Hogs' recruiting class has come a long way in a short time

When I last sat down to write a column for this space on May 21, Arkansas had only six pledges in a 2021 recruiting class that was ranked last in the SEC and in the bottom half of the team rankings nationally.

Fast forward nearly 80 days and Sam Pittman and his staff have 18 pledges — nine slated for offense, six on defense, two listed as athletes and one kicker — and hope for the future.

That’s good enough for 28th in the 24/7 team recruiting rankings, a solid perch for a team that has won just 8 of its last 36 games overall, is riding a 19-game SEC losing streak and has been arguably the league’s worst gridiron program the past few seasons.

Arkansas’ 2021 class is the ninth-rated class currently in the SEC, a traditional monster that has three teams in the top six nationally, a half-dozen in the top 16 and nine in the top 28.

It puts Pittman’s first full class ahead of league foes South Carolina (38), Mississippi State (43), Kentucky (45), Ole Miss (75) and Vanderbilt (76).

That ranking is also ahead of Penn State (29), Nebraska (35), Virginia Tech (40), Arizona (42), West Virginia (46), Iowa State (49), Oklahoma State (50), Utah (92),Stanford (93), TCU (96) and Houston (98) — all programs who have had considerably more success and consistency than the Razorbacks have enjoyed recently.

Coach Pittman made clear on signing day last February that he was pleased with his 2020 haul (30th nationally, 11th in the SEC per 24/7), but knew that in order to get Arkansas back to being competitive in the SEC, that wouldn’t cut it in terms of climbing up a lengthy ladder.

Pittman, who has flourished as an offensive line coach over his 35-year career, was no doubt relishing leading his own program, eager to do so and with grand plans for spring practice.

But along came a pandemic, life as we knew it changed and football practices were among the many things in the sports world that covid-19 claimed as victims.

It also put a halt to both on and off-campus recruiting and virtual recruiting became the new norm.

To be 28th nationally may not be the goal in the long run for Pittman, but to be that high through all of this with the state of the program he inherited has to be considered a success.

I’m taking a victory lap myself after 74 days on the sidelines recovering from that May day when I had three strokes and wrote the aforementioned column that I have no memory of whatsoever.

I spent some time in the hospital and was medically benched to recover from something that took away most of the sight in my right eye and the majority of my hearing in my right ear.

But here it is August, and I am arguably in the best shape I’ve been in a decade. I’ve lost 32 pounds since that day by eating healthy, diligently exercising and following the plans my doctors set forth, and my beautiful and caring wife Petra has forcefully “encouraged” me to follow.

I can’t thank my employers, my family, my friends, the coaches, players, recruits and everyone else who reached out and supported me during a strange and trying time as I overcame my latest challenge.

I have adopted George Herman “Babe” Ruth’s saying that “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up” — something credited to Ruth in a 1940 The Rotarian Magazine article entitled “Bat It Out!”

I may not be young, scrappy and hungry anymore as Alexander Hamilton sings in Lin-Manual Miranda’s brilliant play, but like the Arkansas football program, I have a future that I am looking forward to once again.

Like Pittman, I’m not throwing away my shot.