HawgBeat – Woodson says culture fit is key when recruiting portal

The transfer portal has become one of the main ways to rebuild a roster year-over-year, and Arkansas has largely benefitted from it.

During 2023 fall camp, names like Jaheim Singletary, Lorando “Snaxx” Johnson, Andrew Armstrong and Isaac TeSlaa are all guys who came to Arkansas through the transfer portal and are expected to play big roles this fall.

Arkansas co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson said finding the needs of the team is the first part, but identifying the players in the portal who can help is a more important task.

“Once we identified what those needs were, we had to go out and identify the right players first because you watch the film before you do any research from a character standpoint,” Woodson said Wednesday. “So once we watched the film and saw the guys that we felt like had the physical attributes to help us, we then reached out and did our research on them to make sure that they’re the right fit.”

The right fit isn’t just what a player can do on the field. Keeping a strong culture is paramount to a winning team, so the staff has to look at who a player is off the field as well.

“The character part of it is really important,” Woodson said. “There’s some really high-level players out there that can come in an ‘I and me’ kind of mindset. But it has to be a ‘Me and us’ kind of mentality. We wanted to make sure we found guys that were selfless, that were about the team, but also that can play SEC football. I think we hit the jackpot with the guys that we got.”

Arkansas had a successful haul in the portal after the 2022 season ended. Needing to rebuild a pass defense that ranked the worst in the FBS, the Hogs put an emphasis on finding players who contributed both on the field and off it.

One of those guys is the aforementioned Walcott. Woodson said Walcott is bringing a good energy to the team.

“He’s a kid that makes it fun to come to work every day,” Woodson said. “He has good energy. What you saw is what you get every day, and that’s the thing that has rubbed off on the room.”

Another transfer that fits the mold is Georgia transfer Jaheim Singletary. A former five-star prospect, Singletary was a surprise addition that was announced before the Razorbacks started spring practice in March.

Woodson said Singletary’s coming along well after joining the team in the summer and is a guy who is meshing well with his teammates.

“He’s a selfless kid,” Woodson said. “He’s someone that came in and really adapted to the guys as if he had been here the whole time. Again, he’s super talented, but the most important thing is his love for the sport. He loves football. If you love football and you’ve got talent, success is going to happen for you. I’m so excited to coach him.”

It remains to be seen what the on-field product will look like when the Razorbacks kick off the season on Sept. 2, but it would appear the haul of transfers Sam Pittman, Woodson and the rest of the staff brought in has helped establish the culture Pittman wants off the field.