Pittman excited for new coaches on the recruiting trail
While turning the page from a disappointing 4-8 season in 2023, the Arkansas coaching staff knows they will need to recruit better to turn things around in 2024 and beyond.
Arkansas has three new coaches on the offensive side of the football entering the 2024 season with the additions of offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, offensive line coach Eric Mateos and wide receivers coach Ronnie Fouch.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman met with the media Tuesday to preview spring practices, and he said he was excited about the new coaching additions.
"Those guys have done a good job and the players have taken to those guys too," Pittman said. "It always works both ways. Excited where we are and we’ll see what happens.”
Mateos and Petrino have both been around several different programs, while Fouch is getting his first big job with the Razorbacks in 2024. He had previously been at Missouri State, where he coached running backs and special teams under Petrino.
Pittman said Mateos has primarily been recruiting in Texas because of his time working for Baylor before coming to Arkansas. He’s also been working the junior college ranks in Kansas.
Mateos knows JUCO ball in Kansas from his time as the recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach at Hutchinson Community College in 2012 — where interestingly enough Pittman was head coach in 1993.
The day Mateos was introduced at Arkansas, he said recruiting was the first thing he did.
"Got on a 5 a.m. bird the day after we signed and went and watched transfers for 12 hours and went recruiting," Mateos said Dec. 21. "That’s been the priority. That’s the priority this time of year. Everybody knows that, so you don’t have a lot of time to do much else.
"And so you mix in seeing a home here and there and trying to sell your house and make sure your wife and daughter are doing good. But the priority has been just signing some guys for today."
Petrino has a reputation that precedes him when it comes to quarterbacks. Coaching up Arkansas greats like Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson, and then going to Louisville where he developed Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson shows he can put quarterbacks in a position to be successful.
“Of course, Bobby is one of those guys that I don’t know if he can get any quarterback he wants, but he can get most of any quarterback that he wants just from his reputation,” Pittman said Tuesday.
Fouch’s career has been closely tied to Petrino’s. Arkansas is the third stop that Fouch will work with Petrino, as he was an offensive quality control analyst at Louisville and on Petrino’s staff at Missouri State. Pittman said Petrino recommended Fouch to be the new wide receivers coach, and he was “a really good get.”
“All of them have been really good hires and I’ve enjoyed each one and knowing them as a person,” Pittman said. “Getting to know them and their family.”
The Razorbacks will begin spring practice Thursday morning. The spring period will consist of 14 practices and will conclude with the Red-White spring game on April 13. Be sure to subscribe to HawgBeat and tune into our premium message board — The Trough — for the latest information, videos and more.