Kane Wommack recalls experience playing with Darren McFadden, Felix Jones at Arkansas

Perhaps no backfield in Arkansas history was more loaded than what the Razorbacks had in 2006, and Kane Wommack was there to witness it. Then a fullback in Fayetteville, Womack was a teammate of future NFL players Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis.

That group led Arkansas to an SEC West division title while ranking fourth in the country with 228.5 yards per game. Both McFadden and Jones had 1,000-yard seasons, and Hillis was a receiving threat with 19 catches for 159 yards.

Wommack contributed just five yards rushing on two carries as he played in three games that season. Now 18 years later, he reflected on the opportunity to be around such an elite group.

“I think if you talk to Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis was in that room, we had three NFL franchise running backs, I’d probably be referred to as the cherry on top,” Womack joked on The Next Round. “The job of a fullback in Arkansas’ offense at that time was to get the hell out of the way.”

Wommack went on to get into coaching following his college career, which ended at Southern Miss. He is currently set to enter his first season as the defensive coordinator at Alabama.

That 2006 season is one that sticks out in his mind not only for the talent in the backfield, but along the offensive line and in the receiving corps as well. Marcus Monk had 50 catches for 962 yards and 11 touchdowns that season before going on to be selected in the 2008 NFL Draft.

“We had those guys and we had just come off of before Matt Jones was there,” Womack said. “The long, 6-6 quarterback. He ran a 4.3 at his combine. Played receiver with the Jags. So we had come from that and we had all these star players in the backfield and this 6-6 receiver in Marcus Monk, that was also one of the forwards of our basketball team. And we were one of the biggest offensive lines in the country.”

If Arkansas had better quarterback play, it might have led to an even more successful season. Mitch Mustain began the year as the starter and led the Razorbacks to an 8-1 record. However, he was benched in favor of Casey Dick late in the year ahead of a game against South Carolina.

Arkansas went on to lose its final three games of the season after a 10-1 start, including falling in the SEC Championship against Florida. Despite the success running the football, the Razorbacks ranked just 108th in the country in passing offense.

Still, his time at Arkansas provided Kane Wommack with plenty of fun memories playing in the SEC as he now returns to the conference as a coach.

“Mitch, he had a lot of tough expectations put on him,” Wommack said. “If you grow up in the state of Arkansas, there’s no pro team. There’s nothing other than Razorback football. So if you are a quarterback from that state that you’re coming now with your offensive coordinator — my offensive coordinator was Gus Malzahn. We brought four players from that team and obviously Mitch was expected to kind of come in and be the guy. So a lot of expectations for a freshman to come in there.

“…My dad was at South Carolina and there were some things he had put on tape that South Carolina felt like they could expose and they did. They got two interceptions on us the first half. We quickly adjusted in the second half and Darren McFadden rushed for about 200 yards and the rest was rock and roll history. When you’re a freshman and you have those expectations, there are a lot of things that you’re gonna have to do in order to manage and maneuver that with the people around you and simply the expectations you’re gonna have to deal with. But I thought for a freshman being around Mitch, he did a really good job of that. It’s just hard living.”