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Published Mar 31, 2020
Sam Pittman updates team's efforts during week three of lockdown
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Nikki Chavanelle  •  HawgBeat
Managing Editor
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@nikkichavanelle

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It's the third week without college sports and Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman's team would've been in their second week of spring football. Instead, roughly 85% of the team is back home and the football facilities are empty due to protective COVID-19 measures.

Pittman chatted with 103.7 the Buzz's John Nabors on Tuesday afternoon about how the staff and team are doing.

“We worked up until spring break, I went to my backyard, turned the heated pool up. This week, I’m back in the office," Pittman said. "We have a Zoom meeting at 9 AM, and again at 4 PM just to see if we got done what we set out to do that day, some guys are in and out (of the office). It’s gone well.”

The Arkansas coaches have been hard at work recruiting whether it's texting and Facetiming, writing letters or watching tape and sending out new offers. Now, the coaches are also able to hold Zoom meeting with their players for two hours a week per new NCAA guidelines released on Friday.

Despite the meetings, the coaches still aren't allowed to instruct the players in any physical training like workouts or drills. Some players, like Mike Woods and Trelon Smith down in Houston, are working with private trainers, while others are limited to at-home workouts.

"We’re not allowed to see videos or things of that nature, some of them are posting on Twitter or TikTok, I don’t know what that is, but they’re doing some of those things," Pittman said. "Our rehab guys are able to send stuff into Dave to show how they’re doing. We’ve had good participation in all those things. We’ve sent out different workouts for those that can get into a gym and those that can’t. We were ready for it. We have a great video staff here so we’re up and running no matter how long we aren’t allowed to get back together.”

Another major issue during this time is that coaches, Pittman included, can't build relationships with the players as they'd usually do during spring football, which is especially important when a new staff takes over a team.

To circumvent all that, Pittman has been injecting himself into his players' group chats so he can get to know them, and vice versa.

“I’ve been at it in every group chat, I’m in all the position group chats," Pittman said. "I wanted to be added so I can throw a text in there or join a FaceTime with them. Everything is about relationships, everything. We want to make sure we’re continuing to build those. I feel like we’re doing a nice job."

While the CDC extended guidelines for social distancing until at least April 30, there's already plenty of talk about whether or not the college football season will continue as scheduled this year. The 2020 Olympics were pushed back an entire year, so it's not an unreasonable possibility that there could be empty stadiums this fall.

Pittman, however, isn't letting any of that speculation sink in at the moment.

“No," Pittman said on the possibility of no college football in 2020. "Absolutely not. Haven’t thought about it one time. No. I don’t know if my mind won’t let me think about it but we have to stay safe and do the right thing, the country needs college football. We’ll do whatever they tell us to do but we’ll also be ready when they tell us we’re good to go. I haven’t thought about it. We’ll play it whenever they tell us to.”

NCAA policy on player meetings

"Required virtual film review, chalk talk, etc. that does not include physical activity shall be permissible. Any required activity of this nature shall be limited to two (2) hours of activity per week in all sports, shall be scheduled in accordance with the institution’s established Time Management Policy, and shall not interfere with required class time for online instruction. These activities may not include a review by or live monitoring of film/video of a student-athlete engaging in workouts or physical activity occurring after March 13, 2020. Institutions may not suggest or require a student-athlete to make film/video of his/her workouts or physical activity available by other means (such as social media)."

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