LITTLE ROCK — It didn’t take long for Nico Davillier to react when he heard about what his friend and teammate Andrew Chamblee dabbles in whenever he’s not putting in work on the football field.
The response from the 6-4, 270-pound defensive end was almost immediate.
“I’m definitely not a piano player like him,” a laughing Davillier said when told about one of Chamblee’s hobbies. “Playing basketball is something I like to do when I’m not playing football. I was trying to go to college to play basketball, but my dad used to always tell me I’d go D-I in football. I actually liked basketball more until high school.
“But when high school came around, that’s when I started liking football a lot more. But I’m not a piano player, that’s for sure.”
Davillier and Chamblee hit all the right keys while at Maumelle High School, and the problems they posed were certainly not laughing matters for opposing teams.
Each ranked among the top four overall players in the state by 247Sports after piling up gaudy statistics as seniors with the Hornets. Now both are freshmen at the University of Arkansas and are intent on inflicting the same type of damage to opponents in college that they did in high school.
“Things have gone really good,” said Chamblee, who was rated as a 4-star recruit by ESPN. “I had a good spring and felt like I was killing the workouts. I’ve been trying to get my weight up some, and that’s kind of been an adjustment for me.
“But I feel like nobody else in the country is doing the workouts that we’re doing. Honestly, [workouts] are a lot more than what I expected. Still, my mindset is just to continue to get better every day.”
Chamblee, a 6-6, 311-pound offensive lineman, was one of several early enrollees for the Razorbacks, which allowed him to get an early jump on college life. Although he’s dealing with everything that comes with being a first-year player, like battling upperclassmen on a daily basis, he’s not lacking in confidence — for good reason.
During his final season at Maumelle, Chamblee graded out at 92% while recording 22.5 pancake blocks, nearly 28 knockdowns and 10 driving blocks. His dominance along the front line drew scholarship offers from elite programs such as Auburn, Florida, Oklahoma State and Penn State. Yet, it was the feeling he got whenever he thought about playing in front of his home state fans that ultimately led him to Fayetteville.
“Just the people around the state, how they feel about the Razorbacks,” he said. “With [Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman], I know he’s going to do good work, which is why we’re putting in that work now. He’s making the program better and stronger. And you’ve got to have a connection with your position coach if you want to come to a place.
“So I felt like with [offensive line coach Cody Kennedy], me and him just had that connection. The way the staff thinks, the way they scheme and how they put their players first no matter the situation, that’s huge.”
Davillier had similar sentiments toward Pittman and his staff as well.
“Coach Pittman just keeps it real all the time, and his staff does the same,” he said. “Based on my decision to come here, Coach Pittman just did it for me. It was just everything he was doing. He was around a lot and just made me really feel wanted.
“He definitely recruited us hard.”
A 4-star prospect by Rivals, Davillier chose Arkansas over offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Nebraska to name a few. He played multiple positions at Maumelle, including on the offensive line and at quarterback. But it was his ability to impact games on defense that made him one of the nation’s best.
Of Davillier’s 74 tackles last season, 26 were for losses. He also had 15 quarterback hurries, 5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. He said he believes he’s progressed well so far since joining the Razorbacks.
“Everything is going good,” Davillier said. “I’m learning the plays and getting right with the rest of the [defensive line] players and coaches. I’m steadily getting adjusted a little bit, but things are going the way I anticipated they would.
“For me, the schedule has been the biggest thing to get used to. It’s not too bad, it’s just different. Coaches try to work with us as much as they can to get us prepared. But there are times where we’ve just got to go with it.”
That kind of ideology is exactly what Davillier and Chamblee said they believe will help the Razorbacks become a national power sooner rather than later.
“Just Coach Pittman and how he runs things up here,” Davillier said. “I honestly believe we’ll be ten times better than we were last year. And I think we’re just going to keep building after that.”
Chamblee At a Glance
CLASS Freshman
POSITION Offensive Lineman
AGE 18 (Born June 17, 2004)
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-6, 311 pounds
HOMETOWN Maumelle
HIGH SCHOOL Maumelle
NOTEWORTHY Was a first-team, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps pick last season and a second teamer in 2020. … Named a 2022 All-American and participated in the All-American Bowl as a senior. … Ranked as the No. 17 offensive lineman in the nation by 247Sports. … In addition to Arkansas, also accumulated scholarship offers from SEC programs Auburn, Florida, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri and Tennessee.
Davillier At a Glance
CLASS Freshman
POSITION Defensive Lineman
AGE 18 (Born Jan. 1, 2004)
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-4, 270 pounds
HOMETOWN New Orleans
HIGH SCHOOL Maumelle
NOTEWORTHY Held offers from other NCAA Division I schools like Arkansas State, Kansas, Mississippi State, Missouri and Purdue, among others. … Was a first-team, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps selection during his senior year. Was also a second-team pick as a junior. … Averaged nearly a double-double last season as a forward for Maumelle’s basketball team. … Three-year starter at Maumelle.