Long snapper Max Schmidly committed to Arkansas over several SEC and ACC schools Monday after visiting Fayetteville over the weekend.
“This means a lot to my family and me,” said Schmidly, who attended Arkansas’ Prospect Day on Saturday. “Many of my relatives live in Arkansas — the Fort Smith area. Growing up we would take many visits to Arkansas and it has been a dream of mine to play here one day. There is something unique about the community in Arkansas and I recognize what the Razorbacks mean to the state.”
Schmidly, 6-3 and 200 pounds, of Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park attended an Arkansas specialists camp last summer and also visited for the Ole Miss football game on Nov. 21.
He was named to the first-team Charlotte All-Observer Football Team as a long snapper. The team is comprised of an 18-county area which consists of 162 schools.
He is rated a 4 1/2-star prospect by Rubio Long Snapping and the No. 61 overall snapper nationally for the 2023 class.
He took an official visit to Air Force in January.
The commitment to special teams by Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman, special teams coordinator Scott Fountain and special teams analyst Christ Hurd helped separate the Razorbacks from other programs.
“Arkansas has all of the resources necessary to compete at the highest level,” Schmidly said. “The coaches have been nothing but genuine and they have treated me so well during this process. Coach Pittman is building something special on The Hill. I love his commitment to special teams by having such experienced and well-known coaches with Coach Fountain and Coach Hurd leading the unit.
“This has been a dream come true for my family and me, and I cannot wait to get to work! I know the Razorbacks are going to win and I can’t wait to do everything I can to help my team.”
Schmidly, whose cousin, Parker, is the wife of with former Razorback tight end Hunter Henry, appreciated how Fountain and Hurd recruited him.
“Specialist recruiting is always a waiting game,” he said. “This is especially true with the transfer portal and patience has paid off. Coach Fountain and Coach Hurd were consistent in their interest, and they communicated clearly their needs. This built confidence in the process and ultimately it made it clear Arkansas is the place to be to work on my craft around high-level teammates and coaches such as them.”