Battle-tested Swanson has the NFL pedigree

Story posted April 8, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports, NFL Draft by Ryan Stevens

The Arkansas Razorbacks football program has come under fire in the last couple of years. The uproar led to three different head coaches from 2011-13.

One staple to get through the tough times was center Travis Swanson, who started all 50 games in his Arkansas career.

“I think my track shows I’m going to be durable for the entire season,” Swanson said.

The Kingwood, Texas native was the snapper for former Razorbacks quarterbacks Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson. Both were drafted in their respective years.

“It’s a night and day difference from what they’ve helped me with my game,” Swanson said.

It isn’t too often we hear of freshmen starting on offensive lines in the SEC. Swanson said that going against guys who eventually ended up on NFL starting front lines has played a huge role in his development.

“I honestly think it’s the best conference in college football,” Swanson said. “They call the SEC the minor leagues of the NFL.”

If that hasn’t completely sold you on Swanson, then think about the offensive game plan switch he had to make as well. Bobby Petrino’s pass-first offenses to Bret Bielema’s ground-and-pound style are polar opposites in terms of blocking schemes, but that didn’t stop Swanson from contributing.

“The transformation we had to do from our lower bodies and schematically was different from what we were used to.”

Despite the differences in offensive schemes, one thing is for sure about Travis Swanson. He will be as coachable as possible because he knows what this opportunity can bring to the table.

“If you’re coachable, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t fit into a system or scheme,” Swanson said.

About the Contributors

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Ryan Stevens

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Ryan is a senior from Bloomington, Illinois majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in english.  He has been involved with numerous radio shows, play-by-plays, beat writes and producing various Penn State athletics events since his first days of being on campus in the fall of 2012 with ComRadio. Since the fall of 2013, Ryan has been involved with State College’s ESPN Radio 1450 as an assistant producer intern and high school football reporter.

During the summer of 2014, Ryan co-hosted Sports Central with Cory Giger streaming over Altoona, Pa. and State College Pa. markets. Ryan also assisted USA Basketball media coverage in New York for World Cup of Basketball exhibition games.

Ryan was the marketing & communications intern for USA Track & Field at the national office in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the media contact for the 2015 USATF Hershey Youth Outdoor Championships as well as the 2015 National Junior Olympics.

Ryan is also a member of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. He can be reached via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and following him on twitter @RyanAStevens.