Courtney Crutchfield might have lacked playing time last season at Missouri, but the 19-year-old has never lacked confidence. The Arkansas football transfer went by the nickname of “Too Easy” while starring for Pine Bluff High from 2021-23.
As a senior who rose to become the top-rated offensive recruit in the state of Arkansas, the 6’0” receiver had 53 catches for 1,297 yards and 19 touchdowns while helping lead the Zebras to a 10-3 record. He also returned 6 kickoffs for 114 yards and a touchdown, along with 4 punt returns for 88 yards.
As a true freshman at Missouri this past fall, he stepped into a wide receiver room loaded with older standouts like Luther Burden III, Theo Wease Jr. and Marquise Johnson. If you thought that not recording a single catch in a game would have shaken his self-belief about what he’s capable of doing in college, then think again.
“I don’t feel like anyone can stop me,” he recently told Tera Talmadge for Hogs+. “The job has to be done – no other way.”
A big part of the job, of course, is mental. Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the give-and-take with fans online (Snaxx Johnson, anybody?), and it’s almost impossible to shut yourself away from them altogether because, after all, the student-athletes are performing for the fans.
There’s a season for everything and when Crutchfield entered his name into the transfer portal in December – and then announced he was heading south to the UA on Christmas Day – he quickly realized that was not the season to be too plugged in.
A vocal minority of Missouri football fans let him have it when they learned of his turn toward the Razorbacks. Just look at these comments:
“The Mizzou fans, they (are) going to talk how they want to talk,” Crutchfield said. The ignorant chatter was enough to convince him to just tune out for a while: “I just really stayed away. Stayed away from Twitter, social media and just focused on what I’m trying to get done.”
He knows that Missouri, which has +1000 odds for the 2025 national championship according to some teaser bets, has knocked off Arkansas for three straight seasons and has a lot of momentum in the border state rivalry. But he’s ready to do his part in balancing the scales.
Courtney Crutchfield’s Role with Arkansas under Petrino
At Arkansas, he knows the legacy of great Razorback receivers like most recently Andrew Armstrong and extending back to he likes of Jarius Wright and Joe Adams who played under Bobby Petrino when the current UA offensive coordinator was the Hogs’ head coach. Indeed, Petrino likely mentioned the latter two when he visited Crutchfield 13 months ago in Pine Bluff in a last-minute effort to sway him from Missouri.
While Sam Pittman and Petrino didn’t finish the deal then, they got their man one offseason later.
“All I got to do is just work and I can be that next name,” Crutchfield told Talmadge. “I feel like I’m going to be good in this offense. Coach Petrino likes to air the ball out a lot.”
Around a year ago, Crutchfield told BoAS that among NFL players, he most wants to emulate CeeDee Lamb. The games of the college players he said he liked the most included Armstrong for the Razorbacks, as well as that of Malik Nabors and Brian Thomas Jr. (LSU), Luther Burden III (Missouri) and Devaughn Vele (Utah) among others.
It was also hard to overlook the alma mater of Amari Cooper, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and others.
“I ain’t gonna lie to you, my favorite college team was Bama,” he said in 2023. “They just have explosive receivers.”
More on Arkansas Football
Here are more excerpts from his Hogs+ interview:
On Hogs quarterback Taylen Green:
“I feel like Taylen is a pretty good quarterback. He can get the job done by running it and throwing. I feel like he can get me the ball and I can fit in his offense.
On wide receivers coach Ronnie Fouch:
“Our relationship is getting better and better as the days go. He calls to check in every morning. I knew when I first talked to him on the phone that we were going to build a bond and have a great relationship. We’re going to have some fun this season.”
His mentality going into this season:
“I got to eat. There’s no other way.”
Imagining the first time he runs out onto the field in a Razorback uniform in front of the home crowd:
“You’re going to get chills running out. Especially me coming back to play for my home state; it’s going to feel a little shaky, you feel me?”
~Check out the entire interview with Crutchfield at Hogs+ here~
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The recent Arkansas vs Missouri trend continued Monday. The most recent Arkansas commitment, Ari Slocum, cast his lot with Arkansas despite Missouri offering first.
He was also recruited by two Mizzou assistants with ties to the Natural State. More here:
The Hogs’ 2025 WR Room
Courtney Crutchfield is just one piece of an overhauled wide receiver room for the Razorbacks. Here’s a look at all the movement at that position, from our 2025 Arkansas football roster tracker:
- Scholarship: 15
- Total on Roster: 19
Projected 2025 Roster
- ^O’Mega Blake — redshirt senior (transfer from Charlotte)
- ^Raylen Sharpe — redshirt senior (transfer from Fresno State)
- Bryce Stephens — redshirt senior
- Jordan Anthony — redshirt junior
- ^Ismael Cisse — redshirt sophomore (transfer from Stanford)
- Shamar Easter — redshirt sophomore (converted TE)
- ^Kam Shanks — redshirt sophomore (transfer from UAB)
- CJ Brown — sophomore
- ^Courtney Crutchfield — redshirt freshman (transfer from Missouri)
- Krosse Johnson — redshirt freshman
- Zach Taylor — redshirt freshman
- ^Jace Brown — freshman
- ^Ja’Kayden Ferguson — freshman
- ^Antonio Jordan — freshman
- ^Quentin Murphy — freshman
- *Rykar Acebo — redshirt junior
- *Walker Catsavis — redshirt junior
- *Jace Petty — redshirt junior
- *Monte Harrison — sophomore
Leaving the Team
- Andrew Armstrong — exhausted eligibility
- Tyrone Broden — exhausted eligibility
- Isaac TeSlaa — exhausted eligibility
- Khafre Brown — exhausted eligibility
- Davion Dozier — transfer portal
- Isaiah Sategna — transfer portal
- Dazmin James — transfer portal
- ^Kamare Williams — decommitted
- *Kamron Bibby — transfer portal
^newcomer
*walk-on
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More coverage of Arkansas football, Courtney Crutchfield and Arkansas vs Missouri from BoAS…
