Why Arkansas football is closing practice for Florida week
Head coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5 SEC) are closing practice to the media this week as they continue to prepare for Saturday's matchup against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Florida.
Fresh off a bye week, Pittman met with the media Monday and gave his reasoning for closing practice. Most of it seems to have to do with the fact that the Hogs are changing up the offense with interim offensive coordinator Kenny Guiton, who took over for the now-fired Dan Enos.
"We trust (the Arkansas media members)," Pittman said Monday. "It doesn't have anything to do with that. We've had plenty of distractions. I'm just trying to close it in and make it about us this week to be honest with you.
"I don't have a problem with (the media) coming to practice at all. It's something with Kenny and his new role and things of that nature, I'm trying to take any added pressure that he might have off of him."
Arkansas normally opens practice to the media on Monday's and Tuesday's, with the rest of the week closed off. This marks the first time this season that the media will be unable to view practice during a game week.
While it's not exactly ideal from the perspective of a media outlet, it does seem like it could be good for the team to avoid as many distractions as possible with every game left being a literal must-win if the Hogs want to clinch bowl eligibility.
"What I wanted to do was make sure we brought life back into the program, brought enthusiasm back into the program," Pittman said in reference to firing Enos. "Accountability. And I’m not saying we didn’t have any of that before because it makes me sound like I’m blaming A guy, and I’m not. I already spoke about Dan and my respect for him. But something has to change, so I feel like we’ve done that."'
With Guiton running the show, the offense is going to look somewhat different — and seemingly simpler.
"We probably cut it down, I don’t know, if ’m guessing 30% of (the offense) we cut out," Pittman said. "We’re trying to do the things we do well and more specific to what we can do vs. how to attack a defense. Now, hopefully they’ll combine with checks and RPOs and the way to throw off that and run off that.
"But probably about 30%, and probably another 5 last night to be honest with you, because some of the things we had in, I want to be able to do it that everybody’s on the same page, blocking the right guys and playing as fast as we possibly can with the ability to have that tempo and all those type things."
Arkansas and Florida will meet at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.