Only three things in life are certain – death, taxes, and the unreliability of college kickers.
Most of college football is based around some of the nation’s most elite athletes, but when the game’s on the line in a close contest, you hand over the keys to a scrawny white kid to put it through the uprights. It’s a position group that even the all-powerful Nick Saban could almost never get right.
He’s probably about 5-foot-8, he might be on scholarship, and he likely has to finish his engineering homework after the game’s over. When he inevitably misses a kick, fans all turn to each other and grumble about how “he had one job!” But, as College Gameday’s kicking challenge continues to prove, booting in a field goal is not that easy.
That’s what makes having a great kicker such a valuable asset in college football.
Evan Noel Flips
And that’s also what made Arkansas’ most recent decommitment such a kick in the nuts for the program. Evan Noel, the No. 1 kicking prospect in the nation in the 2025 class, announced he was switching his pledge from Arkansas to Florida.
It rains a bit on the parade of five-star shooting guard Meleek Thomas pulling the trigger on a commitment to John Calipari and Arkansas.
Noel broke the Mississippi high school state record by drilling a 61-yarder back in September, and he’s apparently hit 72-yard tries in practice.
That sort of talent from a high schooler is rare, and it’s led kicking academy coaches to say that Evan Noel could start on day one for any college in the country.
Considering Arkansas’ current kicking situation, that makes his defection even more painful.
Cam Little Left Big Hole for Arkansas Football
They say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and that’s ringing true for Arkansas with standout kicker Cam Little’s departure to the NFL.
Quality college kickers are a rarity, and Arkansas fans have been spoiled in this regard in recent years with specialists like Little and Zach Hocker. Even when the team was struggling, you could count on these guys to hammer a 50-yarder right down the middle.
This season, Arkansas’ multiple kicking candidates have struggled to fill Little’s big shoes.
Redshirt senior Kyle Ramsey came to Fayetteville by way of Abilene Christian and struggled pretty much immediately, missing a pair of field goals against Oklahoma State in week two that could have won Arkansas the game. He converted three kicks against UAB, including a 51-yarder, but missed key field goals against both Auburn and Tennessee.
He suffered a groin injury against Tennessee that has kept him out for the last two games. He currently sits second to last in the SEC in field goal accuracy, hitting just 58.3% of his attempts (7-12).
Ramsey’s replacement, Hawai’i transfer Matthew Shipley, has been marginally better. He hit 50+ yard attempts against LSU and Ole Miss, but also missed shorter-range kicks in both of those games. His 75% accuracy puts him 11th in the conference. Better than Ramsey, but still not good by any means.
Compare that to last year, when Little hit 83.3% of his 24 attempts (6th in the SEC), which included going 4-5 from 50+ yards. That’s a massive step backwards.
Before, Arkansas fans could at least take solace after a missed kick in the fact that Noel was coming to the rescue next season. Now, that succession plan has been scratched out completely.
Gators’ Poaching Evan Noel Stings for Pittman
Losing a prospect like this is going to be a blow no matter what, but losing him to Florida specifically rubs some salt in the wound for Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman.
Florida is arguably the SEC program in the most similar spot to the Hogs right now. They are both still fighting for bowl eligibility with similar records (5-4 for Arkansas, 4-5 for Florida) and both have embattled head coaches who have been dealing with hot seat rumors all year long.
Fortunately for Napier, athletic director Scott Stricklin recently gave him his public vote of confidence to lead the team into 2025 – very similar to Hunter Yurachek’s announcement in November of last year that Pittman would be sticking around.
Pittman’s seat is still at an uncomfortable temperature, with fan patience running thin after a blowout to Ole Miss. In fact, he sits atop the rankings on CoachesHotSeat.com. But the general feeling in Fayetteville is that if Pittman manages to steer the Hogs to a bowl game with a win over Louisiana Tech in two weeks, that his job will be safe for another year – barring any surprises.
With that context, it makes it extra painful for Pittman to lose Evan Noel to Napier, the guy who has been right next to him in line for the coaching carousel.
The Bay Saint Louis, Miss. native had been committed to Arkansas since October 2023, and held a full scholarship offer from the Hogs, but sources told Best of Arkansas Sports earlier this season that Noel’s eyes were wandering a bit. But not because of NIL money, but rather just good old-fashioned scholarship funds
He also held an offer from home-state Ole Miss, and took a visit to Florida in June. When the Gators finally quit dilly-dallying and pulled the trigger on a scholarship offer on Monday, Noel responded quickly with a flip.
In committing to Florida, Noel is also very likely passing up the opportunity to play immediately like he would have had at Arkansas – the Gators are expecting starting kicker Trey Smack to return for his senior season in 2025.
Pittman had the advantage of being the early bird and the allure of instant playing time, but still lost out on the race for Noel, which has to hurt for the Head Hog. Now, the Razorbacks will have to look elsewhere for their next kicker.
Scott Fountain Loses His Next Golden Boy
Arkansas special teams coordinator Scott Fountain has had an up-and-down tenure in Fayetteville, to say the least. The only member of Pittman’s inaugural 2020 staff to still be around, he’s overseen some head-scratching moments.
From fake field goals that have worked perfectly to disastrous trick plays, Fountain’s unit has seen it all.
With Fountain being one of the highest-paid special teams coaches in the nation, fans get pretty frustrated when things go south with his unit. The temperature has really ramped up this year after multiple punt return debacles against Oklahoma State to go along with the aforementioned kicking struggles.
Punter Devin Bale has been a bright spot, as he currently leads the SEC in punt yardage at 48 yards per attempt. Here’s a look at the team’s overall special teams metrics and how they rank nationally:
110th in kick return defense (23.09 yards/return)
56th in kick returns (20.50 yards/return)
26th in punt return defense (4.57 yards/return)
48th in punt returns (9.40 yards/return)
It’s not awful – aside from the kick return defense – but it’s not as good as you’d expect from a handsomely-paid coordinator in the SEC. Especially when you add in the Razorbacks’ inability to field a solid kicker for this season.
Pittman has shown immense loyalty to Fountain through the ups and downs of the last five years. So if Pittman’s still around in 2025, it’d be his long-timer assistant will be, too. But if the Hogs can’t pivot and find a solid placekicker for next season, Fountain could be in some trouble.
2025 Arkansas Football Commits
Here’s a list of the players still committed to Arkansas football in the 2025 class…
- LB Tavion Wallace — Baxley (Ga.) Appling County
- DL Kevin Oatis — Hattiesburg (Miss.)
- QB Grayson Wilson — Conway (Ark.)
- DL Reginald Vaughn — Flowood (Miss.) Hartfield Academy
- OT Connor Howes — Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola
- OT Blake Cherry — Owasso (Okla.)
- DL Caleb Bell — Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton
- EDGE Keiundre Johnson — Terrell (Texas)
- OT Kash Courtney — Carthage (Texas)
- IOL Lionel Prudhomme — Shreveport (La.) Captain Shreve
- ATH Quentin Murphy — Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview
- LB Jayden Shelton — Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff
- WR Antonio Jordan — Warren (Ark.)
- S Taijh Overton — Mobile (Ala.) Williamson
- RB Cameron Settles — Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview
- WR Kamare Williams — West Palm Beach (Fla.) Palm Beach Central
- RB Markeylin Batton — Atlanta (Texas)
- ATH Nigel Pringle — Houston (Texas) North Shore
- EDGE Trent Sellers — Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy
- CB Shannon Blair — East Mississippi C.C.
- TE Gavin Garretson — Chico (Calif.) Pleasant Valley
- DL JaQuentin Madison — Alpharetta (Ga.)
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Cam Little shows the idiots on the couch how to kick a field goal:
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