For Arkansas, things seem to always stay the same. Outside of the Chad Morris debacle it’s been difficult for anyone to truly forecast the Razorbacks season for more than a decade now.
That was not the case for Arkansas from 1998-2011 during the height of the program’s success in the SEC. Houston Nutt and Bobby Petrino led the Razorbacks to three 10-win regular seasons. Those also happen to be the Hogs’ only 10-win seasons since joining the SEC. Expectations were high for the team to stay competitive once Bret Bielema was hired away after seven successful seasons at Wisconsin. That era ended in a thud of a 4-8 season and into the death penalty along with two seasons under Morris with a 4-20 record.
It’s obvious Sam Pittman enters the 2024 season with one of the hottest seats in the country from a national perspective. Pittman’s done a fair job returning the Razorbacks to a respectable state despite the unprecedented circumstances given less than 90 days after taking the job.
What he’s done right is hire capable coordinators with head coaching backgrounds to help him navigate as a first-time head coach. Sure, he’s paid millions of dollars to lead and he’s taken lumps in stride as he’s gone on. Here’s what an anonymous SEC coach thinks of Arkansas early on in the offseason.
Now, he brings not only one of the greatest offensive minds in football but also a celebrated Arkansas head coach to run the offense again. Perception that Petrino is there only to take Pittman’s job is folly. He knows his place in the structure of Arkansas’ organization. It’s doubtful there will be any sort of conspiracy going on to overthrow Pittman as head coach anyway. That’s even if the Razorbacks return to the winning ways of 2021.
One of the biggest questions for next season is whether or not transfer quarterback Taylen Green can operate an offense in the SEC. There is tape for him from his time at Boise State as the starter. Plus, he showed himself to be quite dynamic in a vanilla version of Petrino’s offense in the Red-White Spring Game.
Nearly half of Arkansas’ roster is full of transfers and true freshmen. The pressure from the outside this offseason seems to be centered on Green’s maturation and development under Petrino. This anonymous coach believes a successful season hinges on how former Broncos’ quarterback and new Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator work out.
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