Best pals manage recruiting logistics

Callie Conway (left) and Maddie Pool are shown prior to a home Arkansas football game.
Callie Conway (left) and Maddie Pool are shown prior to a home Arkansas football game.

University of Arkansas football coaches often say the Hogs have a chance of landing recruits if they can get them on campus.

Razorbacks director of on-campus recruiting Callie Conway and associate director of on-campus recruiting Maddie Pool can relate.

Conway, whose father Jeff is the receivers coach at Tulane, would drive through Fayetteville to Table Rock Lake near Branson for family vacations in the summer while growing up.

She attended high school in Huntsville, Texas, when her father coached Sam Houston State, then in Wimberley, Texas, while he coached at Texas State. She and her family checked out the UA campus once while headed to Table Rock.

"I fell in love," Conway said. "Fayetteville reminded me of Wimberley. Of course, I loved that it was an SEC school. I've got a picture of my dad and I looking over the field my very first time seeing it ... which is pretty cool to look at now."

Conway, who graduated with a business marketing degree in May 2018, has been joined by her sisters at Arkansas. Patsy just finished her junior year, while Bobbi will be a sophomore in the fall.

"So now we are an Arkansas family," Conway said.

As a sophomore, she volunteered as a student-recruiting assistant under former coach Bret Bielema.

"I really didn't intend to do this when I got to college, I just kind of realized how much I missed being a part of the game," Conway said.

Pool, the older sister of Razorbacks junior linebacker Bumper Pool, inquired about working in the recruiting office the first semester of her freshman year under Bielema.

"I was kind of like, 'Hey, I will literally do anything. Just let me know if you need any help next semester,' " Pool said. "So I started in the spring."

She, Bumper and youngest brother Harper were raised as Hog fans by their father Jeff, who graduated from Arkansas in 1990, and mother Laurie.

"If you would've ever told me at 4 years old coming to Razorback games that I would've worked for the university for this long, I would've never believed it," Pool said. "That was just a huge dream I never thought I was capable of doing that. So just to have this opportunity to have all these coaches give me the chance, it's been unbelievable. I wouldn't trade any of it."

Pool worked as a Razorbelle -- a student group that assists on game days and helps in the recruiting office -- for two months before transitioning to a recruiting assistant. That's when she and Conway started working together, which led to them becoming best friends and roommates.

"That's when our friendship kind of blossomed," Pool said.

When Bielema was fired after the 2017 season, Conway and Pool were determined to work for the next coaching staff. When Chad Morris was hired, the best friends staked out the Fred W. Smith Football Center.

"We sat in the parking lot, I want to say an hour or two after they made the hire," Conway said. "I said, 'We got to find a way to get into the building, so they'll let us help.' No one from the new staff knew us."

Jared Hunt, who served as the recruiting coordinator for a year under Morris, was approached by Conway and Pool after arriving at the Smith Center.

"I knew we should have hired them right when I met them," said Hunt, who's now the athletic director at Academy High School in Little River, Texas. "You could tell they wanted to be a part of the program and that they loved the Hogs. They were hard workers and always willing the help."

Morris promoted Conway to assistant director of on-campus recruiting in July 2018. She was elevated to director in January 2019, and Pool was promoted to assistant director of on-campus recruiting.

When prospects visit Fayetteville, Conway and Pool are in charge of making sure there aren't glitches.

Expense-paid official visits for prospects and their guardians last a maximum of 48 hours. The visits demand attention to detail from the time a recruit usually arrives on a Friday and leaves Sunday.

Hotel reservations for recruits and their families can be a challenge.

"On Monday, they're bringing mom and dad, and then on Tuesday they're bringing sister and brother, and then on Wednesday they're bringing cousin and grandmother," Conway said of the ever-changing plans. "So it's always a challenge."

Conway also books flights for recruits and family members while also arranging car service from their house to the airport. Once the prospect arrives at the Northwest Arkansas airport, a staff member drives he and his family to the hotel for a welcoming ceremony in a banquet room featuring snacks.

"We have our coaches and all of our staff there welcoming all of the recruits as they roll in," Conway said. "We feed them literally the entire 48 hours, so no one ever goes hungry."

When recruits and family members go to their rooms, there's more food.

"Maddie works super hard because she's going to all of the local cake shops and the cookie places and the popcorn place for all the snacks we put in their rooms," Conway said.

Pittman, assistant coaches, staff members, prospects and their family usually arrive at The Catfish Hole restaurant for dinner around 7 p.m. in the evening. After about an hour of food and fellowship, the recruits are taken to the north end zone complex of Reynolds Razorback Stadium for a photo shoot while decked out in Hog uniforms.

"We usually have a presentation out on the field, so we'll light up the board," Conway said. "That's why sometimes the fans see the stadium lit up red during the offseason."

Afterward, the recruits go out for the evening with player hosts who often are from their home state, and have similar personalities and interests.

Saturday starts with breakfast and a tour of the academic center.

"Then we lunch at the facility [Smith Center], and depending on the season, we like taking them to basketball games," Conway said.

Prospects are also given a weight room and equipment presentation.

"That night we have a fancier dinner at the stadium in the Founder's Club," Conway said. "That's a really nice dinner like with steak, lobster. You have everything you could ever want on the menu."

Recruits and their families usually have breakfast with Pittman and the staff on Sunday morning, then have individual meetings with Pittman and position coaches before departing for home.

Unofficial visits are where prospects pay their own way, and they can last four to six hours.

NCAA rules and changes in recruiting are constantly evolving and can be a challenge. Conway praised Arkansas' compliance office.

"Our compliance office does a great job of being around and being present and answering my phone calls at all hours of the night and hours of the day for any strange questions," Conway said. "Coach Pittman has done a great job of having our compliance officers sit in our staff meetings every morning, so it's real easy for us as we're talking about recruiting to turn to them and go, 'Hey, is this OK? Can we do this?' Because the rules are tricky."

In addition to assisting Conway, Pool has taken on a several new roles, including updating parents about their son's academics, providing ticket gate information for home and away games, and coordinating the parent tailgates for home games.

"Then assist with any other questions the parents may have throughout the rest of the year," Pool said.

She's also involved in helping incoming freshmen report to Fayetteville.

"I'm in charge of getting all of the freshmen onto campus, dorm move-ins, making sure they're eligible and making sure everything is sent into their respective places like with the eligibility center, our admissions office," Pool said.

The recruiting process allows Pool to get to know players and their parents.

"It's a fun role I've taken on," she said, "being able to build the relationships with the kids coming in, and their parents knowing they have a contact person if they ever need anything."

Pool acts as a go-between for the parents.

"Especially once their kids are here, they get anxious and they want to know what's going on," Pool said. "So they'll call me and say, 'Hey, have you seen so-so? How's he doing?' Then I'll get the kid to come into the office, and I'll be like, 'Hey, call your mom. Call your dad.' "

Karen Soli, mother of defensive end Mataio Soli, said she believes Conway and Pool are godsends.

"Those girls are why Arkansas is a great family," Karen Soli said. "They always calm me down. Whatever I'm thinking or uncomfortable about, I put in a call or a text and they always answer me. They're like having family right there. They always come through for me."

Conway said she enjoys seeing the recruiting process come to fruition.

"I think the day they move in is my favorite part because you kind of see it full circle from them getting here on their unofficial or official visit, and then getting to know their family and then their signing," Conway said. "That's really exciting, but the day they get here and move in is really cool. Getting to share this place with them is really special."

Conway admits to having a special place in her heart for redshirt freshman defensive back Malik Chavis and his parents.

"I love Malik Chavis' mom," Conway said. "She was like a mom to us. I love spending time with her. Malik is a great kid."

Pool said she always enjoys seeing the parents of defensive back Myles Mason.

"I want all the parents to know I love them all equally because I talk to all of them on a regular basis, but I will say Myles Mason's mom and dad, they have been awesome," Pool said. "Every time I see them, they give me the biggest hug and they always have the biggest smile on their face."

Arkansas executive director of recruiting Joshua Thompson said Conway and Pool are vital to the program.

"I couldn't be effective at my job without the work and knowledge that they provide," Thompson said

Tabatha Toll, mother of freshman tight end Blayne Toll, said she is very appreciative of Conway and Pool.

"These two ladies are the best," Toll said. "They go above and beyond for their job. Always willing to help or answer any questions we may come up with. And always with a smile and a hug. It's a joy to get to see their smiling faces. Smiling face with smiling eyes."

Attending Arkansas with her brother is special for Pool.

"It's been cool to see Bumper just grow as a person," Pool said. "He's a cool guy, and I'm proud of him."

Big sister and Bumper will be joined by Harper this summer or fall. He'll be working within the football program.

"He's actually going to be working in equipment," Pool said.

Pool, who earned her finance degree in December 2018, is in graduate school. She said she knows her father is ecstatic about his kids being in Fayettevile.

"It's pretty cool. Most kids when they go to college, they all separate, but we all get to stay together," Pool said. "I think for my dad, this is his biggest dream come true."

The emotional roller coaster of college football is the most challenging part of the job. The wins are cherished and the losses are draining.

"It's a very emotional game," Conway said. "You become real close to the staff and their families, so when you lose, it's hard to get up the next Monday and not focus on what's going down on the field, but to really just do your job. So that can be challenging sometimes ... but it's also really special when you win. There's low lows and there's high highs."

Perhaps the most difficult low is seeing coaches lose their jobs. Conway has experienced that with the firing of Bielema and Morris.

Morris, former running backs coach Jeff Traylor, cornerbacks coach Mark Smith, tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. and others on the staff consoled and encouraged Conway and Pool.

"Coach Lunney said when you do get a shot and the next staff comes in and that first official visit hits, you have to really kill it because that's going to be really important for you," Conway said. "You have to set your emotions aside, and sure enough that's what happened.

"They were all really supportive because they've been through this and they know how it goes. It was really tough, but thankfully we have such a wonderful staff now so I really did get lucky with two truly amazing staffs and two great head coaches."

The first official visits under Pittman came less than a week after he was hired Dec. 8. Of the five prospects who visited Arkansas during the Dec. 13-15 weekend, the Hogs signed four.

Conway and Pool's audition with Pittman went well.

"After our first official visit weekend, Callie and I were extremely nervous because we wanted everything to go perfectly," Pool said. "We wanted to prove to them and the new staff that we could do a good job for them.

"Monday morning we come into the office, and on Callie's deck and my desk there's a handwritten card from Coach Pittman about how proud of us he was and he was just very thankful. I think that goes to show what a great person he is that he took the time out of his day and his first busy week of being there to write a note to Callie and I. That was pretty awesome."

Sports on 05/24/2020

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