A rundown of what Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said during his time at the main podium at SEC Media Days on Wednesday:
• Glad to be here and among everyone this morning. I want to thank Greg Sankey, "the best commissioner in football, without a doubt." Hunter Yurachek, he's a wonderful boss. I say it that way, but he makes you feel like you're working with him and not for him. I want to thank him for my contract. It wasn't easy and it took a while, but I thought it was fair. I wanted stability with this program and to show my loyalty to this state.
• We brought KJ Jefferson, Bumper Pool and Jalen Catalon today. We're allowed to bring three and we're represented well here. I wish I could have brought the "whole damn team." KJ sets the tone for the team. Bumper is a great leader, great kid. I believe if he stays healthy he'll be the all-time leading tackler at Arkansas. Jalen was a captain last season. He got hurt last season. He's the leader of the secondary and gets everybody in alignment.
• We have 2 new coaches in defensive line coach Deke Adams and Dominique Bowman in the secondary. Both are loyal and great men. Both were in for spring ball, and both are recruiting at a high, high level. We kept all of our coordinators, too. Our administration stepped up when others called inquiring about offensive line coach Cody Kennedy.
• We have a challenging schedule again. All 12 of this year's opponents made the postseason last year. South Carolina is one of the crossover games. There is a lot of enthusiasm with that program. Shane Beamer has done a great job there and they come to our place in Week 2. Missouri is the other crossover game. We're trying to make that a rivalry, but we haven't won it enough. Excited about our non-conference games, beginning with Cincinnati.
• We have 12 starters returning and three super seniors returning in Pool, offensive lineman Dalton Wagner and defensive lineman Dorian Gerald. We expect all of our newcomers to contribute to our success, too. And we expect our team to reflect the state of Arkansas. We've established a true home-field advantage in Fayetteville because of the people of the state.
• I remember being a JUCO head coach and they said you had to have 140 kids on the team. I went out west and recruited. In JUCO, you're going to recruit 85-90 kids every year. Change happens. It just depends on if you're willing to go with it.
• On Barry Odom's impact: We lost a lot of players off last year's defense. We felt like we did a nice job getting some portal guys. We're advancing the guys we have on our team. He is a key, key part of our success, especially because he helps me. I'm a work in progress. He helps me with head coaching responsibilities. I bounce everything off of him still to this day. He's one of the most loyal, wonderful people there is in the country. I'm really, really happy that he's part of our staff.
• On wide receiver: I don't know if you replace a guy like Treylon Burks, so we'll have to do it by committee. Ketron Jackson, I think, is going to have his best year. Warren Thompson and Bryce Stephens are ready to go. Those guys will help in addition to Jadon Haselwood and Matt Landers. Pittman also mentioned Isaiah Sategna and Sam M'bake. We look like a receiver group and run like one. KJ is going to have to get comfortable with their speed and the way they run their routes. We're going to have to replace Burks by committee.
With Malik Hornsby, he's fast and has natural ball skills. We have to get him on the field. If he doesn't beat out KJ for the quarterback job, we have to get him on the field. He can help us. He's a good enough player. He's got a chance to help us there as well.
• It's unbelievable to be a part of this athletic department. He went down the list of coaches and their team's accomplishments. It's a great time to be a Hog, he said. I'm excited to a part of it.
• On if Arkansas has arrived: The Razorbacks are just tying to compete and get better. We're trying to fight hard and work hard. We're the underdog and we like it that way. We will compete. We'll do that. Roll it out there and we'll play ball.
• Texas and Oklahoma as potential permanent rivals: It was fun playing Texas last year. We had a nice game against them. It would be pretty cool to have them as rivals every year. That would be neat. I'm just the football coach, but it would be a really cool deal having grown up in Oklahoma.
• I said when I was a head coach the only decisions I would make is not because of public opinion. You can't live in a cave and not hear what people say about your success, but if that's the only driving force you have, you're going to lose. If we can keep our core values close to us, that's the goal. That's the expectation. Whatever people may say, everybody has an opinion. Some are worthy and some aren't. I'm going to let our team and myself drive what we need to accomplish.
• On the defensive line and Dorian Gerald: Dorian Gerald has been here so long I think Houston Nutt brought him in, he jokes. We need pass rushers. We're over on our numbers at the position. We're at 20 counting walk-ons. We need some elite pass rushers. He mentions Landon Jackson from LSU, Eric Gregory and Jordan Domineck from Georgia Tech. We think we can get to the quarterback. We have to get guys behind the chains on first down. I feel a lot better. Isaiah Nichols and Cam Ball can help. Taurean Carter was having a wonderful spring before he got hurt. We'll see what happens, but I think we'll be much better on the defensive line than a year ago.
• LSU is getting two fine kids in Greg Brooks and Joe Foucha. We're happy they were on our football team. They'll work hard. When you go in the same division it's harder to take, but great kids and great parents. Brian Kelly got two fine players. For us, Dwight McGlothern is a guy who we think can play man cover corner. And he thinks he can, too. I like him a lot. Jackson came over with an injury and he's just now healthy, and he can "run run." Some of our issues were rushing the passer at defensive and and man cover corner. We feel like we did well with those guys in the portal.
• A reporter brought up that Arkansas is 16-6 against the spread under him. Pittman responded, "Go Hogs," and kind of shrugged his shoulders.
• The SEC West is a beast, then you play another 2-3 teams out of the league that are go-getters, it's hard. I'm hoping at some point the schedule will ease up a little bit, but to this point it hasn't.
• Message to Oklahoma and Texas fans: We love you, Texas and Oklahoma. We have a great place. I don't know. I rooted for Oklahoma when I was a kid. I grew up there, then became a Razorbacks fan. We're having recruiting battles with them, thank the Lord.
I'm not telling you we're whipping them, but we're in the conversation. You have storied programs there. It's a hell of a league. It's about big people and fast people, and no different than the Big 12. Every week you better have some depth.