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FAYETTEVILLE — Just before the pandemic shut everything down, Scott Fountain made the short trip to Moore, Okla., to get an in-person look at one of the top kickers in the country.
When Arkansas’ special teams coordinator laid eyes on Cam Little for the first time, though, he wasn’t particularly impressed by what he saw.
“He comes out of the weight room that morning and his arms are about that big a’round and I walked out of there and I’m turned off,” Fountain said. “I said, ‘This guy has never lifted weights in his life.’ Well, they hired a new coach there and I think that was really good for him.”
However, Little’s talent was too much to overlook and the Razorbacks eventually offered him a scholarship. A day later, the No. 2 kicker in the Class of 2021, according to Kohl’s Kicking, pulled the trigger and committed.
When he arrived on campus as an early enrollee, Little was listed at just 170 pounds and Fountain said his bench press max was about 135 pounds, which is nowhere near a typical Division I athlete - even a specialist.
Since then, though, he’s put in a lot of work in the weight room and is up to 185 pounds on the latest roster update. Long snapper Jordan Silver has taken notice.
“He came in a little on the lighter side,” Silver said. “Our strength staff has done a tremendous job this summer putting on weight and muscle mass of the guys just coming in. He’s added strength in his legs and his squat has gone up, so definitely workouts that I think can help transition into power in the swing of the kick.”
In addition to needing to gain strength, Little also struggled with juggling all of three kicking duties during spring ball. Also a nationally ranked punter, he was punting, placekicking and kicking off.
With Sam Loy and Reid Bauer emerging as the top candidates at punter, Fountain made the decision to Little to focus solely on field goals/PATs and kickoffs, which has also helped his development.
“In the spring he really struggled, but when he got here in the spring, he was field goal, kickoff and punting - trying to figure out what all he could do for us,” Fountain said. “We really tried to back that up the back part of spring and just have him focus on field goals and kickoffs. He's had a really good camp so far. I've been really pleased with him."
Fountain mentioned that Little booted a mid-range field goal in a pressure situation during Monday’s practice. It split the uprights despite a backup long snapper having a bad snap and the entire team surrounding him.
Little’s strength he added during the offseason has also helped him with kickoffs, as he’s starting to kick more touchbacks.
“He can place the ball correctly, but we need guys who can put it in the end zone and out of the end zone,” Fountain said. “We want him to do that. It's something he's getting better at.”
Ultimately, what seems to be separating Little from walk-on Matthew Phillips is his consistency on field goals. He went 3 for 3 in Saturday’s scrimmage, making kicks from distances of 37, 46 and 52 yards.
In an earlier practice, Pittman said Little made a 57-yard field goal in a hurry situation that would have been good from 65 yards out.
“He knows how to kick the ball between them two deals pretty consistently,” Pittman said. “His leg is a lot better than what it was, in my opinion, from the spring.”
