FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman said Monday that four unnamed Razorback seniors have confirmed they will return next season, and that number may grow by Wednesday.
“I have at least four right now that I know are coming back, but I don’t want to put that out there right now because I am going to try and get them all to do it at the same time, to be honest with you,” Pittman added. “Then there is another few I am going to talk to.”
The seniors listed on Arkansas roster are quarterback Feleipe Franks, linebackers Grant Morgan, Hayden Henry and Deon Edwards, tight end Blake Kern, offensive linemen Myron Cunningham and Ty Clary, wide receivers De’Vion Warren and Tyson Morris, defensive ends Dorian Gerald and Xavier Kelly, safety Micahh Smith, quarterback/holder Jack Lindsey, kicker AJ Reed, punter Sam Loy, defensive end Elias Hale and long snapper HT Fountain.
Tailback Rakeem Boyd, cornerback Jerry Jacobs and offensive lineman Chibueze Nwanna are a trio of Arkansas seniors who opted out at different points in the season. Nwanna announced last Wednesday he would be entering the NCAA's transfer portal.
Pittman made it clear that he is fending off agents while getting information from the NFL for his seniors.
“You know, the agents are kind of vultures out there and basically a lot of them tell the truth and a lot of them tell you want you want to hear,” Pittman said. “We have done our work with the NFL scouts and there are three or four guys here that we are going to talk to about what their positioning is according to the 10-12 teams that we have gotten information from and then they will make a decision.
“I would like to have that before they go home Wednesday. I think our kids trust me and I am going to tell them exactly what the guys said because I don’t want them to go home without talking to me and then them get calls from agents telling them they are four rounds higher than what they really are.
“I’m not saying that’s how all agents are. I don’t mean that, but they want them, so they are going to be as positive as they can, and I am in the truth business.”
Arkansas has recruited Texas hard in the past and Pittman and his staff plan to do so in the future, so he is happy to have some exposure in the state with his team’s berth in the Texas Bowl. The Razorbacks will play TCU on Dec. 31 in Houston.
But Pittman is certain what the best way is to reap the rewards of that exposure.
“You take the Hog brand down there and I think Arkansas is well received in Houston, and for that matter in the state of Texas,” Pittman said. “Obviously you help yourself more in recruiting if you win the game, you know. And so certainly we’ll put all our efforts into doing that. We know how good TCU is. We know it’ll take great effort by us.
"We’re certainly going to try to get our program back on the map. How you do that is go to bowl games and ultimately win the game.”
Pittman believes being in a bowl game is something he can sell to 2022 recruits.
“Our program, just to say we have gone to the Texas Bowl in our first year will be a big deal for us recruiting and moving forward,” Pittman said.
He is not apologizing for going to a bowl game despite a 3-7 record.
“I think everybody wants to go to a bowl and then everybody wants to win when they get there,” Pittman said. “There is not a bad bowl, and there especially is not a bad bowl if you win it. Any bowl at all was certainly one of our goals at the start of the year and then we wanted to feel like we had earned the right to go, which I have spoke on many times.
“Just getting the bowl ring and the bowl gear and getting a trophy and different things of that nature are things that our kids will remember forever.”