By Rob Patrick
The thing that separates great running backs from good ones is vision. That is, seeing where a hole is developing — sometimes before it’s even open — and getting there. No doubt, quickness helps, and strength too just in case someone shows up unexpectedly or for those occasions when there’s no hold at all.
And it’s not really something that can be taught. It’s like a knack that has developed over time. To the great ones, it’s not even something they think about.
“It kind of just happens. I just go up there and let it come to me,” explained Chris Rycraw, the all-time leading rusher at Bryant High School who, on Wednesday, Feb. 3, signed a national letter of intent to continue his career on the football field and in the classroom at Ouachita Baptist University.[more]
“It’s instinct,” asserted Hornets head coach Paul Calley. “I’ve told him from the get-go, ‘Now, I’m going to tell you where this play is designed to go. You go where you want to go.’ He never hurt us. A couple of times, he got too patient maybe waiting for things to open up. But he made runs that were supposed to go to the right side and he’d cut them all the way back to the left. It was just unbelievable some of the things he could do. And his acceleration and the power he runs with.
“Ouachita’s getting a gem, I’m telling you,” asserted the coach.
In a school record 556 rushing attempts over two-plus seasons, Rycraw accumulated 3,250 yards and 34 touchdowns. His senior season of 1,651 yards eclipsed his school record 1,514 yards in his junior year. He ran for 17 touchdowns each season and, during the senior campaign, he also threw for a score and caught a TD pass.
“It means a lot,” he said of the records. “There have been a lot of great running backs come through Bryant. I think it’s a great accomplishment.”
He was one of three finalists for the Hooten’s Arkansas Football/State Farm Insurance Offensive Player of the Year Award in Class 6A/7A as well as the annual Landers Award. All-State two years, he was voted the 7A-Central Conference’s outstanding back for 2009.
“He’s the best running back we’ve ever had,” Calley stated, “one of the best football players, one of the best kids.”
Rycraw, the son of Shawn and Cristil Rycraw, had a lot of schools interested in him. The larger ones like the University of Arkansas, Ole Miss, Arkansas State and UCA wanted him to either walk on or move to cornerback or both.
“They were on him early and they were on him consistently,” Calley said of OBU. “They were the most thorough and consistent program that recruited him. I think that sold him. He knew how bad they wanted him. We already had some players down there and he felt comfortable. He didn’t mind going to Arkadelphia. He wanted to stay close to home and he wanted to play as a freshman. I think all those factors just made it a perfect fit.”
Rycraw will be joining former Hornets Dijon Benton, Chris Brooks, Taylor Masters and Dustin Holland.
“I picked OBU because I got closer to the coaching staff and they seemed more honest about everything,” Rycraw stated. “They want me to come as much as I can during the spring so I can get the plays in because they have just one back right now. They said I’m bigger, stronger than him right now so, hopefully, I can come in and play right off the bat.
“I really haven’t played corner,” he mentioned. “I really wouldn’t like to. Whenever I did play defense, I was an outside linebacker. And I always ran the ball so I wanted to stick with that and go somewhere where I could do that.”
“If he stays healthy, Chris is going to be a factor in the Gulf South starting next year,” Calley declared in response to a question about the idea of moving Rycraw to the secondary. “I think that anybody that saw him play would agree, he is one of the most exciting players I’ve seen come through the state in the last 10 years. He has that kind of ability. And he’s a good kid on top of that which makes it even better.”
Rycraw transferred to Bryant after his freshman season at Little Rock Mills where he was the first-string tailback.
As a sophomore, he didn’t play much until near the end of the season. He was wiry then but fearless as he lowered his shoulder to try to explode through tackles.
He got better at that.
“When I came here I was like third string, fourth string behind a few other running backs,” he recalled. “Aspen Trevino was the man when I got here. I just kept working hard and eventually we split time at the end of my sophomore year.”
Of his improvement, he said, “I think a lot of it was just staying after practice and studying film along with working out and getting bigger.”
“He’s so much stronger now,” Calley asserted. “He did 315 pounds on the bench press (Tuesday). And he did 275 at the end of off-season last year. So he’s getting stronger. He’s just going to get better.”
Asked about his academic plans, Rycraw said, “Physical education or early child care where I can work with little kids.”
To the latter end, he’s been a mainstay at the Bryant Boys and Girls Club this year.
“Chris is a youth development specialist which means he’s assigned to an area of kids,” said Club exectuvie director Suzanne Passmore. “Most of his time is spent in the gym. He works with kids in basketball, does flag football outside, just different kinds of sports. That’s kind of what his emphasis is.
“He is absolutely wonderful with kids and parents,” she emphasized. “We’re pretty picky about our staff and we hand-picked him. He’s got a good work ethic. He’s a hard worker, he’s conscientious. He’s able to relate one-on-one with kids.
“I was in there the other night,” Passmore recalled. “He had a whole group of them out there playing basketball. He saw a little kid over in the corner by himself with his head down. He immediately stopped what he was doing, went over, sat down and started talking with him. He’s got great qualities."
“It has helped me get closer to the little kids and that’s what I want to do after college,” acknowledged Rycraw.
And do the kids realize this is the star running back for the Bryant Hornets?
“Some of them do,” Passmore said. “His first day, a couple of the older kids who go to a lot of the football games walked by him when he was coming to the gym and you could see them do a double-take and turn around. And you could see their mouths going, ‘That was Chris Rycraw!’ They’re excited about him being there. They hang all over him.”
Kind of like tacklers in a way: Hanging all over him or when he flies past them, looking back, going, “That was Chris Rycraw” . . .
Among other things.
Cristil Jackson-Rycraw
Reflecting back on this article…..wonderful article about Chris!!