Razorbacks' Sam Pittman Has Plan to Get Back 'Toughness'

What they got away from being brought back with new strength, conditioning coach

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is ready to get back to being "tough." He's not wasting any time, either, it appears. It was interesting listening to Arkansas coach Sam Pittman on Wednesday morning in an appearance on The Morning Rush on ESPN Arkansas.

"Arkansas has been known for toughness," he told play-by-play voice Chuck Barrett on the show. "I'm not for sure at times we didn't get away from that. We doubled our OTA's (the summer workouts). Five days a week lifting instead of four. We went out in the heat of the afternoon every single time we went out. We just wanted to make it a stronger mental football team.."

It was something the Hogs had gotten away from the last few years. Many of the coaches were wanting to be popular and buddies with the players and that usually doesn't get the best effort. For some reason, championship teams come with disciplined players and few of them are in love with the coach while they're winning those titles.

"We had to be comfortable not being liked at times," Pittman said. "A lot of times we wanted to have the approval of the team. I'm not talking about treating 'em bad (no coach can do that these days). I'm talking about where we can go win our football games."

With all the new faces, there's been even more over the summer. They added seven to nine guys who arrived and that's adding to a whole slew of folks who came in via the transfer portal back before spring. They've seen them in practices, but the next test is playing games and, finally, the SEC games.

"We've got to find out what we've got with those new guys," Pittman said.

There are other questions, but he feels good about the possible answers in the secondary at cornerback. He even feels better about the back-ups at quarterback, considering starter KJ Jefferson hasn't made it through a complete season as the starter without having to miss a game for one reason or another.

"Much better shape at the back-up role since he was a back-up," Pittman said. "We've got a good development quarterback in here with Malachi Singleton. That's the key you have to keep your big horse healthy, you've got a better chance of winning it."

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