Flashback: Arkansas Football’s Class of 2014
While Bret Bielema’s first signing class in 2013 proved to be a massive success, his second signing class wasn’t as big of a hit.
After going 3-9 in 2013, Arkansas football rebounded triumphantly in 2014. They finished the regular season 6-6, and would end up in the Texas Bowl facing their old Southwest Conference foe. After a “borderline erotic” victory over the Longhorns, it seemed that Arkansas had a lot of momentum as a program.
However, the fruits of that labor wouldn’t immediately be seen as the 2014 recruiting class failed to make the Top 25 in any of the major recruiting outlets. The Razorbacks were ranked 29th overall by 247Sports.com while On3.com had them slightly higher at 27th overall in the country.
Here’s a look back at the 10 most impactful players from that recruiting class.
No. 1 - Frank Ragnow (OT)
Frank Ragnow might hold the honor of the best recruit that Bielema ever developed. He was a versatile offensive lineman who started his career as a tackle, before being moved to center, guard and back to center for his senior season.
After four seasons with the Razorbacks, Ragnow was picked 20th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He was moved to guard and has flourished with the Lions, where he’s become a two-time Pro Bowl selection (2020 and 2022) and one of the best lineman in the league.
No. 2 - Santos Ramirez (S)
Santos Ramirez’ career gets vastly overlooked, but he was actually an extremely reliable presence in the secondary. He played four seasons as a Razorback and finished his career with 228 tackles (129 solo), three interceptions, 13 pass break-ups and one touchdown.
No. 3 - Henre' Toliver (CB)
There were no defensive backs during the Bret Bielema era that had better ball-hawking skills than Henre’ Toliver. The four-star corner had seven interceptions during his Arkansas career, including a pick six in 2016. He was also a talented open field tackler, totaling 161 career tackles.
No. 4 - Sebastian Tretola (OT)
Sebastian Tretola spent just two seasons in Fayetteville after transferring from JUCO, but made the most of his time. Not only did he appear in every game during those two seasons, but he also gained national attention in 2014 when he threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal during Arkansas’ blow-out win over UAB.
No. 5 - Josh Liddell (S)
Josh Liddell had an outstanding career in Fayetteville that often gets overshadowed by the rough ending to Bret Bielema’s tenure. Liddell played four seasons at Arkansas and started at safety for all but his freshman year. He finished his career with 177 total tackles, five interceptions and three forced fumbles.
No. 6 - Brian Wallace (OT)
The late Brian Wallace was a borderline five-star recruit when he arrived in Fayetteville as part of the 2014 class. He never quite lived up to the high expectations that were placed on him, mostly due to injuries, but he did finish his career 1,998 total snaps played on the Arkansas offensive line.
No. 7 - Jared Cornelius (WR)
A combination of terrible injury luck and being in a run-heavy, Bret Bielema offense are what kept Jared Cornelius from being remembered as a great Arkansas wide receiver. He finished his career with 87 catches for 1,265 yards and 10 touchdowns over the course of five seasons. His best season was 2016, where he caught 32 passes for 515 yards and four touchdowns.
No. 8 - Randy Ramsey (OLB)
Randy Ramsey was recruited as an outside linebacker, but was moved all over the defense during his career. He played defensive end and defensive tackle some, and made a decent impact no matter where he was put. Unfortunately, he missed the entire 2015 season and would end up playing for one of the worst teams in Arkansas history to end his Razorback career.
No. 9 - Bijhon Jackson (DT)
Bijhon Jackson was a borderline five-star prospect from El Dorado (Ark.) who chose to stay in state for college rather than go to Alabama or Auburn. Unfortunately, Jackson really struggled to get on the field and make a consistent impact. He finished his four years at Arkansas having only appeared in 30 games. He recorded 47 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss as a Razorback.
No. 10 - Armon Watts (DT)
Armon Watts struggled to make an impact at Arkansas until his senior season in 2018 – Chad Morris’ first year. He started every game in 2018 and recorded 49 tackles, 7.0 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. Watts went undrafted, but is carving out a respectable NFL career where he’s currently a key rotation piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive line.
