We Probably Will Know Very Little After First Hogs' Scrimmage

With nobody able to see anything, it's not that Sam Pittman would lie, but we won't know

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Aug 12, 2023 9:01 AM EDT
Original:
Aug 11, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has told us before he would never straight up lie to us in the media or anyone else. Nobody can disprove that. What people tend to overlook is that like any other coach, he's only going to tell us what he wants us to know.

Don't holler at me for not knowing. I really can't comment with any certainty what I don't know. This team may look like a candidate for the playoff, but we won't really have a clue until they start playing games that actually matter.

We can speculate and guess. Any projections are pure guesses. In the individual drills and small amount of stuff against a defense we get to see there are bad plays, outright goofs, good plays and really big plays.

Again, though, there's nobody really trying to blast anyone into the next week, Everybody is scared to death somebody's going to get hurt falling down. Whether that's improved anything or not shows everyone can have their own opinion on the tackling and execution by everybody.

Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson during Friday morning's practice on the outdoor fields — (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

I can't really blame Sam, either. Exactly why anybody would expect a coach to come out and say their team was terrible or anything is beyond me. Oh, I covered the Hogs and listened to Lou Holtz throw his team under the bus every other day over one thing or another. All of this was while they were piling up wins.

Whether coaches or anybody else admits it, coaches read or know what the media is saying and writing about them. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry used to tell us in Dallas he didn't read what we wrote, but his wife, Alicia, let the cat out of the bag one day talking about how they sat at the breakfast table and she read the morning papers to him.

Many of the players read what is said and written about them, whether they admit it or now. Some of them will use it for motivation or to jump into the transfer portal these days. But everybody denies they know anything. If nothing else, I learned 50 years ago coaches and players are aware of what is being said and written about them. Nothing has changed.

Saturday, we'll get to have a recap of what happened in the scrimmage after it's over from Pittman and a couple of players. We'll hear about some good plays and get a few stats, but there won't be a list of stats. Don't blame us in the media. We're actually bored enough to go if they would let us.

Razorbacks quarterback Jacolby Criswell during Friday morning's practice on the outdoor fields — (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

Don't assume we're going to know a whole lot after the game with Western Carolina. Based on what I've seen and heard that's going to be probably less competitive than a spring game where they tackle to the ground.

We'll probably have questions even after BYU comes here in the third week of the season. Don't look for any answers until after the trip to Baton Rouge. The best clue we can have before that is knowing what we really should be asking about.