FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman doesn't have to gather his players together and deliver a grandiose speech prior to each practice to ensure the team will be energized.
According to receiver Mike Woods and cornerback Montaric Brown — two juniors expected to play sizable roles for the Razorbacks in 2020 — players are taking it upon themselves to get amped up for workouts. They are not relying on the coaching staff to provide that spark.
"He doesn’t babysit us. He just says this is our team and he lets us self-start," Woods said of Pittman. "Obviously, he’s going to get on us if we’re not self-starting.
"He lets us pretty much handle it and self-start ourselves."
Through two days of preseason practice, there have been no issues in that regard. Pittman, who took in drill work at each position group on Monday, is placing trust in players to motivate each other and hold one another accountable.
To Brown, that's the way it should be.
"We are a player-led team," said Brown, who is back to 100% following sports hernia surgery earlier in the year. "We don't really rely on the coaches. We rely on the players. At the end of the day, we've got to play.
"We rely on us — the leaders — to step up and lead the younger guys and everybody else."
Woods, who led Arkansas with four touchdown catches in 2019 and is the team's top returning receiver in terms of catches (33), added that players have made it a point to approach practice as if it is game day.
The message is cut and dry: Practice like you want to be champions.
"Coach Pitt lets us run our team," Woods said. "He lets us basically dictate how we’re going to start each day and how we’re going to come out to practice."
The Razorbacks have an abundance of bulletin board material to drive them, too. The program has not beaten a conference opponent since 2017 and has only one victory in its past 25 SEC games. Most across the SEC expect Arkansas to finish at or toward the bottom of the league standings after the 10-game, all-conference schedule.
One sports book set the Razorbacks' over/under for wins this fall at 2.5, ahead of only Vanderbilt. Bovada set Arkansas' line at an even two wins. The Commodores came in at 1.5.
"I think it’s wrong because none of those people see what we do behind closed doors, what we do every day, how our leaders on this team are stepping up and running their groups and basically being coaches to their groups," said Woods, who said he caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Feleipe Franks during Wednesday's practice that was closed to media after the first 15 minutes.
"Each of our groups are handled by the leaders and the coaches, and we self-start ourselves. This is the best opportunity because look at where we’re slated. And look and what we’ve done last two years, and look at who we’ve got. It’s the greatest opportunity in the nation."
Brown, who said he intercepted a pass in Wednesday's workout, couldn't be less concerned about the outside noise.
"At the end of the day, we're playing with a chip on our shoulder," Brown said. "They don't see the grind behind closed doors. We're just working and will prove them wrong."