The Arkansas Football program appeared to be in the dead for a little period of time that felt like two decades.
There was enough quality on this team to win over eight games in three seasons. Nobody can refute this to me. The top 25 to mid-30s were always represented in the recruiting classes. No, that doesn’t translate into a lot of wins in the SEC, the hardest football conference, but it should keep a program competitive and help it defeat its less formidable opponents outside of the conference.
Unacceptable loss on the road In the second week of the 2018 season, Colorado State was unexpected. That was a really ugly blowout loss to North Texas. 2019 saw a humiliating defeat to San Jose State and a rout of Ty
Are you telling me that players who have graced the Cardinal and White, including Devwah Whaley, Cole Kelley, Treylon Burks, Trey Knox, Santos Ramirez, McTelvim Agim, Chevin Calloway, Scoota Harris, Jonathan Marshall, Mike Woods, Montaric Brown, Kam Curl, Bumper Pool, Dre Greenlaw, Joe Foucha, Rakeem Boyd, Nick Starkel, Jalen Catalon, Myron Cunningham, Dalton Wagner, Ricky Stromberg, and many more players weren’t good enough to be better than two or three consecutive seasons? We should give these athletes credit for enduring the horror that was Chad Morris’s tenure.
I have become dissatisfied with covering the Razorbacks throughout the years because of this. At last, a coach that this team is willing to battle for. In addition to fighting, they must race past barriers and smash ceilings in order to rise from the grave! Maybe there was still life to this Razorback program. It might have been doing well all along. Eager for the day it would be let loose to consume!
The goal of this program is to be successful. founded on the self-assurance that “who we have is all we need,” as Sam Pittman eloquently put it. There’s a burning desire to succeed. a desire to improve with every game! You only need to look at the starting quarterback. With two games remaining in the season, KJ Jefferson, a quarterback for the Razorbacks who didn’t get out to a fast start this year, has put together one of the best statistical seasons in recent memory. In the previous three games, Jefferson has completed 79 percent of his throws for 664 yards, five touchdowns, and
touchdowns with not a single interception. That’s efficiency right there. He has the best touchdown to interception ratio since 2014 and 2015, with a ratio of 20:3. He has established himself as the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy heading into the upcoming campaign.
Pittman has entirely rewritten the rules for this program. He removed all distractions from this squad and put the US, not ME, as the main emphasis. His deeds, not his résumé, are what earn respect. Instead of treating his players like jerks, the Head Hog leads by example. He has earned the coaches’ and the team’s trust within the administration building. This is Arkansas’s 7-4 position.
and even a few plays from a 9-2 lead. How things have changed since we were 4–20 in 2018 and 2019. Even though sportswriters around the nation disregarded Pittman’s hiring, oblivious to the impact he had during his three-year tenure at Arkansas from 2013 to 2015, Pittman is exactly what this program needed. Kirby Smart had equipped him for this kind of work. Pittman will even admit to you that even though he received a lot of instruction prior to taking on the role of head coach, he is still following his own process, which may not always be the best one. Thus far, “his way” has proven effective.
Yurachek traveled to Georgia on a chilly December evening to offer Pittman, who appeared to be the third or fourth option, a contract. Pittman and Yurachek shook hands and yelled, “YESSIRRRRRR,” so that a photo and video of the event could be taken. He was interested in the position. He claimed to understand what it takes to be the University of Arkansas’s head coach. Pittman went on to explain that his football squad would adopt a blue collar work ethic and state mindset, emphasizing that this is a blue collar state. He wants the team and the state to feel “damn proud.” Oh, how true it was what he said during the opening news conference.
Then, last year, Covid-19 arrived, forcing a one-year reorganization of the college football scene. With six of their ten opponents ranking in the top 25, four of them being top 10 teams, and two of them serving as representatives in the SEC Championship Game, Arkansas had the hardest schedule in college football history in 2020. The SEC’s goal was to destroy the Razorbacks. The goal of the conference was to establish the new “Vanderbilt of the SEC West” by putting the icing on the cake. Remarkably, it didn’t occur! Despite winning three games, the Hogs
lost two more games as a result of poor officiating. Despite this, Pittman’s record as Arkansas’s head coach is the best it has been since Bobby Petrino’s 13-12 start (11-11, Texas Bowl forfeit included).
In my opinion, Pittman made some good points in his press conference after Saturday’s devastating loss to Alabama.
Pittman declared, “The days of Arkansas getting their teeth knocked out and being embarrassed are over.”
When the coaching carousel heats up, what’s next for Arkansas? Given the openings in the SEC at schools like LSU, Florida, and possibly Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Auburn, is it possible that one of Arkansas’ coordinators will advance to become head coach? That indicates that people are pursuing Pittman’s subordinates since Arkansas has performed so well under his leadership. Can he maintain the unity of his staff?
Finally, Pittman ought to win SEC Coach of the Year at the very least. He has performed nothing less than a coaching miracle in getting the Razorbacks back to winning status in less than two seasons. This group has faith in their coach. The newcomers are starting to have faith in the head coach after observing the improvement being made on “The Hill.” Across the nation, assistant coaches are observing Pittman’s work and have faith in their own abilities to accomplish the same. Recognizing Pittman’s work at Arkansas and giving him the greatest accolade available to a head coach at the Power-Five level would be the conference’s ultimate show of admiration. It is appropriate to
