Arkansas junior scholarship long snapper Eli Stein has stepped away from the football program, head coach Sam Pittman confirmed Wednesday on the SEC Teleconference.
"He's no longer on the team," Pittman said. "I'll go into that with a little more detail next week."
Editor's note: Below is Pittman's statement from the Monday, Sept. 2 press conference.
"Depth chart came out and he had lost half of his starting role," Pittman said. "One was long snapping and the other one was short snapping. I just don't feel like he probably wanted to just be one or the other. So he decided to leave the team."
Stein started all 12 games as the team's primary long snapper for the second straight season in 2023. He logged 234 total snaps over his two full seasons with the Razorbacks.
Redshirt junior Ashton Ngo out of Andover, Kansas, is expected to fill in for Stein, Pittman said. The Head Hog also confirmed that he put Ngo on scholarship earlier this week.
"Ashton Ngo was our starter at punt snapping anyway," Pittman said. "It was a very close battle there with the short (field goal) snapping. He was going to be that regardless of what happen, and will certainly take over the short snapping as well, yes."
A former junior college transfer, Ngo appeared in 16 total games at long snapper for Hutchinson Community College during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He redshirted last year during his first season with the Razorbacks.
Arkansas will open its season Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
