Arkansas hoping top return man Shanks can spark unit to life

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated Aug 3, 2025 9:00 PM ET

Arkansas is coming off one of its more lackluster seasons in the punt returning department under special teams coach Scott Fountain.

The Razorbacks finished 12th in the SEC in yards per return (6.18) and 15th in number of returns (11).

It’s the worst finish under Fountain since his inaugural season with the Razorbacks in 2020 when he joined the Razorbacks after coming over from Georgia with coach Sam Pittman.

The Hogs have finished as high as third in punt return average under Fountain.

Fountain has a new weapon at his disposal to try and reignite the punt return game. Receiver Kam Shanks played at Alabama-Birmingham last year and was one of the most prolific returners in the game.

UAB ranked second nationally in yards per return (20.56) and sixth in total yards (329), which all belonged to Shanks to go along with two touchdowns and three returns of 30 yards or more.

Shanks could have had an even bigger season had he not laid a goose egg in the return department against the Razorbacks when the teams played in 2024, a game which Arkansas won 37-27.

Fountain doesn’t always get the green light to get a player to specifically help him in the return game, but once he was given the go-ahead to get someone this season, Shanks stood out.

“Last year [coach Pittman] said, go find [a returner],” Fountain said. “I started looking in the portal. Who's the best returner out there? And as they get in the portal, you start stacking 'em in the order. But if you watch Kam’s film last year, he had three house calls in one season.”

Officially, Shanks had just two touchdowns, one of them was called back. Even though Arkansas held Shanks in check, he certainly had the team’s attention.

“He had no returns in our game,” Fountain said. “That was a good thing. But we were worried about him going into the game, concerned about him. We feel like we've got a guy.”

Even though it’s Shanks’ first year in the SEC at the Power Four level, punter Devin Bale remembers him as an SEC-caliber player and is bringing the same energy as a teammate.

“He’s been amazing,” Bale said.”He’s super quick, he does everything the right way, head down, doesn’t complain. He’s just a great kid to have on the team.”

Shanks will have plenty of opportunity to produce in the receiver room, who returns just 4% of last year’s production, but he could also have a chance to revitalize a non-existent return game from 2024.

“At heart I love to return punts,” Fountain said. “I've had a lot of good punt returners in my career, and I really hope this would be an exciting year for us in that area.”

The Razorbacks continue fall practice 9:15 a.m. Monday as the Hogs are now less than a month away from its season opener against Alabama A&M. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Aug. 30 and will be broadcast on SEC Network.