Following the Razorbacks' 7-3 loss to Mississippi State over the weekend, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman made the decision to relieve offense coordinator Dan Enos of his playcalling duties.
The move was well-warrented, as the Hogs had taken a major step back on the offensive side of the ball from previous years under Pittman.
Through eight games, Arkansas ranks 119th in total offense (305.9), 114th in rushing offense (109.0), 102nd in passing offense (196.9) and 82nd in scoring offense (26.5). On top of that, Preseason All-SEC Second Team quarterback KJ Jefferson has struggled to get things going as he's thrown a career-high seven interceptions and has only rushed for 200 yards this season.
Pittman discussed what went into the coaching change on Monday.
"The first thing I want to say is Dan worked extremely hard," Pittman said. "He was in the building all the time, put a lot of hours into it and things of that nature. It just wasn't working. Yesterday morning we decided to make a change there. Not a change, but go ahead and let Dan go."
At times throughout the year, it seemed like Arkansas was lifeless on offense. That was especially apparent against Mississippi State, as the Razorbacks only managed 200 total yards of offense through four quarters.
"I think a lot of coaching has to do with enthusiasm, spirit, wanting to run through the wall for different people," Pittman said. "We just never really had that on the offensive side of the ball. They've got it going on defense, so I know it's possible to do. We have a lot of similar players to what we've had in the past, it just never clicked. It really never did. This is not a move for any other reason than it just wasn't working."
"You can tell from the way we took the field on Saturday it was like... I can remember being on the headset going 'What are we doing?' Pittman said. "I mean, it was almost like a 'Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum' as we were going out there. And we were in the game the entire game., it just didn't feel like it. Mississippi State had a great game plan and all that, but we didn't adjust. We've lost our spirit, and there's a lot to be said about that."
As previously mentioned, Jefferson hasn't had the same success in years past that earned him the high preseason accolades going into the 2023-24 season. Some of that is due to poor offensive line play, but it's been clear that the Arkansas signal caller has been off his A-game as well.
"The system was really good," Pittman said. "It’s a really good system. And like I say, Dan’s a really good football coach. We just didn’t click in it. When he came from Maryland, they had great success over there in their offenses. But I do think that we’ve got to allow KJ to take some of the things off his plate that we were obviously trying to teach him for now and for his future.
"But we need to take those things off his plate because he’s not playing fast and he’s not as accurate throwing the football as what he has in the past. And some of those things have to be mentally. They have to be mental and and we’ve got to take some things off his plate as well."
According to Pittman, Arkansas threw 29 pocket passes against Mississippi State on Saturday. That number isn't going to lead to success for the Razorbacks, especially when considering that Jefferson is working behind an offensive line that's already allowed 31 sacks this season.
"Well, third-and-10, you’ve got to do something," Pittman said. "We wanted to move the pocket, we haven’t. We haven’t. We did the other day down on the goal line, we just missed him to go up 7-0. … We’ve got to do more than say we’re better than you, and you can run every blitz you want to and our back will pick you up, and all this kind of stuff. We can’t do that. It looks good on paper. We just can’t physically do that.
"I think we threw 29 pocket passes on Saturday, and that number has got to be closer to 8 to 10. We can still throw the football. We did it under Briles’ offense. But it wasn’t the drop-back, here we are, this is the point. We just can’t do it. We can’t physically hold up right now."
Despite being fired after only coaching in eight games, Pittman said that Enos handled the news well.
"He's a professional man, a good man," Pittman said. "Obviously, no one wants to do that, you don’t want to do that, but for the best of the team and the program, I thought that was it. He handled it professionally. He’s a good person. He’s a good football coach. It just didn't work out here."
Replacing Enos for the remainder of the season is wide receiver's coach Kenny Guiton, who will look to turn around the offense in the hopes that Arkansas can still qualify for a bowl game this season. According to Pittman, not too much is going to change schematically.
"Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to see anything that we haven’t done this year more," Pittman said. "I think we may do more of some things that we’ve done a few times. And then you could see a faster pace and some things of that nature. But our volume is what we’re cutting down so that we can do something really well."
Up next, the Hogs have a bye week to address the issues and give the team to adjust to the coaching change. After that, Arkansas will travel to take on the Florida Gators on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. The game is set to kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT and will broadcast on ESPN2.
