Woodson, Wilson discuss recruiting to Arkansas
Arkansas co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson and secondary coach Deron Wilson met with members of the media Wednesday and spoke on several topics, including recruiting.
Woodson wasn’t shy about his expectations of recruiting the nation’s best to Fayetteville.
“When it comes to defenders, we’re going to recruit the best available in the country, regardless of location,” Woodson said.
Woodson, a native of Moss Point, Miss., spoke about his recruiting history.
“The Southeast is primarily the footprint where I experienced recruitment,” Woodson said. “Florida, obviously coming from the state of Florida, I had an area there. Mississippi is my home state. So I feel like every kid that’s an SEC caliber player that can help us get better has a chance to get into that state and compete.
A native of New Orleans, Wilson worked in Florida as a defensive quality control assistant for cornerbacks before coming to Fayetteville.
He was the defensive coordinator at McNeese State from 2020-21 and at Texas-San Antonio from 2016-2019, where he served as a defensive assistant and cornerbacks coach for the last two seasons.
Arkansas traditionally recruits the surrounding contiguous states and Southeast.
“I also recruited Dallas and some from the Texas area,” Woodson said. “And of course having Coach Wilson from Louisiana can help us in that area as well.”
Wilson believes that touting the Razorbacks as the most popular team in the state is a good recruiting selling point.
“In the state of Arkansas, there’s the University of Arkansas,” Wilson said. “It is the model school where children enjoy growing up. Like, ‘I want to go to the University of Arkansas.’ Their #1 pitch is that we are the pro team. The players, the coaches, they want to see us. That’s number 1.”
Woodson sees the Arkansas coaching staff as a major recruiting advantage.
“We’re about the people,” Woodson said. “I feel like it’s the best staff in the country. With us you get what you see. When it comes to developing as a person, when it comes to developing as a student-athlete, I feel like we have the best staff in the country.”
Woodson also plans to recruit about the job prospects for Arkansas football players after college.
“You look at the resources, the connections and the network that you can develop in Arkansas. It can open doors beyond football that you can benefit from in life,” he said. “For us, it’s about just being who we are. Once you visit this place it speaks for itself. That’s going to be key for us to get guys on campus and let them around who we are. If that’s the case, you don’t have to sell anything.”
