Head coach Sam Pittman's Arkansas Razorbacks wrapped up their spring schedule with the Red-White showcase Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, and the Head Hog seemed pleased following the roughly 110-play scrimmage.
After 15 total practices, which included Saturday's scrimmage, Pittman said he was glad spring ball is over, but proud of his team's effort.
"We’ve had a really a good spring," Pittman said. "The kids worked awful hard. I’ll be honest with you, I’m glad the scrimmage is over and we had 15 what I thought were pretty physical practices."
With five new on-field assistant coaches, a new director of strength and conditioning, nine participating transfers and 12 participating true freshmen, things seemed to go really well for the Razorbacks.
Pittman even told reporters Tuesday that after a 7-6 year in 2022 that likely had underlying issues that seemed to get weeded out, the culture is back to where it was when Arkansas went 9-4 with an Outback Bowl victory in 2021.
"I think our strength coach, our new coaches have a lot to do with that," Pittman said. "We've got a lot of good kids on our team that are working extremely hard. It would be hard to be more pleased."
It's not always easy to adjust to a new coach, let alone five new assistant coaches. Add on the fact that there are also new faces wanting to get on the field just as badly as returners, and it could've been a rough transition period. For Arkansas, the changes were welcomed with open arms and it led to a successful spring.
"I’ve really been pleased with my new coaches," Pittman said Tuesday. "I think to a man we’ve gotten better...We need to keep everybody on the team. Everybody on the team is going to have some value to us, but everybody on the team has to get better.
"I think we have liked our new schematics that we’ve done offensively and defensively. I think our new guys coming in have … the players have accepted them well. Again, if you went back and said ‘Can we be at this point after the end of our last regular season game?’ I do think winning the bowl had something to do with a little bit of life back in the program."
Third year starting quarterback KJ Jefferson said the team has come out in the spring, embraced each other and formed a brotherhood.
"I mean, we became tighter than ever, everybody’s buying into the process, I mean, we’re trusting the coaches," Jefferson said after Saturday's scrimmage. "So I mean, we’re just coming together, everybody’s coming together, buying in, no one’s complaining, no one’s trying to cut corners, take the easy way out.
"I mean, everybody’s working, coming in on off days, working, helping each other more. I would say that’s the big thing is everybody’s helping each other more. If somebody’s struggling, before the coaches even say something, a player’s already in his ear coaching him up. So things like that just translate over to just for the future, just knowing that we’re on the right path."
The Razorbacks will now look ahead to filling out the roster over the next two weeks (April 15-30) of an open period for the transfer portal. Pittman said there's been a lot of stuff going on within the program with recruits visiting throughout the spring, and the portal opening up will bring on a challenge of trying to fill the currently seven open roster spots, which could grow if someone enters the portal.
"I think we're pretty well organized in recruiting," Pittman said. "Our staff is go-getters. We're going to - I'm going to have the staff talk to their position and try to wrap that up by Tuesday. We're not going out on the road this week. We're trying to make sure everything is good here on the home front.
"I'm going to start talking to the players on Wednesday. I'm not going to talk to anyone until they've talked to their assistant coach. I made that mistake, too. You live and learn. But I'm going to let our coaches talk to them first, and then we'll have a team meeting on Monday. Then they'll do that. Hopefully, we'll stay out of the portal with our team, and then our coaches will go out on the road starting next Sunday."
One player everyone knows the Razorbacks are keeping around is Jefferson, who Pittman said is just having fun playing ball.
"I think obviously KJ had a good spring," Pittman said. "I think he's really taken to Dan (Enos). That's not saying anything about Kendal (Briles), I'm just talking about Dan. He's taken to Dan, and Dan has done a nice job with him. Kendal did, too. I think he's a more knowledgeable quarterback for the NFL simply because we're in an NFL system. I think he's playing with a lot of confidence."
Arkansas will open the 2023 season on Sept. 2 against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
