Arkansas defensive back Dwight McGlothern passed up a shot at his dream of playing in the NFL to spend one more season perfecting his craft in Fayetteville.
When speaking with the media Monday morning, McGlothern said he felt like he left a lot on the field as a junior in 2022. While he would've almost certainly been drafted back in April, McGlothern said felt like he had more to prove as a Hog.
"I wanted to go, but I just knew that the second half of the season I just left so much on the table," McGlothern said. "I didn’t realize until I was done. And now that I have another chance, I want to make sure I do everything right.
"Whenever this spring, whenever we were going through weight room and offseason football, I make sure I take everything serious, make sure I do all my reps and not miss anything. Whatever Coach Sowders tell us to do, it be so hard. But you just have to get through it. You have to tell yourself, 'Come on, we can do this.'"
McGlothern earned Second-Team All-SEC honors from the league's coaches last year after he recorded 52 total tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 10 pass deflections and a team-high four interceptions. He was also named preseason Second-Team All-SEC by the media for the 2023 season.
While everything looks great on paper and the coaches thought highly of him last year, McGlothern saw things he still needed to work on.
"Whenever the ball is not coming my way, I need to be able to run to the ball, make the tackle, wrap up," McGlothern said. "Not always just going for the legs and stuff like that. Attack the block, attack the man and just be physical. Just show that I'm willing to play and show that I can the best defensive player out there."
Arkansas added 11 new players to the secondary, and McGlothern is now viewed as a veteran leader in a group that he was a newcomer to as a transfer from LSU last season.
"I feel like I know what I need to do as a leader now as a person that’s going into his fourth year," McGlothern said. "I know coming from (LSU) I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I’m just trying to be good within the group and make a name for myself for the group."
McGlothern, nicknamed "Nudie," was well-known for being a talker when on the field last season. He said he's being a leader in the right way and spreading positivity around this fall camp.
"I’m not really going to be negative to anyone," McGlothern said. "If I am negative, it’s not real negative. It’s very positive, it’s love at the end of the day. I feel like I lead more with the things that I do. I say what we need to do and we do that, honestly."
The sky is the limit for McGlothern, who can play his way into being one of the top cover corners in the SEC this fall. Arkansas safety Hudson Clark seems to think McGlothern has plenty of potential, as well.
"I trust him on the field," Clark said. "I trust that he’s going to do his job, that he’s going to man his guy up and there’s not going to be a ball thrown his way. I think going out there, it’s just a great sense of trust and I know he’s going to do his job and I’m going to do my job."
Having a player like McGlothern with a year of experience as a starting corner in the SEC will be big for the Hogs, who will start their season on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
