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Razorback head coach took the podium on Thursday morning to preview his 2021 Razorback Football team.
As an assistant coach for many of years he credits Georgia head coach, Kirby Smart for helping prepare him to be a head coach at the SEC level.
Certainly, Pittman has been to many stops including Fayetteville from 2013-2016 under then head coach Bret Bielema who won three straight Big-Ten Championships and Rose Bowl appearances. However, there was no mention of that!
Pittman also made mention that Arkansas has 23 seniors with 11 being super seniors. Which gives Arkansas an age and experience advantage. On Monday, Smart said “most teams that do really well in the league have a bunch of seniors.” Will that give Arkansas an advantage going into 2021 looking to breakout.
One of the big talking points during the spring was the transfer of former wide receiver Mike Woods to Oklahoma. Woods was the second leading receiver in 2020 behind Treylon Burks. In a world full of instant gratification for college athletes and their freedom to enter the transfer portal, that I am not against, makes it easier to move around.
Currently, there are thousands of college football student athletes in the transfer portal without a home. Many of times they choose to remain with their school even after announcing a transfer. That won’t fly at Arkansas while Pittman remains the coach.
Pittman mentioned that Arkansas has plenty of talent at the quarterback position. Maybe more competition than they they’ve had since 2010. Jefferson is a sure thing at starting quarterback but he didn’t win the job easily
The Razorbacks had the most difficult schedule in the country in 2020. Many talking heads thought they would go 0-10. The Hogs proved them wrong in winning games versus Tennessee, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. They also should be credited with a victory over Auburn due to an officiating botch.
Arkansas exceeded expectations last year and hopefully will in 2021, too. Pittman referred to the 2020 schedule in a humorous way.
How will the offensive line look? The position group has looked better from the 2017-2018 seasons with improvement seen the past two seasons. Today, Pittman mentioned that the guard positions have yet to be decided.
At left guard Brady Latham and Luke Jones have been alternating. Also, right guard has Beaux Limmer and Ty Clary fighting it out as well.
Luckily, with the competition at those positions it will allow Arkansas’ offensive line coach Cody Kennedy the ability to cross train them in case of injury and whatnot.
Arkansas will begin their season on September 4th against Rice inside Razorback Stadium. The Hogs own a 35-29-3 record against their former Southwest Conference rival. This will be the first game between the two programs since 1991, Arkansas’ final season is in the defunct conference.