Dates set for first spring practice of Sam Pittman era

Get THREE months of HawgBeat premium coverage for the price of ONE (just $10) w/ promo code NSD3for1 NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is less than six weeks away from its first practice of the Sam Pittman era.

The first-year head coach announced Wednesday that spring practice would begin March 16 and conclude with the annual Red-White spring football game on April 25.

That gives the Razorbacks a full week - with practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - of spring ball before the university’s spring break between March 23-27.

When the players return, they’ll have four straight weeks of practices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The final practice on April 25 is set to be the spring game, but the details for it are not yet set in stone.

As part of Arkansas’ new agreement with War Memorial Stadium, the Razorbacks are expected to play their Red-White game in the state’s capital in the even-numbered years, when they play Missouri in Columbia, Mo. In the odd-numbered years, Arkansas will play its regular-season game against the Tigers in Little Rock.

“Obviously, it was scheduled at Little Rock and I don't know exactly where that's at right now because we don't know if the NCAA will let us have it over there,” Pittman said. “If they will, then that's where we're going to play it. If they won't, we'll play it back here at home. We're still waiting on that right now.”

According to a UA spokesperson, Arkansas must go through the same appeals process with the SEC as it did in 2018, when the spring game was moved to War Memorial Stadium because of ongoing construction at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

The exact details of the spring game are still up in the air, as well. It might not be a traditional game and could potentially be more of a practice format, but it will definitely be open to the public.