Arkansas Football on historic recruiting run

The old adage for Arkansas is “get them to campus.”

That is somewhat true but since Sam Pittman has been the head coach of the Razorbacks things have certainly changed.

Preconceived thoughts of Arkansas have changed and the secret is out of the bag. Fayetteville, Arkansas is the place to be if your a prospective college student AND a high level football prospect.

Whether it be culture, fit or just understanding what it takes to get the job done at Arkansas, Pittman has things figured out. He has created a gameplan built on toughness, will to win and execution across all facets of the collegiate game of football.

The fact that he took over what was considered the worst job in all of football and completely flipped it is a testament to his hard work and dedication. This job isn’t for everyone but it was definitely for the jukebox man.

A program cannot recover quickly unless there is substance in a coaching staff. We have seen it many of times through the years when a new coach takes over that he will flip a couple of prospects from schools or land guys that were not necessarily on the radar when said coach took the job. Pittman did just that when he signed Darin Turner, Myles Slusher, Marcus Henderson and Malik Hornsby in the 2020 class.

With the newer early signing day period it made it almost impossible to put together a recruiting class in two weeks after taking a new job. Pittman did that while also hiring his staff, too. There definitely was sleepless nights for the Head Hog early on. They bolstered team depth with additions out of the transfer portal like Jerry Jacobs, AJ Reed and Feleipe Franks.

Pittman’s recruiting prowess showed and of course it paid off as his team laid a winning foundation. Pittman’s ‘recruit or your gone’ type of leadership tells you all you need to know about his mentality about being a head coach...he wants to win…now.

The recently signed 2022 class was a solid one that signed elite talent across the board and gives the Razorbacks young playmakers for the future. Then, with the transfer portal market provided Arkansas with potential superstar additions like Jadon Haselwood, Drew Sanders, Latavius Brini and Dwight McGlothern.

The successful, short history of Pittman as a head coach with his kind demeanor as a friend, colleague and coach has helped his program rise near the top of the recruiting rankings. The Razorbacks currently sit second for the 2023 class. That is unheard of at Arkansas at any point of a recruiting cycle.

Currently, the class boasts a higher average rating than the 2019 class that produced a record 14 four-star prospects in that one. With Luke Hasz, Luke Brown, Shamar Easter and Dallas Young as solid commitments things can only get sweeter moving forward.

This is the new age of Razorback Football. This is a program that is demanding respect across all of America. They can boast all day long that they are only one of eight schools in the FBS to return their trio of head coach and both coordinators.

A football program that was on life support just two and a half years ago is thriving today. Winning cures everything which helps bring more exposure in recruiting.

Now, with their head coach signed to a contract for the rest of his career at Arkansas shows stability to current and future players and coaches. The coach that your son commits to will be here all four years of your college experience. It doesn’t get better than that.

Sometimes it’s all about trusting the process. And, the ride with this one has been a scenic one so far.