SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 23, 2026

Sutton Smith

Arkansas Razorbacks

Press Conference

Q. When you set your goals, obviously at the top, it's team. But what individual goals do you want to attain so you can get to those team goals?

SUTTON SMITH: I just want to stay committed to my process every day and hopefully the results take care of itself. I want to be the best leader, best teammate I can be. Show up for the team every day, push each other, push the players, and pour into them and build them up so we can come together as one.

Individual goal I've got for myself is I just want us to win, at the end of the day. That's what the fans need. And we need to get this thing going back on the right track.

Q. Last year, you were coming off an injury and ended up having a breakout season at Memphis. How do you plan to do that again but now in the SEC, one of the hardest conferences?

SUTTON SMITH: Yeah, we played a couple SEC teams when I was at Memphis. Arkansas was one of those teams. I was able to do my thing.

I just attacked the rehab pretty hard, trusted in the process, came back stronger, did some good things. But I had a better offseason than I did that previous year.

I'm hopeful to do it week in, week out, be consistent. I attack the weight room hard, put on some weight, put on some armor so I can have a full and healthy season that lasts whole year.

Q. To wear the No. 5 at Arkansas already means something, but for you to be a running back and wear that patch with Darren McFadden, have you taken time to learn more about him? How does it feel to be wearing that?

SUTTON SMITH: I always knew he was a beast. But he is really a G.O.A.T., he's really the G.O.A.T. of Arkansas football history among running backs. A lot of good running backs he played with too.

So it's an honor to run at 5. I look forward to meeting him. Five, the number, means I lot to mean. My birthday is on the 5th. I wore the number 5 at Memphis.

But when I committed to Arkansas I got a chance to really look into his film. And he's a freak, 6'3", ran 4.3.

So I just take some things from his game and try to put it into mine and see what where can be successful. But it's a good thing I'm able to wear that number 5 and I want to represent it the right way and own that ball and do good for the Hogs.

Q. One of your former teammates, quarterback Arrington Maiden, just wanted to ask about you how well you know him, just kind of what kind of a guy and player he is?

SUTTON SMITH: That's crazy you asked that. That was my roommate at Memphis. So we're really close-knit. He's helped me get closer to the Lord. And I'm excited for him and the things that he has to endure at JMU.

Hopefully he has a great career there. But he's a very hard worker. He's prepared.

He came up through Texas, so he has a great football background and he has a good head on his shoulders. Hopefully he'll win the job there and stay focused.

Q. What does it mean to you that you were chosen to be one of the three players to represent the team here today?

SUTTON SMITH: Yeah, that means everything to me. But I have a great relationship with Coach Silverfield. I'm up here with him at Arkansas. I feel like I've been constantly just still trying to prove myself to him, even though he knows what I can do.

But it just helped me allow my game to come to another level, turn it up a notch. Just being in this conference, him allowing me to represent the Hogs at this conference media day, it's my first conference media day, it's been a blessing. And I'm just trying to step up for the team and be a good leader.

Q. Arkansas finished second in the SEC in rushing yards per game last year. What are going to be the keys to keeping that potent rushing attack for the Razorbacks?

SUTTON SMITH: Yeah, shout out to the O line. Coach Silverfield brought in some good O line coaches for those guys so their confidence is running high. I really believe in the O line. I told Kit that on this trip. So I just gotta, I want to keep them to be able to trust me.

We got a good running back room -- me, Bray Russell, Cam Settles. We really just gotta keep it going. They set the foundation.

Shout out to Mike Washington. He was a transfer to come in. So I just took a deep dive onto the film last year. And we run some similar concepts so I was just able to see how they had success in this league. And I just I'm able to learn from that and be prepared and ready to go for the year.

Q. Fast-forward to a Saturday in September in Fayetteville, you've been in Reynolds Stadium, you've been in the other tunnel. Now all of a sudden you're going to be in that tunnel, you're going to be wearing railroaded and everybody's going be screaming pig sooie. Going to get goosebumps?

SUTTON SMITH: Yeah, I'm gonna get goosebumps. I'm a big visualizer, so I've been visualizing ever since I committed. It's on my vision board. I'm ready just to play in front of great atmosphere. The fans are very passionate. Been feeling the love of Fayetteville since I got there.

I think about go out there versus North Alabama. The ball kickoff and hearing the "woo, pig sooie" chants and just doing what I need to do for the team. And it's gonna be a great feeling. I can't wait.

Q. What makes Coach Silverfield someone you're so loyal too in your career, at Memphis and then come to Arkansas?

SUTTON SMITH: He really believed in me from the start. He really discovered me early on before I was kind of even a running back. He discovered me when I was a receiver in high school. And he made it known that he wanted me to come play running back.

And he had a history of coaching some good running backs in the past, running backs who were at Memphis like Pollard, Gainwell and those type of guys. He really set the vision for me and how he would use my skill set. And he honored me. And that relationship we built transferred all the way here to Arkansas.

I'm believing in him. He believing in me, so I'm riding with him.

Q. What's the go-to Waffle House order?

SUTTON SMITH: I'll probably say All-Star Special, for sure, All-Star Special -- chocolate waffle, chocolate chip. That's got that extra protein in it. That's my go-to. I'm from Georgia, too, so I get Waffle House all the time.

Q. Gotta have a sweet tea with that too?

SUTTON SMITH: Sweet tea, chocolate milk, orange juice in the morning.

Q. When you look at what's happening at Arkansas and you talk about culture, what's culture at Arkansas right now?

SUTTON SMITH: So I really see the guys who are on the team last year who stayed. I really see them believing in this thing and getting this thing rolling. They're kind of like the stone, because they went through that 2-10 season, but they are really believing, having the faith to turn things around.

They're taking the workouts that we're doing. They're believing in the strength coaches. I'm seeing them get so much better and getting faster, stronger. Their approach to workouts the right way. They recruited the right guys who are the right fit for the program, who want to take care of the little things. We're holding each other accountable. And it's good to see the leaders stepping up at the right time as the season is approaching.

Q. Coach Silverfield's aura has been brought up a lot here. You've been around him a lot. Does he have it? And if so, how?

SUTTON SMITH: I think he does. I think I seen like a post online or something about it. I'm like, man, he really do got aura. I don't know, they trippin'. They trippin'. That's my guy. He got swag, just like me.

Q. The SEC slogan is It Just Means More. Now that you've been here for a couple of months, what have you seen that's kind of proven that right?

SUTTON SMITH: Yeah. That is kind of right. That just shows, like me getting on campus, it really does mean more. We got an all-you-can-eat buffet and so that's really helped me with my nutrition and my gains. You can just feel the energy and the intensity. It's like a lot of passion. And the fan base is really passionate.

I just came across some fans who were in the lobby waiting on us. It really does mean more, and I can feel it. I can feel it as the season is approaching, and I've got to do my best to be prepared so I can put it on display on the field and the results speak for itself.

Q. The way the college and the NFL game has developed, running back is a misnomer. You've got to also be a catching back and a blocking back if you're going to be on the field for all three downs. How important is it to be that three-headed monster?

SUTTON SMITH: That's very important to me. I take pride adding special teams value and being used in a variety of ways. I know Coach Cramsey and his offensive scheme will help play to my strengths whether that's catching out in the backfield, being split out wide, catching punts, tracking punts down, protecting the quarterback, which is very important in today's game. So I take pride in that. And the game is transitioning. It's like in the NFL, it's kind of like a passing league. So I take pride in being able to catch out of the backfield, too.