Hogs D-line target impressed by Fayetteville trip

One-on-one meetings with University of Arkansas football Coach Sam Pittman and defensive line coach Deke Adams stood out for 2025 defensive lineman Caleb Smith during his visit to Fayetteville on Saturday.

“Coach Pittman, he’s down-to-earth. We basically talked about life situations of course and Arkansas football,” Smith said. “I also was able to sit down with Coach Adams talking about expectations and player goals.”

Smith, 6-5, 265 pounds, of Birmingham (Ala.) Parker is rated a 3-star prospect by On3.com with scholarship offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Washington, West Virginia, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Purdue and others. The Hogs offered him on Jan. 23.

He gave more insight into the conversation with Pittman.

“Staying focus, making good decisions, hanging with the right group, and studying on and off the field,” Smith said.

Being able to attend the defensive line meeting headed up by Adams grabbed his attention.

“The way he took control of the D-line meeting and asking the players what was their assignments and correcting them if they were wrong,” Smith said.

Smith was impressed with Arkansas’ depth on the defensive line.

“The D-line was very aggressive and there wasn’t a drop off between the ones and the twos when they rotated,” Smith said.

Adams, special teams coordinator Scott Fountain and quality control assistant Kelvin Green are all involved the recruitment of Smith.

“Coach Fountain was the first person to offer me and that’s how I got introduced to Arkansas,” said Smith of Fountain, who recruited the state of Alabama. “He’s a funny guy and a great coach.

“Coach Green has done a great job reaching out to me and now we have a strong relationship. I spent a lot of time with him when I was up there. Coach Adams is a thorough guy we talked a lot about defense and position that I would be playing. Hopefully our relationship will grow stronger.”

Smith, who has a 3.7 GPA and is planning to major in sports management, enjoyed seeing where he would workout and attend classes should he become a Hog.

“I enjoyed touring the facilities and campus,” Smith said. “Seeing the buildings I’ll potentially be taking my classes in and also the housing there, all very nice.”

Smith, who’s looking to set up an official visit to Arkansas, said the trip to Fayetteville gave him something to think about.

“It really helped me in my recruiting process when it comes close to making my decision,” Smith said.

Read Richard Davenport’s RECRUITING BLOG wholehogsports.com/recruiting/