Hogs adding new executive director of player personnel

Sam Pittman has hired Butler Benton to become Arkansas’ new executive director of player personnel, according to multiple sources.

Benton, a Detroit native who played running back at Cincinnati, comes to Arkansas after serving as Director of Player Personnel at Georgia Southern.

The Razorbacks are also expected to add veteran coach Charlie Williams to the support staff in some capacity, according to reports

• Georgia Southern bio:

Butler Benton III, a four-year letterman as a running back at Cincinnati from 2004-07, served as the Director of Player Personnel for the Georgia Southern football program. In his role, Benton worked with head coach Chad Lunsford and recruiting coordinator Victor Cabral in several areas pertaining to recruiting, including the coordination of the recruit evaluation procedure, prospect identification and evaluations and the assistance with on-campus recruiting.

Benton also oversaw the communication and building of relationships with high school coaches and continues to build the database of GS alumni that are high school coaches and/or high school administrators.

Benton came to Statesboro after four seasons on the full-time staff at Michigan State as the player personnel coordinator. Benton worked on the structure and direction of recruiting related projects, and assists with the prospect evaluation process. He also mentors current student-athletes with a focus on personal development, academic performances and career planning.

Benton arrived at Michigan State in March 2016 after serving as director of student-athlete enrichment at the University of New Orleans for a year and a half. He previously spent 15 months as the assistant director of player development, engagement and academic enhancement at Notre Dame. Benton assisted in implementing programming to promote the intellectual, social and spiritual development of Irish football student-athletes. Prior to his stint at Notre Dame, he worked for nearly two years at Kent State as an internal operations assistant.

Benton was a four-year letterwinner (2004-07) as a running back at Cincinnati, earning three of his four letters while playing for Mark Dantonio. Benton rushed 379 times for 1,736 yards (4.6 avg.) and 11 touchdowns at Cincinnati. He also had 34 career receptions for 348 yards (10.2 avg.) and two scores. As a senior in 2007, Benton led the Bearcats in rushing with a career-best 499 yards on 100 carries and scored two rushing TDs. He gained 101 yards on 12 carries in the season opener against Southeast Missouri State. Benton set career highs with 16 catches for 154 yards (9.6 avg.). As a junior in 2006, Benton ranked second on the Bearcats in rushing with 497 yards on 108 attempts (4.0 avg.) and his four rushing TDs tied for the team lead. In 2004, he finished second on the team in rushing with 453 yards on 100 carries (4.5 avg.) and scored four TDs. Benton set career highs with 25 rushes for 127 yards against East Carolina.

Benton, a three-time all-city selection at Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, rushed for more than 3,000 yards during his prep career.

He earned his bachelor of business administration in finance from Cincinnati in December 2008 and received his master of arts in sport and recreation management from Kent State in May 2013. He married Jennifer Passmore in July 2019.