JONESBORO -- Little Rock Central assistant coach and former Arkansas State lineman Tommy Walker distinctly remembers the practice in January 2020.
Then-ASU assistant Sean Coughlin was in town and had a close eye on Makilan Thomas, the Tigers' star offensive lineman.
Thomas, at 6-3 and 295 pounds, had the profile. But Coughlin wanted to see Thomas go through his work -- the usual battery of weights, core exercises and flexibility tests.
"By the end of that practice, Coach Coughlin told me, 'I've looked at over 200 linemen this year and evaluated them and he's the best one I've seen so far,'" Walker recalled.