Sam Pittman content with Hogs as underdogs despite success in 2021

ATLANTA — The message Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman delivered on Wednesday was direct and honest.

Paraphrasing here, but Pittman told his Razorbacks constituents: “We’re NOT baaaaaack.”

That’s a touch of reality not all coaches — hell, not all Sams — are willing to convey.

Although Arkansas zoomed to nine victories in 2021 — more than in the three previous seasons combined — Pittman tapped the brakes when asked at Southeastern Conference Media Days if the Razorbacks had “arrived.”

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Pittman said with a chuckle. “Arkansas is just trying to compete. We're trying to get better. We're trying to fight hard. We're trying to work hard. We're the underdog. We like it that way.

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Fifth-year senior linebacker Bumper Pool tallied 125 tackles last season, earning him All-SEC honors. 

“Now, we will compete. We'll do that. Roll it out there and let's play ball. But, no, no, no, not that.”

Pittman realizes one exhilarating season doesn’t immediately erase multiple years of mediocrity. He’s apparently taught that lesson to his players.

“We had success last season. I didn’t want it to be one of those things where it happens then it’s just gone,” said linebacker Bumper Pool, explaining why he returned for a super-senior season. "I think that you need older guys breathing life into younger guys saying ‘This is the way you do it. This is how you go about your business to be able to repeat that success.”

That’s a lesson not easily learned by all. Remember, Texas had gone 23-27 in four seasons from 2014-17. Then, the Longhorns capped a 10-4 campaign in 2018 with a 28-21 Sugar Bowl victory over disinterested Georgia.

In celebration, Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger declared “We’re baaaaack.”

Since that boast, the Longhorns are 15-15 against Power 5 opponents. That includes a loss to Kansas last season.

Despite Pittman’s hesitancy, there are two key factors at play that suggest Arkansas won’t sink back into consistent mediocrity as Texas did.

The first factor is Pittman. He’s obviously a capable coach. In just two seasons, he has fumigated the stench left by previous Arkansas coaches Bret Bielema and Chad Morris.

Bielema foolishly insulted high school coaches in Texas, a vital recruiting area. Morris was just way in over his head.

Arkansas could not effectively run the football when Morris was coach. The Razorbacks were 13th in the SEC in rushing in 2018. They were 11th in 2019.

Last season, Arkansas averaged 227.7 rushing yards to lead all Power 5 conference teams in the nation.

“I think what that does (is) it tells us what we're trying to do with our program,” Pittman said. “We want to be a physical team on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We want to win the line of scrimmage. We want to be physical and tough. I was an O-line coach for a long, long time, never was able to lead a Power 5 in rushing, but we were able to do that last year.”

Not coincidentally, just two years ago, Arkansas endured non-conference losses to San Jose State and Western Kentucky. Last season, the Razorbacks posted a non-conference victory over Texas.

That leads to the second factor.

When the SEC expands, Big 12 expatriates Texas and Oklahoma are projected as two of Arkansas’ three permanent opponents. Missouri will likely be the third.

Arkansas would trade annual games with Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M for those three.

Pittman said he’d welcome that change.

“It was fun playing Texas last year,” Pittman said. “Obviously, it was one year. We had a nice game against them and those things. Have a lot of respect for Coach (Steve Sarkisian) and the Longhorns.

“Oklahoma would be another rival that would be pretty cool, to be honest with you. If we could play Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, that would be really neat.”