In a span of six weeks since taking over as the head coach of the Arkansas football program, Sam Pittman has done an impressive job.
He not only landed a pair of highly sought-after coordinators in Barry Odom (defense) and Kendal Briles (offense), but surrounded them with what appears to be a solid group of assistants, including adding Georgia’s Scott Fountain to concentrate on upgrading special teams.
Pittman also added eight early enrollees, including a pair of graduate transfers in former Florida quarterback Felepie Franks (6-6, 238) and Arkansas State cornerback Jerry Jacobs (5-11, 204). Six are defensive guys and all who will be able to go through spring practice.
One of those early enrollees is walk-on Cabot kicker Rhett Thurman, who will vie to take over the duties previously held by Connor Limpert, the school’s most accurate kicker.
Pittman also signed four more summer enrollees and got the pledge of seven more prospects all set to sign with Arkansas on Feb. 5, the national signing date.
That brought Arkansas from a No. 119 ranking before Pittman arrived to a current spot of 48th, which is 12th in the 14-team SEC after previously being dead last.
So what’s left to land with 18 of a possible 25 spots accounted for and two official visit weekends left?
You can expect Arkansas to continue to push for offensive line commits as Conway four-star prospect and Ole Miss pledge Robert Scott (6-6, 295) officially visits the Razorbacks this weekend.
They’ve had four other offensive linemen take official visits in Memphis White Station star and Razorback early signee Ray Curry, Jr. (6-5, 315), Memphis University standout Marcus Henderson (6-5, 300), five-star Georgia commit Broderick Jones (6-6, 280) and three-star Jalen St. John (6-5, 320) of St. Louis, Mo., Trinity Catholic.
It’s thought that the Razorbacks would take four offensive linemen overall in the 2020 class.
Arkansas would also love to add a high school quarterback to its class with a pair of four-star signal callers in Missouri City, Texas, Fort Bend Marshall’s Malik Hornsby (6-2, 185) and CJ Dixon (6-5, 210) of Loganville, Ga., Grayson both visiting this weekend.
Pittman made it clear early on that he would be in favor of landing a pair of tailbacks and got one during the early signing period in Dominique Johnson (6-1, 220) of Crowley, Texas.
The Razorbacks hosted a pair of four-star prospects in Marietta, Ga., Cherokee’s Ebony Jackson (6-1,205) and Daijun Edwards (5-11. 205) of Colquitt County, Ga., last weekend and Jackson flipped from Maryland to Arkansas on Thursday.
Arkansas only has a pair of scholarship tight ends on campus right now in redshirt freshman Hudson Henry and former walk-on Blake Kern. The Hogs need to replenish that position.
They are working hard to land a pair of former tight end commits from the previous staff, both from Texas. They are Crockett’s Allen Horace (6-4, 250) and McKinney North’s Brandon Frazier (6-7, 247). Horrace visited last weekend. Frazier is scheduled to visit this weekend.
The Razorbacks are in on three wide receivers and would likely take one of Marshall, Texas, star Savion Williams (6-5, 205), Alabama four-star commit Javon Baker (6-1, 195) of Powder Springs, Ga., McEachern and Tennessee pledge Darion Williamson (6-3, 190) of Brownsville, Tenn., Haywood.
Arkansas is also hosting Hutchison, Kan., Community College cornerback Art Green (6-2, 200) this weekend and defensive end and former Auburn commit Andy Boykin (6-3, 262) of LaGrange, Ga., Troup County on Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
Dudley E. Dawson can be reached at dedsports@aol.com .