When prospects and parents visit the University of Arkansas football program, they often mention the people when talking about what stood out about their trips to Fayetteville.
The people include coach Sam Pittman, the assistant coaches, along with the support staff, the Razorback fans and people in the surrounding area.
Highly recruited defensive back RJ Johnson, 6-2, 200, of Atlanta Eagle's Landing Christian, made an official visit to Fayetteville on June 17-19 and a few days later told cornerbacks coach Dominique Bowman he was going to be a Hog.
Pittman, Bowman, defensive coordinator Barry Odom, assistant defensive backs coach Mason Hutchins and defensive quality control assistant Nick Mathews were involved in Johnson's recruitment.
"I just think of the great coaches," said Johnson of the people of Arkansas. "A place where I'm going to better myself as a football player and off the field Arkansas has some great people there. Coach Pittman has surrounding himself with great guys and great leaders that can help build the program and get the program where it needs to be."
Johnson picked the Hogs over 30 other scholarship offers from Florida, LSU, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina and other schools. He plans to graduate in December and enroll in January.
While he was excited about Arkansas prior to his visit to Fayetteville, he said the time spent with the staff had a "huge impact" on his decision.
"I took that trip to Arkansas on that official visit. Just the people down there and being down there with the coaches and getting a great feel for it, I fell in love with everything about Arkansas," Johnson said. "The coaching staff and everyone down there just showed a lot of genuine love. Everything is genuine. It doesn't feel fake or forced."
Spending time with the players and seeing them interact with the coaching staff, Johnson was able to see the relationships between the players and coaches were real and not a put-on.
"The players are very genuine," he said. "They answered any questions any of the recruits had. Just being able to watch them interact with the coaching staff and seeing that it's not something that just happens while recruits are there, but it looks like something that happens on a day-to-day basis."
ESPN 4-star cornerback commitment Dallas Young became Arkansas' fifth commitment for the 2023 class in December because he felt at home while visiting Fayetteville.
Young, 6-1, 185 pounds, of Gardendale, Ala., had accumulated scholarship offers from Georgia, Florida State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Penn State, Colorado and others before picking the Razorbacks.
"When I say the people at Arkansas, it's the coaching staff, it's the equipment staff and it's of course the fans but you can just tell they are very passionate about the Razorbacks," said Young, who officially visited Arkansas on June 10-12. "The coaches want to be here, the equipment staff people are fun to be around and they want to be here."
When he visited the Hogs for the Auburn and Mississippi State games last year, Young was able to see the passion of the Hog fans.
"The time I visited the conversations I had with some of them, you can just tell their love for Arkansas is unmatched," Young said. "They treat you like you are a star player on the Dallas Cowboys. It's good to know you have the whole state behind you."
Defensive tackle Ian Geffrard, 6-6, 365 pounds, of Mableton (Ga.) Whitefield Academy officially visited Arkansas on June 17-19 and a day later committed to the Hogs.
"The people of Fayetteville, they love football," Geffrard said. "Anything and everything that has to do with it. It's also very family-oriented. Anything having to do with football, the people of Fayetteville will support."
He picked Arkansas over scholarship offers from Auburn, Texas, Mississippi State, Boston College, Louisville, Duke, Georgia Tech and other schools.
Geffrard senses the fans are ecstatic about the job Pittman and the staff are doing.
"That probably gives people something to cheer about, get more excited about," Geffrard said.
Highly sought-after junior athlete David Eziomume made an unofficial visit to Arkansas on June 10-12 and left feeling at home after mingling with the people of Fayetteville and seeing how the fans embrace the Razorbacks.
He made the trip to Fayetteville with his teammate and 4-star Arkansas quarterback commitment Malachi Singleton.
"The die-hard fans, you can't play a game without support," said Eziomume, who also got to hangout with former teammate and freshman receiver Sam Mbake. "Just knowing when you come, you're going to see thousands and thousands of fans in red. That's just amazing. That's really what brings people to Arkansas."
Eziomume, 6-1, 200 pounds, of Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Southern Cal, Georgia, Illinois, Ole Miss, Miami, Missouri, Louisville, South Carolina and others.