Green throws balls, gives ‘Dog advice’

FAYETTEVILLE — Two boys who grew up minutes apart in the Dallas Metroplex hung out on the football field at Fayetteville High School and shared stories about Bobby Petrino for a while.

Taylen Green, the current quarterback for the University of Arkansas, visited with former Hogs quarterback Casey Dick as he shot footballs and gave advice to a half-dozen Fayetteville High School players at Harmon Field.

“He was telling me about his book on LSU and how thick it was,” Green said of Dick. “That’s Coach Petrino for you, just with the details and the game plan. That’s what I like about Petrino. Obviously, everybody knows he’s a quarterback guru, but that’s when the game slows down, when you know what’s going on and the ins and outs of what the defense is doing.”

Dick, now head coach at Fayetteville, said he and Green eventually realized they were practically neighbors.

“I just found out that we grew up about two minutes apart,” Dick said. “He went to Allen and my mom taught at Lovejoy ISD, a small school district east of Allen. So we grew up about five minutes apart.”

Dick said he thinks Green, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound transfer from Boise State, will fit well on offense under Petrino, who returned to Arkansas this offseason as offensive coordinator.

“I think it’s the ceiling for Taylen,” Dick said. “When he was at Boise, it was obviously a different system. But he’ll tell you firsthand that the amount of freedom and knowledge that you have to know and be ready for week in and week out is going to be a lot deeper than what it was.

“It’s not a criticism of anyone, that’s just the system he’s in right now. … The supporting cast around him is going to be good, I think a lot of those areas are going to be improved. So I think in terms of what he can achieve, the ceiling is just very, very high for him.”

Dick said he attended a number of Arkansas practices in the spring and heard in the meeting rooms some of the new language and changes Petrino had implemented since Dick played in his system in 2008, Petrino’s first season as Arkansas’ head coach.

Green threw passes with Garyt Odom, the son of current UNLV head coach and former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who will play his final season at Fayetteville High School. As a UNLV commit, Garyt watched Green win Mountain West Championship Game MVP honors in a 44-20 victory over his father’s Rebels last December.

Green accounted for 4 touchdowns (2 rushing, 2 passing), threw for 226 yards and rushed for 90 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown in that game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“We talked a little bit and he was telling me about the game, watching me play and stuff,” Green said. “I didn’t know at first because I was giving him a talk about ‘Man, you can’t wear that UNLV, you gotta wear Arkansas Razorbacks. Come on, man.'”https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2024/jul/28/green-tosses-balls-gives-dogs-advice/”

Green said his appearance, a name, image and likeness sponsored by the Fletcher Auto Group, was a benefit to the players, Green and Dick.

“I came here and … got to throw around and impart some knowledge, and I just walked in their shoes,” Green said. “I told them, just ask them questions, DM me, I’m an open book, you know, because I just walked in their shoes.”

Green said he was blown away by Fayetteville’s facilities and that the Bulldog players had a good day catching passes.

“I mean, I’m not going to lie, I walked in here and I was like, ‘This is a high school stadium?’ https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2024/jul/28/green-tosses-balls-gives-dogs-advice/,” Green said. “This high school facility is crazy. But they looked really good. I’m excited. I just told them I had to come to a game on Friday night and see them play.”

Green told the players that he hadn’t really become popular after high school and advised them to focus and just work on the right field. The reward would come later.

Green, who served as the starting quarterback during spring training, said his involvement in the Northwest Arkansas community has been important to him.

“It was definitely a big event, something I value very much,” Green said.

Green represented the Razorbacks at SEC media days two weeks ago, along with receiver Andrew Armstrong and defensive end Landon Jackson.

He is now looking forward to the start of training camp on Wednesday.

“I’ve been excited since January and you know everybody’s been talking nonsense,” Green said. “You know the offense and defense have their little feud, so we’re going to fix it on Wednesday.”