FAYETTEVILLE — When Chad Morris was introduced as Arkansas' football coach last December, one of his primary talking points was establishing a strong footprint in recruiting.
That footprint, he said, would include hitting Arkansas hard, and as an extension of the state, he and his staff would target premier talent in fertile recruiting grounds like East Texas, Dallas, Memphis and the Tulsa area, all of which have served the Razorbacks well over the years.
Last year, Morris signed one apiece from Memphis and Tulsa – Ryan Winkel and Courtre Alexander. In the Razorbacks' early signing class this year, they have five players committed from Texas, two from Memphis and two from Tulsa.
Former coach Bret Bielema's five signing classes had a combined three players from Dallas, two from Tulsa and one from Memphis. From 2013-2016, Arkansas signed only one Tulsa-area prospect, Lane Saling, a kicker from Owasso.
"(Recruiting those areas) will be important each and every year," Morris said Wednesday. "When you look at the success of Razorback football back when it was at the pinnacle of its time, it had a great mixture. Obviously you won the state of Arkansas with your players, you had players from Memphis, Tulsa and you really had a good mixture of guys from the state of Texas.
"Now add that in with some Louisiana and Missouri, then you build your roster off of it."
Defensive lineman Eric Gregory and receiver Shamar Nash, both Memphis natives who played their senior season at IMG Academy in Florida, are key pieces at positions of need. Defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell is high on Gregory's maturity and Nash is similar in many respects, receivers coach Justin Stepp said.
"I think he’s going to bring a lot to our room in terms of leadership," Stepp said of Nash. "That’s what he has that you can’t coach, unbelievable leadership qualities about him. ... He is for sure a competitive kid."
Morris and his staff reached into Tulsa high school football powers Union and Jenks, respectively, for offensive linemen Ricky Stromberg and Brady Latham. Latham's father, Bob, played center at Oklahoma under Barry Switzer.
On Wednesday, while reviewing the class, Morris spoke at length about Stromberg, who dropped 40 pounds to 280 this year and on Tuesday flipped his commitment from Tulsa to Arkansas.
"We had him on campus a year ago and totally just had a total transformation of his body," Morris said. "And man, let me just tell you, this guy, everywhere I went was mentioned. Every coach I talked to in the state of Oklahoma and in the Tulsa area mentioned, ‘Coach, I’m just telling you this is the guy.’”
Those conversations led Morris to believe he had to find a way to secure Stromberg's signature, and he did. He credited the relationship building of offensive line coach Dustin Fry and tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. as well.
“If we can bring three or four every year out of the Oklahoma City or Tulsa area, it’s only going to bode well for us," Fry said Wednesday. "Hopefully we can continue to pull more out of Jenks, Union or whoever else has them.
"There are some great programs there in Tulsa, for sure.”