FAYETTEVILLE — What Coach Sam Pittman didn’t do last fall in Arkansas’ first consecutively winning football season since 2016, and Coach Chris Bucknam last winter didn’t do in Arkansas’ SEC and NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships-winning season ultimately could surpass some they did.
Neither utilized Isaiah Sategna. Both redshirted the freshman directly from Fayetteville High School.
Receiver Sategna rated No. 1 in 2021 Arkansas prep football prospects.
In 2022 track and field, Sategna reigned 6A long jump, 110-meter hurdles, and 330 hurdles champion, and 100-meter dash co-champion fueling Fayetteville’s state championship.
During last Saturday’s closing spring football scrimmage, Sategna caught 3 passes for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also overtook speedy defensive back LaDarrius Bishop to prevent an interception’s touchdown return.
Is Sategna the most improved player for Pittman?
“I think you could say that,” Pittman said. “I do.”
Pittman asserted Isaiah needed redshirting, even with Isaiah’s athletic “bloodlines.” His father, Mario, is the Texas A&M field events coach who was previously Texas’ head track coach and Arkansas’ field events coach, and a former LSU track All-American. Isaiah’s mother, Dahlia Sategna, is a former LSU track All-American and Jamaican Olympian.
“It helped a lot,” Pittman said. “He’s much bigger, much thicker. His confidence is way up. To play wideout it’s split decision making adjustments on the run. Now he’s able to do that and you see his true speed.”
Sategna apprenticed while since NFL draft declared receivers Matt Landers and Jadon Haselwood excelled.
“I’m really happy I was able to redshirt last year,” Sategna said. “It helped me a lot. It made me work harder in the offseason on a lot of stuff that were my weaknesses.”
Bucknam jointly recruited Sategna but defers to the football scholarship.
“We took off all obligations for the track figuring he’s a freshman and has to get used to football and new coaches [offensive coordinator Dan Enos] and strength coaches [Ben Sowder],” Bucknam said.
Last winter Sategna tasted collegiate indoor track training when not involved in offseason football. With veteran depth in the jumps and sprints, Bucknam saw no need rushing Sategna unprepared into indoor meets nor doing anything with outdoor track in 2023.
“We’re going to revisit in the next couple of weeks and see what his desires are going to be going forward,” Bucknam said.
Of course Bucknam eventually craves Sategna on his team, too.
“There’s no question that in track he’s such a great athlete,” Bucknam said. “He’s a decathlete type. He can high jump, he can long jump, he can do the hurdles, he can throw — just an outstanding athlete that has great spatial awareness.”
Bucknam explained.
“To long jump you have to have that great steering ability so you don’t scratch,” Bucknam said. “And you have to have that steering ability in the hurdles to take off so far from the hurdles. That great spatial awareness he has at a high rate of speed I think really helps him in football.”
Certainly last Saturday Sategna proved something “spatial.”