Pittman on new NCAA roster limits: 'I really don’t like it'
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It's hard to picture the Arkansas football program without walk-ons. Names like Grant Morgan, Brandon Burlsworth, Hayden Henry and more have started their college careers without a scholarship and ended with plenty of success.
Even current safety Hudson Clark, who started his career at Arkansas as a walk-on, is a main piece of the Razorbacks secondary heading into the 2024 season.
But the NCAA's new rule regarding roster limits may change how college programs handle walk-ons in the future. The newest change, which will be implemented in 2025, allows for college programs to have a total roster limit of 105, and gets rid of the current 85-man scholarship limit.
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According to an article from The Athletic, schools will be able to bring in as many players as they want from the transfer portal and high school ranks, but will have to trim their rosters down to a maximum of 105 before the start of the season.
That means schools like Arkansas will have to decide whether to recruit a roster full of scholarship players, or separate some of those scholarships out to invest in players who would have previously been considered to be walk-ons.
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"Starting next year, a team will be able to dedicate, for example, 90 or 95 scholarships for its roster and split 10 or 15 among several players," the article, written by Seth Emerson and Scott Dochterman said. "Among the scholarship-splitting scenarios could be covering tuition for an out-of-state athlete while paying for books or other costs for an in-state athlete. The program then could supplement the full cost of attendance for those athletes through a financial stipend or name, image and likeness payments."
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman was asked by the media his thoughts on the latest change, and he said he's not a fan.
"I really don’t like it, to be perfectly honest with you," Pittman said Tuesday. "Now, let me tell you this, you’re going to be able to chop up your scholarships, which now it’s 85 full (scholarships). You’re going to be able to reward some other guys. The problem is, are we going to go 85 (scholarships) and 20 (walk-ons)? Nobody in the SEC wants to lose the walk-on program."
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Pittman specifically mentioned the Burlsworth Trophy, named after late Arkansas offensive lineman Brandon Burlsworth, who walked onto the program and was later a third-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts before dying in a car crash.
"Hell, we got the Burlsworth Trophy," Pittman said. "If you go down and look at the list of guys who have won that, starting out as a walk-on, and have won that trophy, it’s an incredible list of kids that… Hell, we had one in Grant Morgan. Imagine Grant didn’t play at the University of Arkansas because we couldn’t eventually help him."
The NFL has a similar system when it comes to roster limits and players getting cut, but it differs in that the professional ranks have practice squads. That means if a team is getting light on players due to injury, NFL teams can bring a player up from the practice squad.
That doesn't work on the college level.
"We can’t go out and get another player during the season like the NFL can." Pittman said. "And I know they start with significantly lower number (55) than we do, but they also can go replace a guy. We wouldn’t be able to do that."
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As Pittman said, no SEC teams want to get rid of their walk-on programs, but it means something a little different to a school and a state like Arkansas.
"I don’t want to lose the walk-on status of our kids," Pittman said. "I think it’s important, especially in our state, to have walk-ons from your state on the team."
The Arkansas Razorbacks will open their season in Little Rock against UAPB on August 29. Stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest coverage of Arkansas football.