FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman spent time on his weekly radio show Wednesday explaining the balance between two ’S’ words.
Pittman’s program is known for its physical practices, but he pulled back on the reins Wednesday and will again Thursday to keep his team fresh for its season opener against No. 23 Cincinnati on Saturday.
“I think the kids were excited we didn't go in pads today,” Pittman said at the Catfish Hole. “I just said, 'Hey, tell me I'm not being soft.’ I don't want that. The ‘soft’ word is a bad word. I didn't want to be (soft), but the other ’S’ word is ‘smart,’ and I did want to be that.”
Practices Monday and Tuesday were “very physical,” Pittman said, and added, “That's where we improved our program, because of the physicality and the toughness of it. We don't ever want to lose that, but it was time to back down a little bit, back off of them a little bit today.”
Pittman said one of the challenges this time of year is when to start preparing for the first game “because you don’t want it to get stale.” Arkansas began its Cincinnati preparation last Thursday.
“We’ve had several days of practice for them,” Pittman said. “I think we're ready to play the game.”
Pittman indicated he has been pleased with some of the most important aspects of the Razorbacks’ 23 practices so far, including play on the field and the vibe in the locker room. He said sometimes it is difficult for a team to add as many new players as Arkansas did this year.
“Kids don't really care, I learned this, how good a player is,” Pittman said. “They just care if he's doing the same thing everybody else is. If the guy's really good, if he's not doing the same thing everybody else is, the kids will resent him, but if the expectation is that everybody does this, this, this, this, this and you want to be a superstar, then you need to make some plays. If that's the standard, then everybody can get along. If (starting linebacker and team captain) Bumper Pool makes a mistake, he's going to get the same as the scout-team guy. That's just how it is at our place. I think the kids respect that and therefore I think we have a pretty unified locker room, and it helps our guys, transfers come in and be accepted faster, in my opinion.”
Pittman said keeping a unified locker room is one of the biggest challenges for a coach.
“That’s everything, and with NIL now, where so and so’s getting this, so and so’s getting that…I’m trying to stay out of it,” Pittman said.
“But it’s a division. The (transfer) portal is a division....The No. 1 thing in all this is keep the team together. How do you do it? Expectations.”
Pittman delivered promising news on the injury front. Without mentioning names of previously injured players, he said he thinks they all will be available Saturday.
“That’s a good thing for the team,” he said.
The Razorbacks might need a full roster. Pittman expects a physical game against Cincinnati, based on the reputation the program has earned under coach Luke Fickell.
“They're going to turn around and see if they can run the ball on us,” Pittman said. “You know, that certainly is part of their style. They have two tight ends that are really good players.
“Certainly, the offensive line is impressive. I think they're well coached, they're physical, so it’ll be a big challenge between our front seven and basically their front seven.”
Pittman said there has been an emphasis in the Razorbacks’ camp about starting well on their home field. A near-capacity crowd is expected at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“We certainly made a big deal about starting a game and setting the tone,” Pittman said. “I’m sure they are as well, but that's a big deal to us. Now, if something happens and it doesn't start that way, then we have to figure out why it didn’t, fix a mistake and go on, but the plan is that…you can pass protect physical, you can run block physical, you can be a running back and run the ball physical, you’re a quarterback, and we need to show our physicality in every aspect — wideouts blocking, wideouts catching, our defense, certainly running the ball and swarming the ball. We have to show who we are. We can't say, ‘Well, we think we're this, we might be this.’ We have to show what brand of football that Arkansas has, and we have to show it from the start.”
Part of a good start, Pittman said, includes being clean in penalties and turnovers.
“We're a veteran team. We should not have those type penalties,” Pittman said, referencing a 13-penalty game in last season’s opener against Rice. “Those usually come with (a lack of discipline) and youth most of the time, and so I feel good about that. We've talked about penalties and taking care of the football and making Cincinnati earn whatever they get, and if they do that…it'll be a really good game.”
Pittman was asked by host Chuck Barrett about a number of rule changes that will take effect this season, including the potential for the SEC office to review fake injuries that are designed to stop an offense’s momentum.
“That's not part of the game,” Pittman said. “You know, if he's tired, we'll wait and get him out of there when we should. I think that's another big emphasis they’re going to make this year, guys just delaying the game by falling down on the field. I don't think they'll do a whole lot about it during the game; I think you’ll have to see it on the TV copy, and then coaches will get reprimanded for it financially, I believe.
“They ain’t getting me, by the way, because we don't do it.”