Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1404860
10 NWA COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW | 8.29.2021 PITTMAN: HOGS BETTER PREPARED IN HIS 2ND YEAR TOM MURPHY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FAYETTEVILLE — The historical precedent for a major rise in the standings for University of Arkansas football this fall is mighty slim. The best year-over-year league improvement for Razorback football since joining the SEC was a five-game rise from 2-6 in 2005 to 7-1 and the SEC West title the next year. Of course that came with the dynamic trio of Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis at running back the year before current league dominator Nick Saban came aboard at Alabama. The Razorbacks have twice as many last-place finishes in the West (six) as they do top three finishes (three) in the 14 years since then. Otherwise around the SEC, Auburn went from worst to first in the SEC West in 2013 and won the conference title before losing in the final BCS national championship game to Florida State. Outside of that, major rebounds have been hard to come by in what is widely considered the toughest division in the most rugged football conference in America. Regardless, there are signs the arrow for the Arkansas Razorbacks is pointed up in Year 2 of the Sam Pittman regime after a 3-7 finish against an All-SEC slate. "We're in much better shape," Pittman said at the team's media day Aug. 5. "We had a much better offseason because we had more time. "I think because of the meetings we were able to have and the continuity with our three coordinators coming back, I think all of those things are going to benefit us. But we feel a lot better about our football team." Second-year defensive coordinator Barry Odom pointed to Pittman to explain how the Hogs are better in 2021. "We're better because we have a wonderful head coach who lays out a plan for us to go execute," Odom said. "There's not any gray area on what it should look like, what it should be. He's a tremendous leader. "We're able to grow and be ourselves in this program. Our kids understand the openness, the honesty and the transparency he has and ultimately what is important to our team. … Our guys have bought into that. They're hungry to be good, and they're hungry to have success." Pittman — the former three-year Arkansas assistant coach (2013-15) under Bret Bielema who used to conduct interviews barefoot while sitting at a desk in the Smith Football Center — has displayed a loving embrace of the state, the program and the Razorback brand. Pittman and his staff have conducted in a year and a half — a period that almost corresponds to the uncertainties of the covid-19 pandemic — a gradual upgrade of the roster to where there are higher-level position battles almost across the board. Some of that is due to the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, spawning 11 "super" seniors for Arkansas. Add in a good group of regular seniors, led by Montaric Brown, Joe Foucha, Bumper Pool and Dalton Wagner, and senior graduate transfers such as John Ridgeway, Markell Utsey and Tre Williams, and the Razorbacks have a stuffed senior class that canvasses the depth chart. NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo Arkansas coach Sam Pittman begins his second season as coach of the Razorbacks.