Arkansas director of recruiting Chris Hauser is pleased with the the progress the Razorbacks are making on the road during the spring evaluation period. He credits his staff, recruiting assistants Kelly Edmiaston, Tara Speer along with Kenny DeAngelo of recruiting operations and assistant recruiting coordinator Cody Moore in organizing the effort.
"Our guys are doing a great job on the road," Hauser said. "We've had a plan we've kind of stuck to. I think we're making inroads with a lot of kids we knew about and find out about some kids we didn't know about. The spring time obviously isn't as a crazy leading up to signing day especially the one we had this year. So it's kind of easy to be honest."
He and Coach Bret Bielema talked and decided the coaches would regroup for two days, May 6th and 7th to look at film that Moore put in place.
"Cody Moore did a great job with each of the offensive and defensive staff in watching the guys they needed to watch," Hauser said. "We met Monday late evening and reassess where we were at on our offensive and defense boards. We had a quick meeting on Tuesday and kind of planned out the next two weeks."
Schools are allowed one phone call per prospect during the evaluation period that started April 15 and ends May 31. When to use that one phone call depends on each individual athlete and where Arkansas stands with the recruit. Hauser said Coach Bret Bielema sometimes likes to use the call for parents.
"We talk to the kids a lot," Hauser said. "We like to talk to the parents sometimes and make sure they get that phone call and get a chance to have Coach B explain where he's coming from as the man in charge and the hands their son would be handed to if they decided to come to Arkansas. "
Hauser walked on at Akron but his playing days were cut short by a knee injury and that eventually helped him get into coaching.
"I'll never forget my time there and all of the coaches I had," Hauser said. "They're the reason why I'm here today. They gave me a chance to get into this profession."
Hauser started his professional career as a undergraduate assistant coach at Akron along with several other stops, including Ohio State as a graduate assistant and defensive quality control coach. In 2011, he was named director of high school relations at Toledo with hopes of still getting back on the field as a coach.
His stint at Toledo redirected his career from as a coach to recruiting.
"Ever since that happened, it' s always kind of been my niche," Hauser said. "I even signed a couple of kids out of South Carolina as an undergraduate coach at Akron when I was a student. Recruiting has always been what people told me what I would do well and it kind of worked out this way and I love it."
His path to Wisconsin started through a friendship with tight ends coach Eddie Faulkner, who's now on the North Carolina State staff. That lead to receiving a call from then Badger defensive line coach Charlie Partridge. Hauser was reluctant to leave Toledo Coach Tim Beckham in July of 2012 but received his blessing to pursue the newly created director of recruiting at Wisconsin.
"I met with coach Bielema and that pretty much sold me right there," Hauser said. "The people he hired in the office and the people I met with that day. "
Bielema and Wisconsin were fresh off their second straight Big Ten Championship.
"He was a guy I looked across the sidelines during the four years I was at Ohio State and admired what he did," Hauser said."To be honest a place they didn't give him all the resources to really succeed sometimes and that intrigued me."
Because of social media, colleges are able to communicate with prospects in order to develop better relationships. It's also a way to see how recruits conduct themselves. Hauser said Arkansas monitors how recruits interact on Facebook and Twitter.
"You definitely get to see what that kid is about," Hauser said. "How he carries himself and what he's willing to say publically. It says a lot about a kid. If you have that conversation with that kid and he doesn't change, we move on. It's real simple."