably be All-American he going to be phenomenal that's all I can say he goingon to be phenomenal it really is Ronney could you give us maybe a little bit Insight on your journey here because I remember your name came up out of the portal when you went in from Florida State then went to Florida A&M the next thing you know back in the portal and you got here just kind of give us some insight on your journey uh well um that situation not many people know but um my parents was running my money and stuff like that and they my parents got a bad agent and he was texting other schools like he was me and so when they got back to the head coach I had to leave Florida State and during that time when I had to leave I wasn't trying to leave I didn't want to leave so I just had to and the portal was closing up so Flor A&M was next door so I just had to go there for a month then find a new place yeah sir you you found out something that I ain't never yeah Jin you know everybody's been talking about Ton's leadership I think I saw him you know come over to you put his arm around you at practice today what's that relationship between you two like so far we just hold each other accountable that's all like for us to for us to have a great offense this year we all have to hold each other accountable and that's basically what he was doing I was getting a little frustrated at practice today and he just told me like hey bro like I'm here with you like come on keep going so they kind of like calm me down a little bit and just made me keep pushing and then I think there's officially one fullback on the roster we saw you guys work out of the ey formation a little bit probably more for jinon but you like working out of the eye formation you know you're more of a PowerBack maybe man I'm I'm an athlete man like whatever whatever they want me to do I'mma do it like it don't matter as long as the ball is in my hands any way they can give me the ball I'm fine with it for both of you uh coach got Smith was talking earlier about having a more violent mentality when you guys are running how do you hope to incorporate that mentality into your running style for this upcoming season I mean you seen the take I'm just going to say for myself get my pass lower n yeah but n uh I just I just got to have that mentality every play but with me I kind of already like try to do that but I like I have to do it like when it comes in to passing game too so but I uh the most thing I've been working on is trying to like be like change of Direction like I've been trying to get my juking down a little bit better stuff like that so I want to be labeled as a power bag cuz I'm I don't really I don't really like that cuz now I feel like I'm onedimensional which I'm not so and Coach also brought up that he was the most violent Runner what do you guys have to say about that one I ain't seen no tape no tape at all until until he show us some tape I don't believe it no tape mean like bro cut on the tape let me see it like come on don't got no no film no nothing so I don't believe it yep hey for both of y'all you guys are new there's a lot of new guys on the offensive line they're trying to build cohesion obviously and guys are moving around a little bit depending on what's going on what yourse take on the offensive line and how good do you think they could be for y'all this year they're GNA be they gonna be great like they uh their communication is what makes them great they communicate through everything on the field off the field and we got we got some dogs at the at them tackles 54 and 55 some some dogs at them tackles and uh I feel like they going to be they going to be the heads of that front line so uh yeah we just the way they communicate bro the way way they communicate and they carry theyel on and off the field we going we going we going to be better than last year for sure and then the relationship we have with like everybody like with the whole line is like the key to it all so like we got all we all have a good relationship you know in the locker room we talking laughing all that and you know we talking about serious stuff like when it's time to play ball we talking about football and stuff like that so we're going to have a great o line r you know nil's been evolving here for three four years however long it's been and you know it's great for the players and I'm I'm glad you guys are going to do that now but what you went through is kind of a cautionary tale about and you know that happens to pro athletes happens to people in entertainment you know they they uh happen to you know the Otani right guy took 17 million or whatever from what kind of cautionary tayor that for you and other players that you got to make sure you got the right people around you man just really in my perspective like I know it's your parents and stuff like that but sometimes you got to handle it on your own sometimes like with my parents I know they was trying to do the best thing for me but you know sometimes you got to take that with your own like you got to do it yourself but to other kids I just say don't you don't got to get an agent right now just wait okay so I'm sorry so it wasn't an agent that did that was it was your parents acting as an agent for no it wasn't my parents my parents hir agent oh okay they hired AG he was acting like he was me do you have a guy now you trust or you doing it on your own I have a guy now yes sir okay that's good Ronnie uh did you you said you knew uh JJ and UB before getting here like was just through the circles of college football or how how did you have that relationship I knew arub cuz he's from Atlanta and I'm from Georgia also so he went to Cedar Grove and I went to school in Statesboro and we I used to come up there to 707 camps at Georgia Tech and that's how I met our duub and stuff like that and I knew JJ just through like college and then him going to Duncanville and I played with some of his teammates at Florida State uh coach Smith came in here and talked to us about just like the chemistry of the room is almost a little surprising like like ub's kind of the only guy that was here last year a bunch of transfers that you guys have been able to gel so easily and so quickly uh no I'm not really surprised by it um it was just like this in my old room like um Everybody in the room just like everybody get along with one another you know everybody just we have the same personality like we like to joke around like but when it's time to be serious we can be serious but like we all just have a like open Spirit to everything and J quinon I know this is only the second time we've talked to you but it seems like you know you feel like you have something to prove this year um is that a mindset that you've you had your first two seasons or however long it was at Utah or is that something new that's come up now with a at a new Fresh Start here in Arkansas uh really it's just been every year really I've been trying to prove a point uh just last year I was just going through uh injuries that that was I really couldn't help uh just trying to play through injuries and stuff like that but uh this year I hope I pray and hope that it'll be different because uh this this is my last run in college football so uh yeah this this definitely the year that I have to leave my mark basically Ron you you mentioned you went to the Florida A&M and then was were you always intending to Al enter the portal again and go somewhere else or did was it I know I think Florida A&M's coach left also so kind of what went into leaving Florida A&M and coming here uh it was coach cozy he's the head coach at floring A&M and he he he knew the situation that I was going through and he knew I didn't really have no part in it and I I couldn't help it so he let me come over there and just um go there for like a few months and then leave so did you go through like Spring ball and stuff over there or uh no sir I just went and lifted and stuff like that and just went to school with him and stuff for that time being until the port open back up and for people who haven't ever seen you play kind of how how would you describe your game what do you bring to the table as a running back uh I bring some power you know I'm not really that big but you know I can catch out the back field and stuff like that like I got some decent speed um but mostly I can run some good routes out of the back field as a running back decent speed is an understatement you guys played on teams that both won a lot of games last year had really great Seasons I know Florida State got screwed at the end so sorry about that but um Aransas was trying to bounce back from 4 and8 after having you know being nine and four pretty recently what do you think you guys can bring just in terms of winning culture and you guys know what that looks like what that takes what that feels like what can you add to this team from that perspective really just the buyin it's all about the buyin really and just the work you put in that's how the way it was when I was at my other institution just to buy in like everybody you got to have that want to even when you don't want to M you just got to be hungry for it you you got to want it that's all you just got to want it you got to be a fist and not poting the fingers at the next man if somebody else mess up you got to just got to wonder you got to be hungry for it and your quint in the spring you talked about like thank God this going to be my last camp now now that you're in the midst of it just kind of what's it like is it just kind of like man I just got to get through it or kind of what what your mindset no I'm just I'm just soaking it all up man because like I say it's pretty probably going to be my last one so I'm really just soaking it up and just trying to enjoy it with my teammates and just take it day by day man