In-state crew continues to pile up offers
We've known for a while now that this 2019 in-state class could be Arkansas' best in many years, and so far it's right on schedule. In fact, one could argue that it's actually even better than anticipated as other names have emerged as Power-5-type targets.
We all knew about four-stars Darius Thomas, Treylon Burks and Hudson Henry, but Stacey Wilkins has quietly put together a four-star type of offer list. The Camden Fairview tackle now holds offers from Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss, Virginia and others.
Bentonville-West wide receiver Jadon Jackson is another borderline four-star who now holds offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Indiana and others. There is little doubt he'll continue to pile up those type of offers this spring and summer and could eventually work his way to becoming a four-star by Rivals.
If Justice Hill was strictly a football player, he'd be a four-star as well.
After picking up an Arkansas offer last Sunday, Pulaski Robinson defensive end Zach Williams has now been invited to visit Alabama, Florida, LSU and Georgia. His offer list includes the Hogs, Louisiana Tech, UL-Monroe, Texas State and UMASS.
Another one that I watched quite a bit yesterday and was really impressed with is Bryant cornerback Andrew Hayes. He's a guy that no one's talking about, but don't overlook him. After Hayes, you've still got a whole bunch of guys who will undoubtedly play at a D1 level and possibly even at a P-5 school.
The next few months will be a lot of fun to watch as this instate crop continues to impress.
Prospect Days, what a genius idea
One of the many frustrating things about Arkansas' former staff is how they approached the idea of junior days, or "prospect" days as the new staff now calls them.
What was once viewed as a necessary evil is now considered a highly-anticipated event. The new staff has already held one and has a few more to go, and that's just over the next month or so and not counting the things they'll arrange this summer.
Mark Smith says the staff likes to make the unofficial visits as official as possible.
“Our approach anytime that we have a prospect or their family on campus, we want to treat it as if we’re never going to get them on campus again," Smith said. "We’re going to show them everything that we have.
“We have two goals when we have somebody on campus. Number one is to make sure they leave here with a better understanding of who we are and what we have to offer as a program and as a university. Number two is that they have a strong desire to come back. We are all about the relationship and we want them to feel comfortable to come back again and again and again to be able to develop that relationship together.
“We’ll get them here, between 1-2 we’ll have a registration with them. At 2 o’clock, we’ll really give them a cliff notes version of what we’re all about as a program. We’ll take them through academics, strength and conditioning. On the football side, offense, defense and special teams. And then a lot of it is really relational. It’s getting to know the coaching staff and spending time with the family.
“We try to show them everything from the training room down to the equipment room. Just everything. We treat it as if this is our only time to have them on campus and we try to maximize that.
“Anytime we have a chance to have someone on campus, we want to have them on campus. We don’t want to have just select days and then shut the door on the other days. So we’re going to have a lot of them. We’ll have a lot of prospect days, of course this Sunday being our first one, and then every Saturday when we’re in spring football will be prospect days. And then we’ve got a lot of others built in throughout the spring, as well. It’s open doors all the time. Whenever somebody can get on campus, we’re going to host them."
Ah. Refreshing, ain't it?
That's a pretty lengthy take on what Arkansas' new staff views as an opportunity instead of a hindrance. It's just another example of how the new crew is heads and shoulders above the previous in terms of "getting it."
In fact, right after signing day I received a text from a couple of former staff members including one that read, "Did we ever finish last in the SEC?" Another one said, "Looks like Chad is finding out how hard it is at that place, lol."
Obviously the first one was taking a jab at Arkansas' recruiting ranking for this year's class, and obviously he didn't think it through before typing that.
The truth is that the previous staff is why Arkansas' 2018 class came in last in the SEC in terms of rankings. And that's not to say Arkansas signed a poor class. In terms of quality I actually think it's a very solid class. But what this person doesn't realize is how the rankings work, and that the Hogs were penalized for not signing at least 20 players. Essentially, the Hogs were given zeros for their "final" three spots.
Why couldn't Arkansas sign at least 20? Because the previous staff only left them eight scholarships to work with for the entire class. They were like Oprah when it came to giving out scholarships. First it caught up with them on the field, and then after they were gone, it caught up with the program in recruiting. It's a small miracle that the new staff got to 17, and an even bigger miracle that they were able to land the caliber of players that they signed on defense.
Taking it another step, why was defensive help so badly needed in this class? Because Arkansas' previous regime fielded the SEC's worst defense in 2016 and 2017. That's not hyperbole, that's what the statistics say. Why did the motto for Morris' first class have to be "RazorFast2018"? Because Arkansas has had the SEC's slowest roster for over five years now. Is that Chad's fault, too?
Come on now.
I'm getting sidetracked, but back to the original question: Yes, Arkansas did finish last in the SEC under the previous staff. Maybe not in recruiting, where they finished 12th, 11th three times and 9th last year, but in the SEC standings where it really matters. They finished there twice (2013, 2017) in five seasons with a combined 1-15 record in conference play in those two years, and that's why they're not around anymore.
It's water under the bridge and time to move on, but I don't understand taking a shot at someone who's having to clean up your mess. In terms of "finding out how hard it is" here, no one's denying the challenges that Arkansas faces in the SEC. The point is, I think this first signing class was made a lot more difficult by the previous staff's mistakes. I also think the fastest way to clean up the mess is through hard work, and hosting multiple prospect days is a fine way to go about it.
We've known for a while now that this 2019 in-state class could be Arkansas' best in many years, and so far it's right on schedule. In fact, one could argue that it's actually even better than anticipated as other names have emerged as Power-5-type targets.
We all knew about four-stars Darius Thomas, Treylon Burks and Hudson Henry, but Stacey Wilkins has quietly put together a four-star type of offer list. The Camden Fairview tackle now holds offers from Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss, Virginia and others.
Bentonville-West wide receiver Jadon Jackson is another borderline four-star who now holds offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Indiana and others. There is little doubt he'll continue to pile up those type of offers this spring and summer and could eventually work his way to becoming a four-star by Rivals.
If Justice Hill was strictly a football player, he'd be a four-star as well.
After picking up an Arkansas offer last Sunday, Pulaski Robinson defensive end Zach Williams has now been invited to visit Alabama, Florida, LSU and Georgia. His offer list includes the Hogs, Louisiana Tech, UL-Monroe, Texas State and UMASS.
Another one that I watched quite a bit yesterday and was really impressed with is Bryant cornerback Andrew Hayes. He's a guy that no one's talking about, but don't overlook him. After Hayes, you've still got a whole bunch of guys who will undoubtedly play at a D1 level and possibly even at a P-5 school.
The next few months will be a lot of fun to watch as this instate crop continues to impress.
Prospect Days, what a genius idea
One of the many frustrating things about Arkansas' former staff is how they approached the idea of junior days, or "prospect" days as the new staff now calls them.
What was once viewed as a necessary evil is now considered a highly-anticipated event. The new staff has already held one and has a few more to go, and that's just over the next month or so and not counting the things they'll arrange this summer.
Mark Smith says the staff likes to make the unofficial visits as official as possible.
“Our approach anytime that we have a prospect or their family on campus, we want to treat it as if we’re never going to get them on campus again," Smith said. "We’re going to show them everything that we have.
“We have two goals when we have somebody on campus. Number one is to make sure they leave here with a better understanding of who we are and what we have to offer as a program and as a university. Number two is that they have a strong desire to come back. We are all about the relationship and we want them to feel comfortable to come back again and again and again to be able to develop that relationship together.
“We’ll get them here, between 1-2 we’ll have a registration with them. At 2 o’clock, we’ll really give them a cliff notes version of what we’re all about as a program. We’ll take them through academics, strength and conditioning. On the football side, offense, defense and special teams. And then a lot of it is really relational. It’s getting to know the coaching staff and spending time with the family.
“We try to show them everything from the training room down to the equipment room. Just everything. We treat it as if this is our only time to have them on campus and we try to maximize that.
“Anytime we have a chance to have someone on campus, we want to have them on campus. We don’t want to have just select days and then shut the door on the other days. So we’re going to have a lot of them. We’ll have a lot of prospect days, of course this Sunday being our first one, and then every Saturday when we’re in spring football will be prospect days. And then we’ve got a lot of others built in throughout the spring, as well. It’s open doors all the time. Whenever somebody can get on campus, we’re going to host them."
Ah. Refreshing, ain't it?
That's a pretty lengthy take on what Arkansas' new staff views as an opportunity instead of a hindrance. It's just another example of how the new crew is heads and shoulders above the previous in terms of "getting it."
In fact, right after signing day I received a text from a couple of former staff members including one that read, "Did we ever finish last in the SEC?" Another one said, "Looks like Chad is finding out how hard it is at that place, lol."
Obviously the first one was taking a jab at Arkansas' recruiting ranking for this year's class, and obviously he didn't think it through before typing that.
The truth is that the previous staff is why Arkansas' 2018 class came in last in the SEC in terms of rankings. And that's not to say Arkansas signed a poor class. In terms of quality I actually think it's a very solid class. But what this person doesn't realize is how the rankings work, and that the Hogs were penalized for not signing at least 20 players. Essentially, the Hogs were given zeros for their "final" three spots.
Why couldn't Arkansas sign at least 20? Because the previous staff only left them eight scholarships to work with for the entire class. They were like Oprah when it came to giving out scholarships. First it caught up with them on the field, and then after they were gone, it caught up with the program in recruiting. It's a small miracle that the new staff got to 17, and an even bigger miracle that they were able to land the caliber of players that they signed on defense.
Taking it another step, why was defensive help so badly needed in this class? Because Arkansas' previous regime fielded the SEC's worst defense in 2016 and 2017. That's not hyperbole, that's what the statistics say. Why did the motto for Morris' first class have to be "RazorFast2018"? Because Arkansas has had the SEC's slowest roster for over five years now. Is that Chad's fault, too?
Come on now.
I'm getting sidetracked, but back to the original question: Yes, Arkansas did finish last in the SEC under the previous staff. Maybe not in recruiting, where they finished 12th, 11th three times and 9th last year, but in the SEC standings where it really matters. They finished there twice (2013, 2017) in five seasons with a combined 1-15 record in conference play in those two years, and that's why they're not around anymore.
It's water under the bridge and time to move on, but I don't understand taking a shot at someone who's having to clean up your mess. In terms of "finding out how hard it is" here, no one's denying the challenges that Arkansas faces in the SEC. The point is, I think this first signing class was made a lot more difficult by the previous staff's mistakes. I also think the fastest way to clean up the mess is through hard work, and hosting multiple prospect days is a fine way to go about it.
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