Pittman has Arkansas moving up
ATLANTA — Sam Pittman beat the odds by becoming Arkansas’ coach in the first place. He’s since beaten the odds on the field nearly three quarters of the time, even with a 12-11 record overall.
Informed that he’s 16-6 against the betting spread over his first two seasons at Arkansas, Pittman made sure he’d heard right.“How much?” Pittman asked a reporter Wednesday, the third of four SEC Media Days.
Pittman, who bears semblance to Texan and comedian Ron White, then brought one of the biggest chuckles of the day when he responded with the two most popular words in Arkansas: “Go Hogs.”
The Hogs have indeed gone from an SEC West punch line under previous coach Chad Morris to a program to be reckoned with under Pittman, a 60-year-old quipster whose previous claim to fame was inconspicuously coaching offensive lines, with his previous three stops in the SEC.
A head-scratching hire to outsiders less than three years ago, Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek brought Pittman onboard in December 2019 with the notion Pittman’s SEC experience as a grinding assistant and superb recruiter counted for something. He was right.
“Last year they won nine games,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said of the Razorbacks’ 9-4 finish, including nearly doubling up Texas and Texas A&M (a collective score of 60-31). “That’s more than they’ve won in the three previous years combined. It shows the progress of the program under Sam’s leadership.”
On Wednesday, Pittman again showed off his quick wit that rivals his look-alike White and has made him a media days favorite. For instance, Pittman said he distributed Outback Bowl victory rings in April to his players.
“People ask, ‘Why do you hand out a ring for the Outback Bowl?’ ” Pittman said. “Because I wanted to.”
He added that Arkansas’ biggest win in a decade topped by the Razorbacks’ first bowl victory since the 2015 season called for celebration — and reward.
“It’s something nobody on our team had accomplished,” Pittman said of the bowl victory, 2410 over Penn State. “You can set goals, and once you reach one, that ain’t one, that’s (just) one of ’em. Once you reach that goal, we’re going to celebrate it, and then we’re going to move on.
“That was the last time our team talked about last year.”
Until the Razorbacks were asked to recall their 2021 triumphs at media days, anyway, among them Arkansas’ 20-10 victory over A&M. The Razorbacks snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Aggies, with seven of the last eight collisions coming in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys (owned by former Arkansas player Jerry Jones).
“I’m from the Dallas area, so I’ve been going to that game and watching that game for quite some time,” Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool said. “To be part of the team that made (a win) happen was cool and very special.”
Pool, who’s from Lucas, northeast of Dallas, then got to the heart of the matter regarding the annual scuffle between the old Southwest Conference opponents.
“It’s also big because it’s a big recruiting area,” Pool said. “(Recruits) see the Hogs winning in Dallas, that’s important.”
Arkansas defensive back Jalen Catalon, who’s from Mansfield, southwest of Dallas, said the win over A&M was more special to him than beating the Longhorns 40-21 two weeks prior in Fayetteville, Ark.
“I was hurt and battling stuff (against A&M), but I was able to persevere with the team, and we came out on top,” Catalon said. “That (losing) streak was long due (to end). … We were looking forward to playing them.”
The Razorbacks open their third season under Pittman against Cincinnati, which made the four-team College Football Playoff last season before a loss to Alabama in the semifinals, on Sept. 3 in Fayetteville. They open SEC play the following week by hosting a revived South Carolina program under second-year coach Shane Beamer.
Arkansas won its lone national title in 1964, when Jones served as co-captain and future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson was a teammate.
“In my office I have a sign that says, ‘You’re not coming to play for the University of Arkansas; you’re coming to play for the state of Arkansas,’ ” Pittman said. “It’s true to the core. … Let’s be the hardest-playing team in football. I don’t know if we are or not, but that’s the goal. … Everybody has a mouth, and everybody has an opinion. And some of the opinions are worthy, and some aren’t.
“I’m going to let our football team and myself drive what we need to accomplish. If we do, the kids and the coaching staff did a great job. If we don’t, I screwed it up.”