Arkansas impressed highly recruited safety Kahlil Haughton during his official visit over the weekend and after the visit.
Wednesday night he received a graphic by direct message from defensive backs Coach Clay Jennings that played off the Nelly song “Hot in Herre” and showed Jennings and him together and read "Cuz we gettin Haughton herre".
“I loved it,” Haughton said. “I thought it was clever and hilarious.”
Haughton, 6-2, 180, 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dash from Waco (Texas) Midway, has more than 20 scholarship offers, including Arkansas, Oklahoma, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Duke.
Player-host De’Andre Coley told him good things about the program and Jennings.
“He said he likes it,” Haughton said. “He said he really likes Coach Jennings. He loves the people a lot too.”
The environment around the football program and community along with a positive vide from the players and caches all stood out.
“When I first ate breakfast with them, they were just like real welcoming,” Haughton said. “They were all joking around having a good time… talking a lot to Coach Jennings. They just had friendly conversations, just seemed like a comfortable environment. Just by being around the players it seems like they really enjoy playing at Arkansas and the coaches themselves and just the atmosphere.”
Haughton, who has best times of 48.5 seconds in the 400 meters and 22.3 in the 200, recorded 87 tackles, 2 interceptions, 13 pass breakups and a forced fumble as a junior. In the 44-6 victory over Shoemaker last week, he had 13 tackles, an interception and 2 forced fumbles.
Coach Bret Bielema encouraged him to look out-of-state.
“He was just expressing to me how he thinks being adventurous and moving away from home would be a good idea,” Haughton said. “Thinks it would be something, something new would always be good.”
Jennings talked up Arkansas’ NFL style defensive scheme.
“He thinks I have a bright future and there's a lot of ways they can use me in their defense,” Haughton said.
He heard the the Hog Call for the first time during the Hog Walk and didn’t quite understand, but got the grasp of it at the game.
“It was pretty neat,” Haughton said. “But it’s kind of weird though, but since everybody did it together it was definitely pretty neat, hearing that before the kickoffs.”