FAYETTEVILLE Ark. - Redshirt junior wide receiver Ismael Cisse heads into fall camp as one of the few holdovers from the previous roster.
He missed all of fall camp and the regular season last year following a wrist injury sustained in an offseason weightlifting session.
But his redshirt freshman season at Stanford had Hog fans salivating for a reason.
After hearing what he told the latest Razorback Daily in today's episode, Cisse believes the Hogs can win it all.
After playing in all 12 games and starting 5, he logged 26 catches for 241 yards. That's an impressive 9.3 yards per catch.
As you can see in his highlights against Cal Poly from 2024, Cisse was used all over the field. His vision and ability with the ball in his hands make him an immediate difference-maker for Ryan Silverfield's first year at the helm .
"When [Silverfield] came in, man, it was just, it wasn't really no like, 'Let me get to know the realm of the SEC' or 'get to know the realm of the team,'" Cisse said. "It was like, shoot, 'I'm coming here. They hired me to win.' And so we believe he's somebody that can help us win. Not just three games, four games. championships."
It will be Cisse's first season to take the field for an SEC squad this year. He's not letting the level of competition discourag
"Bowl game, I mean as we know, all this in the SEC, that's part of the season, you know what I mean?," He said. "So we want to win championships, and he came in with that mindset, man."
Based on how coaches and other players have talked about Cisse, he's a glue guy. He helps bond the locker room and keeps it together in tough times. It's no surprise he believes that's a major strength of
"This season going to be different than last season, for sure, you know what I mean?" Cisse said. "We just coming together as a team: offense, defense, special teams, you know what I'm saying? We doing what we need to do collectively, and this going to be a season that's going to be one to remember for sure."
He had a chance to hone his locker room season as injury forced him to watch from the sidelines. It was there that his teammates' praise really shines.
"It was definitely hard on me," Cisse said of the wrist injury. "Obviously happened right before the season, man. And I was going to have a great season, man. And so it definitely shook me at first. But, you know, just talking with God, it was His plan and His timing.
"He just, you know what I'm saying, was teaching me over that whole year not playing football, man, and how to still be a leader. I can't be selfish out there and know that I'm not playing. So, I think that I could just, you know what I'm saying, sit down while my teammates is going out there competing and practicing every day."
As we enter camp, Coach Silverfield has said he doesn't mind players disliking him during camp. He seems to mean he's not going to sugarcoat anything. Cisse shouldn't scoff at that. Not being from his family.
"Definitely my mom, my sister, and my grandma," Cisse said. "Always being on my side, but always keeping it real with me, you know what I mean? Just letting me know, you know. Always on my side, but not going to sugarcoat nothing with me."
Camp should let us know if Cisse needs to shake off the rust or work on conditioning . Also, Wide Receivers Coach Larry Smith should let us know, if he's also a straight-shooter.
"I just love the way he coach," Cisse said of Smith. "He just not like a coach, he like a brother, for real, you know what I mean? We could be around him, we don't got to be scared to, you know, ask questions or just communicate with him."
Assuming the receivers ask the right questions Silverfield and offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey's scheme could create a lot of opportunities for them to get open in the secondary and beyond.
While the team transitions in so many ways, locker room leaders are worth their weight in gold. Add in talent like Cisse's and you've got something special.
"I'm at Arkansas, man, so you got to rep your team," Cisse said. "If you're not repping your team, ready to stay on 10 toes about them, then you shouldn't be on the team you playing on, man."
Cisse is ready to acquaint himself with those wearing Razorback red. Just as long as he gets a few toes down in bounds on Saturdays, they'll be happy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Razorbacks' Receiver Believes Silverfield Has Arkansas Chasing Championships .
