The next time Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson takes the field on Nov. 4 against the Florida Gators, he will be taking play calls from a third offensive coordinator in less than a year.
With the firing of offensive coordinator Dan Enos after just eight games, Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman elected to bump wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton up to interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Derek Kief will step in as interim wide receivers coach in Guiton's place.
This is Guiton's third season in Fayetteville. He was originally brought in by former offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, who Guiton worked with at Houston in 2017-18.
Arkansas' offense has been miserable through eight games after putting of historic numbers under Briles for the last few years. While some think Guiton will implement some of what the Hogs did under Briles, less than two weeks is not enough time to change much.
"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. And if you look in the past, we’ve been able to run the football from running these type of plays. We have them in our offense, we’ve just to got to practice.
"You know when you’re doing a large volume you’re not practicing the fundamentals as much as you should. You’re practicing looks. Everybody has to get better fundamentally. Pad level all that kind of different stuff, protecting the quarterback at running back. All these types of things. But I don’t know that we can sit back in the pocket like we did for 29 plays on Saturday and expect … I mean the plays are good but if you can’t protect it they’re not."
Volume was the word that Pittman mentioned over and over when referencing what really went wrong with Enos' system.
"We're trying to eliminate some of the volume we have offensively," Pittman said. "Obviously, it was important that we stayed in house so we wouldn't have a lot of terminology and things to give our kids a chance to win. Nothing ever came easy for us this year. We've got to do some things differently, and one of them is to cut down on volume. So, I've been meeting with those guys all morning on that, and we'll go from there."
As far as Guiton goes, he's served as wide receivers coach at Arkansas, Colorado State, Louisiana Tech and Houston. Before those jobs, he served as a quality control coach for Texas in 2017 and a graduate assistant at Houston in 2015-16.
Guiton was also a quarterback at Ohio State from 2009-13. He appeared in 22 games and threw for 893 yards and 16 touchdowns with the Buckeyes.
"He knows the offense," Pittman said. "I mean, obviously, he’s going to need some help probably in the run game, which his expertise would be the pass game as a wideout (coach). He’s a very intelligent guy. Obviously I felt like he knew both. Cody (Kennedy) is in there and Morgan (Turner) is in there and I’m in there for the run game and things of that nature.
"Obviously I thought he was the most intelligent guy in the whole offensive package, so that’s why I went with him. He’s very intelligent, and you can tell that in yesterday and today’s meeting that I felt like he’ll do a really good job."
This is a big step up for Guiton, who has never called a play in a college football game. With a 2-6 overall record and a winless record in conference play, Pittman is putting a lot of trust in his new 32-year-old offensive coordinator.
"Well, I know he’s been really good at handling his room and that’s a guy that’s respected," Pittman said. "He has a lot of motivation. He was excited when I talked to him about it. The guys in the room were excited for Kenny. I thought about it a lot Saturday night, which way I was gonna go, how I was gonna go and things of that nature. And bringing somebody in from the outside right now didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
"Bringing somebody in from outside right now didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Simply because, I mean, to me, that’s more of giving up on the season, and the is not what we’re doing. We’re just trying to make a change hopefully get our kids to play a little faster and tougher and things of that nature."
Pittman said the expectation is for Guiton to continue to coach from the sideline, unlike Enos, who coached from a sky box. If Guiton does well enough, it could be an audition to be the next permanent offensive coordinator for the Hogs.
"Since yesterday, I’ve gotten a ton of phone calls and all that kind of stuff," Pittman said. "I don’t have no time for that right now. We’re trying to win some games. But obviously if we have success, then that’ll put Kenny’s name right in that. You want to… If you can, you want to stay in house, especially because of the portal and the relationship kids have and all that.
"This doesn’t mean if Kenny goes to calling plays and it doesn’t work out as well that he’s not going to be our wide receiver coach. I’m not putting that on him. But obviously if he does well, then we’ll have to have that conversation. Hell, I’d love to have that conversation."
Arkansas has averaged 305.9 total yards of offense per game, which ranks 119th in the nation. In Saturday's loss to Mississippi State at home, Enos' group totaled just 200 yards and three points.
Expecting Guiton to turn things around immediately is unfair, but the Hogs do have the benefit of a bye week, which will allow them to do plenty of walkthroughs.
"We’re going to have walkthroughs, which is going to give him opportunities to set a script," Pittman said. "They’re in there right now. They’re going to have a report for me here when we get back about everything that we talked about this morning, then they’re going to head on their Florida game plan with myself in there. He’ll have an opportunity to call plays Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week."
Pittman said himself that he didn't really think Enos' scheme was a big part of the issue anyways.
"It’s a really good system," Pittman said. "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."
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 it will broadcast on ESPN2.
