Rain, sleet or snow, standout running back Jeremiah Dent is trained to go.
The Marion native is a three-star prospect and the top recruit in the state of Arkansas in the Class of 2027, per 247Sports. Dent ran for 1,057 yards on just 102 carries as a junior, adding 30 receptions for 490 yards and cashing in 25 total touchdowns โ including three scores from kick returns.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder boasts 31 Division I offers, with Arkansas joining Mississippi, Miami, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Iowa, North Carolina and Arizona State in his top eight schools.
Itโs no wonder why the new Arkansas football staff is going above and beyond to try and keep Dent at home. The weather has warmed up in the Natural State with daylight savings supplying some extra sunshine, but running backs coach David Johnson trekked four and a half hours through the bleak midwinter to pay an at-home visit to Dent.
Amidst the late January winter storm that coated most of Arkansas with nearly a foot of snow, Dent had to help Johnson shovel snow so that he could escape his driveway and get back to Fayetteville:
In that moment, Johnson, nicknamed โCoach YACโ for his emphasis on yards after contact, was likely missing the sunny weather heโd recently left behind when he moved from Florida State to Arkansas.
Dent has official visits on the books to Arkansas, Auburn and North Carolina this summer, pitting Ryan Silverfield against fellow first-year SEC head coach Alex Golesh and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who moved from Fayetteville to Chapel Hill this offseason.
Petrino is trying to help UNC head coach Bill Belichick improve a stagnant offense that hamstrung the Tar Heels during a 4-8 season. Golesh, meanwhile, is hoping for better luck with Arkansas recruits than his predecessor Hugh Freeze had with Walker White, a former four-star QB from Little Rock who barely saw the field during his one season at Auburn.
The Tigers failed to make a bowl game the last two seasons and beat only Arkansas on their conference slate last year.
If Dent ends up at one of these rebuilding programs, he will bring plenty of juice to help accelerate his future coachโs efforts. The young man might as well be named โCraterโ given the kind of impact he likes to leave.
โMy film is actually dominant. Once I get in the backfield, itโs over,โ the tailback told Dudley Dawson for Inside Arkansas. โI go to camps and dominate these linebackers and DBs. When I go out to the slot and a linebacker guards me, I feel disrespected. Iโm just visualizing what Iโm fixing to do to him. Then I get the ball and Iโm gone.โ
Dent believes Silverfield can โtake it up a notchโ at Arkansas, which is coming off a two-win year: โWhen he was at Memphis, he had winning seasons, and I feel like playing for him would be a great opportunity to rep my home state. He always builds a relationship and connects with the players.โ
