Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Travis Williams stayed on a recruiting roll on Saturday by landing a commitment from highly-touted defensive end Colton Yarbrough.
A four-star prospect out of Durant, Okla., Yarbrough is the top prospect in Oklahoma in the Class of 2026. Rivals rates him as the No. 112 prospect in the nation.
Yarbrough held over a dozen offers, and was choosing between a top five of Arkansas, Georgia, Colorado, LSU and Oklahoma State. He represents Arkansas’ fourth commitment in the 2026 class.
Travis Williams’ Hot Streak Continues
Williams has been on a tear recently, finding himself going viral in the past few weeks for his unique offseason bonding with his unit.
His recruiting prowess as well as his on-field improvements of the defense have made him a hit with the Razorback fanbase. He landed the pledge of high four-star linebacker Tavion Wallace, the No. 39 player in the 2025 class, on July 2 and made headlines for his ecstatic reaction.
Since Williams was hired heading into the 2023 season, the top-ranked player in every one of Arkansas’ recruiting classes has been a defensive player – Jaylon Braxton, Charleston Collins, Wallace and now Yarbrough in successive years. His time as DC in Fayetteville has been a resounding success on multiple fronts.
Colton Yarbrough is a Massive Win for Arkansas Football
On its face, the Colton Yarbrough commitment is massive news for Arkansas – but when put in a larger context, he might be one of the best recruiting wins of the entire Pittman era. The rising junior is the ninth top-150 prospect Arkansas has landed since the Class of 2020, according to 247 Sports. Rankings-wise, he’s just outside the top five on that list – but impressive performances in the second half of his high school career could see him shoot up the ladder.
The bit of added context that makes Yarbrough’s commitment more special is his status as an Oklahoma product, rather than an in-state recruit. With Pittman also being a native of the Sooner State, that chunk of land has been an important border pipeline during his time in Fayetteville. Notable recruits from Oklahoma in the last few years include high four-stars like tight end Luke Hasz and running back AJ Green, who had a successful three years at Arkansas but has since transferred to Oklahoma State.
Myles Slusher, rated as the No. 2 player in Oklahoma, was a big get for Pittman early in his tenure, but those kind of pledges are easier at the start of a college coach’s tenure. That Sam Pittman and Travis Williams are seeing this kind of uptick coming off such a down season serves as a preemptive strike against any sinking ship vibes. In this way, Yarbrough’s commitment at this stage matters more than those from similar ranked players in the honeymoon period.
Colton Yarbrough’s arrival reinforces that Arkansas remains a major recruiting threat to OSU and Oklahoma. We know the Hogs will square off with the Cowboys in just over a month, and going into the the Cowboys’ state and snagging the best prospect in the class sends an important message ahead of that clash – one that shows the Hogs’ SEC status still gives them a significant recruiting advantage over OSU.
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With the Sooners, it’s an important piece of revenge for Arkansas after Oklahoma went into the Natural State and snatched a pair of highly-touted recruits away from the Razorbacks in defensive backs Marcus Wimberly and Omarion Robinson. After Wimberly tweeted that “Arkansas boys” were coming to take over the SEC with the Sooners, perhaps the Hogs’ new Oklahoma stud can give them a taste of their own medicine in a couple years.
Given the context, it’s easy to argue Colton Yarbrough as a top-five commitment of Pittman’s tenure. Amidst a ton of turmoil and negativity surrounding the program, it’s especially impressive for the Head Hog to bring in two of his best recruiting wins in a one-month span.
Blue-Chip Commits Enforce Sam Pittman’s “Make or Break” Year
Landing these high-tier recruits, however, is a double-edged sword for Arkansas given the current state of the program. It’s no secret that Pittman currently occupies the hottest seat in the country – something others around the country have taken notice of.
The current state of affairs is something that causes Razorback fans to have to do a double take when good news like Yarbrough’s commitment comes in. On the one hand, it’s obviously a fantastic feeling for a fanbase when their program reels in a big fish like Yarbrough. But on the other hand, part of you has to wonder what the odds of him ever actually making it to campus are.
Yarbrough’s early signing day won’t be until December 2025 – and a lot could change in the next year and a half for Arkansas football. The upcoming season is pretty widely known as a “make or break” year for Pittman’s tenure as head coach, and you can pretty much bet that nothing less than a solid winning season will allow him to survive the pressure cooker.
If the Hogs break and have another disappointing campaign, it’s likely the assistant coaches that landed these studs won’t be around by the time they get to college. When the staff goes, so do the recruits. That’s just the way the coaching carousel spins.
That’s not to mention that in the modern age of college athletics, commitments don’t matter as much as they used to. Arkansas, in particular, has had its fair share of notable decommitments over the past few years. That includes four-star 2024 wide receivers Courtney Crutchfield and Ashton Bethel-Roman, who both committed to SEC rivals in Missouri and Texas A&M, respectively.
A disappointing start to the 2024 campaign could open the floodgates for a wave of additional defections. Blue-chip talents making a defining decision about their future are less likely to want to stay on a perceived sinking ship.
In Pittman’s first two recruiting classes at Arkansas, just one prospect in each year backed off their commitment. That, of course, corresponded with the best on-field successes of the Pittman era.
Since then, however, the bad news has been more frequent and damaging. In the 2023 class, the number of defectors increased to five. In the most recent Class of 2024? That number jumped up to eight decommitments.
In that regard, you could view the program’s recent successes on the recruiting trail as adding more pressure onto Pittman to succeed. Not only would shortcomings bring about on-field disappointments, but the off-field effects of losing recruits would do additional damage to the team’s future.
The additions of elite talents like Wallace and Yarbrough bring about some much-needed momentum heading into the season. Now, the Razorbacks will need to translate that into results to keep things rolling.
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Watch Colton Yabrough’s announcement here:
Travis Williams talks recent viral moments and recruiting:
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Arkansas football landed another 2026 prospect from Oklahoma a few minutes after Yarbrough:
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