One of the more underrated recruiters on the Arkansas staff is wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton, who helped bring in three coveted transfers at the position over the offseason.
A former quarterback at Ohio State, Guiton has brought in talented transfers to help lead the Arkansas receiver room for two straight seasons. Last year Oklahoma transfer Jadon Haselwood had a team-high 59 catches and Toledo transfer Matt Landers led the team with 901 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
With Landers and Haselwood moving on to the NFL and other starters Ketron Jackson Jr. and Warren Thompson hitting the transfer portal, Guiton had some work to do on the recruiting trail. Losing all that talent could be daunting, but Guiton turned it into part of his pitch.
"Look at the room," Guiton said. "Any starters coming back? Really no seniority. Nobody in the room that’s caught any balls yet in live action. I was very honest with all three of them. I do have great young talent, some young talent that’s coming up, just have no experience.
"So I wanted some guys with college experience, make the room competitive and let’s go from there. Once they saw the numbers in scholarships, it’s like, ‘Hold on, I get a chance to play in the SEC and that’s all you got on scholarship? Let’s go to work.’"
Guiton landed Texas A&M-Commerce transfer Andrew Armstrong, Hillsdale College transfer Isaac TeSlaa and Bowling Green transfer Tyrone Broden. All three of them have the potential to be a top receiver for third-year starting quarterback KJ Jefferson.
While he gained experience with turning transfers into productive starters last year, Guiton also learned what not to do.
"I made some mistakes last year with some things and I vowed to myself and my players and the other coaches that I wouldn’t do those same things and I think it’s happened the right way this year," Guiton said. "And I think it’s kept a lot of mindsets really involved to where they understand what competing is and how to compete.
"I think it’s helped us all so much more and I’m just proud of the group so far. I know we’re only five days in but I’m just proud of the mindset they came in with and the want-to and effort and everything else that comes with it."
Not only has he been successful in the transfer portal, but Guiton has helped land some talented high school recruits, such as former four-star and current redshirt freshman receiver Isaiah Sategna.
"I feel like Coach Pittman and Coach Guiton are another big reason why I came here," Sategna said Tuesday. "They just made it feel like home."
College football is an always changing landscape, and Guiton said he's aware of that when he's recruiting.
"I’m always trying to get my numbers back to wherever we want to keep the numbers for wideouts," Guiton said. "I’m trying to get that with high school guys. I kind of don’t start worrying about portal until middle of the year. You start figuring out, ‘Oh man, this guy may be out,’ whatever it is, you start figuring out, ‘We’ve got these high school guys in, I better be able to get it back to the numbers of what I need to.’
"So it’s a little fluid deal that, I mean, you can ask today what we need and we got three high school guys committed and nobody leaving. You ask in a week, if somebody I feel like is about to take off, I may need to go get someone. It’s just a fluid deal right now."
Guiton has a wide receiver room that is filled with unproven talent on the Division I level, but that doesn't make him worried.
"The further and further you go the more ease you start to get," Guiton said. "I don't know if I'll ever be fully eased until we win some games. But right now, I'm feeling good. I love the competitive nature in our room. You can tell everything is up for grabs.
"We have plenty of guys competing their butts off in order to be those three starters, but they also know when your time comes to shine you better be ready for it."
Arkansas has 20 fall camp practices remaining ahead of the season opener against Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
