COLUMN: Hogs Signing Historic 2019 Class, Can They Repeat in 2020?
Heading towards the end of late signing day, the Razorbacks have signed their best class in terms of elite depth in the Rivals era (est. 2002).
It's not certain that they'll finish in the top 20 this year as several schools are expecting some more news today but it'll be very close. The class is sitting at no. 20 in the nation right now and 9th in the SEC.
Everyone on the outside looking in is wondering just how Chad Morris and his staff managed to do it. Morris summarized it best himself at his early signing day press conference:
"We’re relationship based. We put so much stock into building relationships with players. Being able to spend an entire year, it definitely has made a huge impact. Just get them on campus. If we can get them here, we have a chance because we’ve got so much to sell, the University has so much to offer, the state has so much to offer and if you just get here on campus, we’ll show you. And that’s what we did."
Relationship building comes very easily to the Razorback coaches, but that doesn't mean they don't have to work hard. From full-staff FaceTime calls to top recruits, to sending coaches to recruits' homes as many times as the rules allow, the coaches have done a fantastic job making commits and recruits feel like family and making them feel wanted.
Making recruits feel wanted cannot be understated. Another key for the Razorbacks was going after prospects that were elite but not necessarily the no. 1 or no. 2 target at other blue blood programs. Selling that they'll be able to come in, get early playing time, and make a huge impact on the program, the fan base, and the entire state of Arkansas, has pulled in some exceptional young men with winning attitudes, and who aren't afraid of a challenge.
Bringing in 25 2019 commits means that about a third of the Hogs' scholarship players in 2019 will be true freshman. That will make it slightly harder to sell early playing time for a second year in a row, but Morris doesn't think so.
"You’re in a time now where a lot of these guys, if you’re recruiting the right way, they’re with you three years. That’s what we want. We want guys to be able to come in here, put on a path to graduate in three years and all of a sudden they’re some of the top guys that the NFL want. If they’re doing that, then we’re recruiting the right way."
Continuing this success in to the 2020 class will be a bit more difficult. Arkansas typically relies heavily on locking down the top in-state talent and it's not every year that you have multiple top 250 prospects in state. The in-state 2020 class looks weak right now with just three prospects receiving Arkansas offers so far.
Without the power of some in-state studs, the coaching staff will shift some focus on bringing in elite players from nearby recruiting hot beds such as Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans and Tulsa, but the key is getting those players to take the trip up to Fayetteville. They've already brought in some very elite players for games this season, and some have come up multiple times.
On Wednesday, a day that was all about 2019 signees, the staff made sure to let their top prospects know that a year from this week, they want those guys to be inking with the Hogs. They sent out new “DiamondGangXX” graphics to all the top targets.
Rivals released the new top 100 and top 250 last week and, by my count, Arkansas is heavily in the mix for at least 20 of the top 2020 prospects in the nation, which is probably a bit more than I could've said at this time last year, even with the great in-state 2019 class.
Spring will be a huge time for 2020 recruiting but these elite recruits still want to see improvement on the field that they didn't see during the 2-10 2018 season. Who comes to junior days will help the staff see who is truly interested in being a difference maker on the Hill and as recruiting has evolved, prospects will cut their lists of favorites instead of just out-right committing, so a lot of those cuts will begin this month.
A few months ago I did some research, looking at which programs have dominated the top 15 recruiting classes over the last 10 years and it's been very consistent. Random teams did manage to make their way into the top 15 for a year, but it would be just for the one year then it was back to status quo after that. Keeping up this type of success for Arkansas will be difficult, and history would show you that they can't do it, but nobody could've predicted that they'd land a top-20 class with a 2-10 record and they did that, so you just can't count Morris and this staff out.
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