After a week away and work on new offensive direction, Arkansas Razorbacks' coach Sam Pittman with the media headed to Gainesville to meet the Florida Gators on Saturday.
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00:00 What do you think the last week has done for your football team
00:02 heading into this one?
00:04 That would be hard to say.
00:07 I think there's a little different feel in the building.
00:12 I think everybody is taking the coach's guidance.
00:16 I think everybody's excited for him.
00:19 But obviously, I think we've got some bumps and bruises
00:24 healed up a little bit better than what we had before.
00:27 But it would be hard to say.
00:29 I'll know a little bit more, you know,
00:32 how we adjust to the new offense and things of that nature.
00:37 Or the last offense, I guess, would be a better way to say it.
00:41 We'll know more about that as the week progresses, I think.
00:46 So, practices are not previewing to the media this week.
00:49 Are you wanting to maybe have some different looks,
00:53 you know, spring some stuff on Florida?
00:55 I trust you. You know, it doesn't have anything
00:57 to do with that. It has everything.
00:59 We've had plenty of distractions.
01:01 I'm just trying to close it in and make it about us this week.
01:05 To be honest with you, we don't have a problem
01:07 with you all coming to practice at all.
01:10 It's just something that with Kenny and his new role
01:13 and things of that nature, I'm trying to take
01:16 any type of added pressure that he might have off of him.
01:20 Coach, you mentioned you had some bumps and bruises healed.
01:24 Is there any chance for Rocket Sanders this week?
01:27 Well, he's back, so we'll see.
01:32 I anticipated practicing today,
01:34 but how much he can do, I don't know.
01:40 But I'll know more about that.
01:41 Well, I talked to the LD on Wednesday.
01:43 I'll know more then about that
01:45 because obviously I don't know where he is physically.
01:49 Did you watch any football this weekend,
01:51 or did you just kind of get away from it
01:52 and focus on recruiting and stuff?
01:54 I did. You know, we had a great day on Friday.
01:56 I mean, it was really good to get out
01:57 and get in the high schools
01:59 and go watch games and things of that nature.
02:03 I did. I started out watching A&M in South Carolina
02:07 and headed to watch Georgia-Florida
02:11 and watched that and then took a little nap
02:13 and watched the end of the Colorado game.
02:17 But it was fun to be a spectator with no pressure,
02:23 you know, and no - you know,
02:27 not having to make any decisions,
02:28 just sat there having an old cold beer.
02:31 So it was fun.
02:33 Well, you watch his film room.
02:35 Yeah. You know, fast forward.
02:37 You probably don't get to watch a whole lot of telecast.
02:39 How was that? You don't.
02:40 You know, if you have a night game,
02:42 you might be able to watch, you know,
02:43 an 11 o'clock game or something like that.
02:46 But, you know, it's amazing.
02:49 You know, you try to help these kids reach their goal
02:51 in the NFL and you never see them play.
02:54 You know, you just don't.
02:56 College-wise, it was fun.
02:59 I mean, those are - those are fun.
03:00 I see why people are fans of college football.
03:04 It was a lot of fun.
03:06 And I think, too, you know, as the week went on last week,
03:10 Trey, you know, I was thinking about it
03:13 because I had - after the game that I went to,
03:17 I met Jamie down at Hot Springs
03:19 and I was thinking about what transpired in a week's time,
03:27 you know, and then you can take it back from seven weeks,
03:29 you know, and what's really transpired
03:31 over the last seven weeks or eight weeks.
03:35 And, you know, we just -
03:37 we've got a problem that we've got to get fixed,
03:39 you know, but from a week ago to where we're sitting today,
03:45 I feel - I feel good about where we're at.
03:50 Sam, I think I've got this right.
03:52 Nudy was in uniform against Mississippi State
03:54 but didn't play.
03:55 Is he going to be full go for you this week?
03:57 Well, he was full go, you know.
03:59 He's - he's still trying to work his way into playing time,
04:06 you know, but he - he was full go.
04:07 He was able to play last week.
04:08 It's just right now he's not starting for us, you know, so.
04:15 Sticking to - with the defense,
04:17 how do you keep that mojo going that you've got,
04:19 I guess, from the Mississippi State game previous?
04:21 How do you carry that after a bye week?
04:23 Well, I think they just - they'll continue to play hard.
04:27 I would think it would be very, very hard for them
04:32 to lose their enthusiasm and their luster
04:36 and their will to play because of the coaches
04:38 that they have over there.
04:40 You know, they hold them very accountable,
04:43 but yet they're very positive and very charismatic with them,
04:47 and they're - they're believing.
04:49 Hopefully that's what will happen to our offense
04:51 as well this week and -
04:53 we'll go out there and have a really good football game.
04:55 But I - I think, you know, there's been games this year
05:00 where we had opportunity to win, you know,
05:03 or we were ahead or tied,
05:05 and things didn't always go our way -
05:08 way there on defensively either.
05:10 So it should really be very hard.
05:13 It's easy when it's seven to three
05:14 because you're going, you know, held on to seven points.
05:17 You can't score ten points, but there's been other games, too,
05:20 where that's why it's a team game.
05:22 There's been other games where we've got to play
05:23 better there as well.
05:25 So I don't think - there's no this, this, and this.
05:29 I think we had a problem.
05:30 I think the team feels like I'm trying to correct it,
05:33 and I think they're fine with it.
05:36 Bye weeks can sometimes be a time
05:37 where the young guys might flash
05:39 when you're not preparing for a specific opponent.
05:41 Just curious if anybody maybe had a good week.
05:44 We didn't, you know, a lot of times.
05:46 I think maybe two years ago,
05:49 we had a freshman, sophomore, young, not playing scrimmage.
05:54 I remember we had a knee injury in that time.
05:57 Now I'm not laughing about it.
05:59 We did, and I was going, man,
06:01 I wish we wouldn't have done that now.
06:02 But this week was more of a run-throughs
06:07 on Tuesday, Wednesday,
06:08 and then we practiced on Thursday.
06:10 So really it was more about - and it had to be that way
06:13 because of the new coordinator, you know,
06:17 it's changed this week,
06:18 so we weren't able to quite get the younger guys in view
06:22 as much as what we normally would in a bye week.
06:26 I think you said last week that Chambly was okay
06:29 after the back injury. Still, he's fine this week.
06:31 Yeah, he's fine. I think him and Deb
06:33 will figure it out this week.
06:34 We will be the starter there, they'll both play.
06:38 Sam, have you ever been on a staff
06:39 where there was a midseason coordinator change?
06:42 I'm just curious if you have anything to, like,
06:43 look back on to kind of help you through this past week,
06:46 or talk to mentors or anything like that.
06:49 Man, I don't think I've ever been
06:51 through a midseason coordinator change.
06:53 I've had a lot of jobs.
06:55 I've been through some late-season head coaches
07:02 getting fired as a parent, you know, but I don't know.
07:07 I mean, it's terrible for everybody, fans, players,
07:10 coaches, but I don't know if I've ever been through that.
07:15 What I want to do is make sure
07:16 that we brought the life back into the program,
07:19 brought the enthusiasm back into the program,
07:22 accountable, accountability,
07:25 and I'm not saying we didn't have any of that before
07:27 because it makes me sound like I'm blaming a guy.
07:29 I'm not. I've already spoke about Dan
07:31 and my respect for him, but something has to change,
07:35 you know, and so I feel like we've done that,
07:42 but I can't remember ever having a coordinator change
07:46 during the season, to be honest with you.
07:48 And you mentioned simplifying the playbook,
07:50 condensing it down. Is that process done now?
07:52 Now you're focusing in on your set of plays,
07:54 and what maybe -- do you know what kind of percentage?
07:57 Is it like 50% of the playbook, or do you know?
07:59 Man, we probably cut it down.
08:05 I don't know.
08:06 I'm guessing maybe 30% of it we cut out.
08:13 We're trying to do the things we do well, you know,
08:16 and more specific to what we can do
08:20 versus how to attack a defense.
08:22 Now, hopefully we'll combine with checks and RPOs
08:26 and a way to throw off of that and run off of that,
08:28 but probably about 30%.
08:32 Probably cut another five last night,
08:34 to be honest with you, because some of the things we had in,
08:37 we just -- I want to be able to do it
08:41 that everybody's on the same page,
08:44 blocking the right guys
08:45 and playing as fast as we possibly can
08:49 with the ability to have that tempo
08:52 and all those type things.
08:54 And so you have to cut your playbook down a little bit
08:58 because of that.
08:59 But what we're doing, I think we're doing pretty good,
09:03 and so we cut a little bit out of it last night.
09:08 Talk about chipping and stuff with the running backs
09:10 and tight ends in the pass.
09:11 I was curious how you, I guess, assess the pass protection
09:15 from the running back group to this point in the season.
09:18 We've got to get better,
09:24 not solely just on probably --
09:29 obviously, our worst game was against Mississippi State,
09:34 but we have to get better there.
09:35 We also had to put them in less possibilities
09:38 to protect as well.
09:40 I mean, obviously, on third down, you've got choices.
09:43 You know, what kind of protection do you want to use?
09:47 You want to go six, seven, five man protection.
09:50 How do you want to do it?
09:53 But, you know, Domo has been really the biggest back
09:57 and protection and things of that nature,
09:59 and we've used him a little bit.
10:01 But it's got to get better, and the kids know that as well.
10:08 But Florida certainly has a defensive end
10:12 that is really good, and they have a couple of them.
10:19 But number one is exceptional.
10:21 We've got a nice spin, though, and things we really have to --
10:24 we can't let him just wreck our game.
10:26 That was going to be my next question, I guess.
10:28 I'm assuming, you know, you've watched a lot of Florida
10:30 tape from this point.
10:31 Just what do you think of all the games?
10:34 A lot of team speed.
10:38 We really want to stay out of third and long.
10:40 We've got a lot of stuff.
10:42 So we're having to figure out exactly how we're attacking.
10:46 We haven't got an idea of how we think we can win third down.
10:52 But, you know, they're a lot like Georgia was, you know,
10:58 net broad front with four-man front,
11:02 a lot of field pressure,
11:05 a lot of boundary-free safety pressure.
11:09 Third down, big-time exotic team.
11:12 Offensively, they want to get the ball to the edge,
11:14 you know, whether it's stretch, whether it's reverses.
11:17 I really like what they're doing offensively.
11:19 They are hiding the football.
11:21 You know, it's old-school.
11:22 Wing T, you know, who has the ball?
11:24 I mean, it's not Wing T, but you get the idea
11:28 that they want you to figure out where the ball is a little late
11:33 and a lot of dressing, free snap and post-snap.
11:38 But they're really wanting to attack the edges,
11:42 no matter what that might be, a lot of reverses,
11:45 a lot of jet sweeps.
11:47 They've got two, at least two, really good running backs
11:51 that they love to run the stretch with,
11:53 and they're both really good players.
11:55 The quarterback, you know, is very accurate
11:57 and can throw a lot of deep balls,
11:59 but the balls that he throws are very, very,
12:01 very accurate, very good player.
12:04 I don't know. Do you know Billy Napier?
12:05 How well do you know him?
12:07 He's in his second year.
12:08 He's obviously trying to get Florida back where they have been.
12:11 Yeah. What's your take on maybe where they are?
12:14 I like Billy a lot.
12:16 Came out through Louisiana
12:18 and did a wonderful job there at the university.
12:24 And I know a lot of --
12:25 know Rod Sale and the staff
12:29 and have a lot of respect for Billy.
12:33 And he's got them playing really hard,
12:36 and, you know, they've got a good team.
12:39 They had a heck of a win against South Carolina
12:41 a couple of weeks ago to come back like that down 10.
12:44 And -- but I have a lot of respect for him.
12:48 I think the whole coaching community
12:51 has a lot of respect for Billy.
12:52 You mentioned -- well, you didn't mention it,
12:54 but their quarterback, Merge, you know,
12:55 transferred from Wisconsin.
12:57 He's got 14 touchdowns, only two picks,
13:00 you know, 76% completion rate.
13:02 Maybe a little more thought on that.
13:05 A lot of play action, a lot of naked throws,
13:08 a lot of bubbles, not a lot of shots,
13:16 not a lot of long balls, let's say.
13:18 I mean, they attempt those,
13:20 but I would say the majority of their passes
13:22 are within that 10-yard and under.
13:25 You know, on third -- on fourth down against South Carolina,
13:28 they threw one out there about plus three.
13:30 They need 11, and the guy just made a play.
13:34 They got two. They got more.
13:35 But one and three is what --
13:37 White hats are really, really good players,
13:40 and one of them is a freshman, I believe, number one.
13:44 And -- but they're not asking him, to me,
13:51 to sit in there and read the full field all the time.
13:53 They do, obviously, but to me,
13:56 they run a lot of things that he can do and he does well,
14:01 and, therefore, they're not putting him in a lot of
14:04 positions where he's throwing it out for grabs.
14:08 With kind of the knock-on effect of Kenny being O.C.,
14:11 just -- it's Derek. I couldn't hear you.
14:13 With Kenny being O.C.,
14:14 has Derek done anything different
14:16 with the receivers so far,
14:18 or do you plan to do anything different with them?
14:20 No, I think Kenny is involved with the receiver play as well,
14:28 but, no, not to this point.
14:31 I mean, we're trying to cut down
14:33 some of the things that we do
14:34 so they can do them a little bit faster,
14:36 but, no, I don't think anything's different.
14:41 When you finally -- we talked about how you have some time
14:43 to watch some football this week,
14:45 and any time for personal reflection
14:48 that you weren't, you know,
14:50 preparing for a specific opponent?
14:54 I think you do that daily and maybe hourly
14:56 and -- what's the word -- minutely.
14:59 I don't know what it is. I think you do that.
15:02 Any time that you are in a situation that we're in,
15:06 I mean, you either give up
15:09 or you try to figure out how to get out of it, you know,
15:12 and so, yeah, I think there's a lot of reflection
15:17 on what we've done right, what we've done wrong,
15:20 how to correct it, how to get better,
15:22 those things of that nature,
15:24 but the key is, are we fighting like hell to change it,
15:27 or are we not?
15:29 I can promise you that we are,
15:31 and we means everybody in the building and the players.
15:36 So I know you went to the Swamp in '13 here,
15:40 but you didn't go in '20,
15:41 so I'm wondering how many times you've been there
15:42 and just kind of what you think of it.
15:43 You know, we went to -- we played them
15:45 when I was at Western Michigan.
15:47 I think when I was that single year at Tennessee,
15:52 I came to Tennessee.
15:56 I haven't been many times at the Swamp
15:57 because, obviously, when I was at Georgia,
15:59 we played them over in Jacksonville.
16:04 I can't remember.
16:05 Northern Illinois, we went there.
16:07 But I can't remember going there much.
16:14 You know, I had COVID the last time we went there,
16:17 so I didn't get to go.
16:18 I think -- I'm sure I'll remember something when I leave
16:25 about when I went over there,
16:26 but I haven't been many times, I don't think.
16:29 About the bye week for your defense,
16:30 it was playing so well before the bye.
16:32 Now a chance to get some guys freshened up a little bit.
16:35 That's got to give them an extra push for the last --
16:37 Yeah, 100 percent correct.
16:41 There's a lot of confidence there.
16:44 I will say this. This is a good offense.
16:46 We're getting ready to play a good offensive line,
16:50 really good receivers.
16:51 Quarterback, running backs are good.
16:52 They're really good offensive schematic.
16:56 So we've got our work cut out for us.
16:58 We can't let them get to the edge.
16:59 But you're right.
17:03 I think we'll be as healthy as we've been
17:05 on both sides of the ball all year.
17:08 And I guess that's what bye weeks are for.
17:11 I think we're -- I don't know.
17:15 You guys have looked it up,
17:16 but I think we've done well off the bye weeks.
17:18 I don't think we had one our first year.
17:21 I think we won the last --
17:22 I think we did.
17:25 I think we beat Mississippi State here one year,
17:27 and then last year,
17:29 I think we went to Auburn after the bye week.
17:31 So we've had some good success off the bye weeks.
17:37 How KJ's feeling, I guess, is really important
17:39 for maybe the state of your whole team.
17:41 How has he dealt with the change?
17:42 What have you seen from him this last week?
17:43 I think he's excited about the change.
17:45 I mean, again, no disrespect to anybody on that,
17:49 but I think he's excited about that.
17:52 I think he's a guy that we probably needed
17:55 to take some offense off of where he could play faster
18:00 and be more confident with what he's doing.
18:04 But he's healthy and, you know, becoming --
18:10 I think even the last week,
18:12 I think his leadership skills were better.
18:18 I think, you know, any time a guy opens his mouth and talks,
18:21 I think he's got to back it up.
18:22 And to me, that's what a leader does.
18:25 And if you're not wanting to lead,
18:27 you probably don't talk because you're not wanting
18:29 to back up what you say.
18:30 And he was no worse this week and last week
18:34 than what he had been.
18:37 Head coach, do you think Rocket was kind of targeting
18:39 this game a little bit maybe as a motivational factor
18:42 to get back to home state?
18:43 Man, you know, I don't know.
18:45 You know, Trey, that's a good thought.
18:49 I really don't know.
18:51 You know, in all honesty, I think he was just hurt
18:57 and this was good timing, you know,
18:59 or ended up being a good timing
19:01 being able to go back to Florida.
19:04 Not a whole lot of Florida players on your roster.
19:06 I think you got five scholarship players,
19:10 two that you recruited, two pretty good running backs,
19:12 Augusta and Rocket.
19:14 You guys planning to get out and look at players in Florida?
19:18 Probably not this week.
19:21 You know, again, I think with the change,
19:23 everything kind of changed a little bit
19:25 and we're trying to keep everything in-house.
19:31 So I won't let them -
19:33 we won't be out recruiting this weekend
19:36 because, again, it's an early game as well.
19:40 You know, we got to do everything we do
19:42 to put the best product on the field that we can.
19:46 And so I think with all of what we're doing,
19:49 we're just trying to make about us
19:50 and we're going to kind of stay in the submarine this week.
19:55 Is that a state, though, that I guess just because of the
19:58 background with coaches on the staff
20:00 that you guys don't get a whole lot
20:02 or just focus on other areas?
20:04 Well, I think, you know, obviously,
20:07 you know where I like to recruit.
20:09 And then to be perfectly honest with you,
20:11 I think Georgia probably was our Florida
20:15 to be perfectly honest with you.
20:17 Just because of the relationships
20:20 we had with the high school coaches.
20:22 And we have several different coaches that have Georgia
20:26 not in ties or - you understand what I'm saying.
20:28 So I didn't know if we spot Florida
20:33 where we really, really recruit Georgia, you know.
20:36 And I also thought that, you know,
20:38 the better the programs are doing in the state,
20:41 the harder it - you know, in Florida,
20:43 the state's doing really good.
20:44 Florida's doing good now.
20:46 And Miami's doing good.
20:47 So, you know, we're in the state of Georgia,
20:52 everybody goes in there, too.
20:54 But Georgia can only take so many guys, you know.
20:57 So that's why we went that way.
20:59 And that's why - that's our feeling on Florida.
21:03 Just curious with Kenny,
21:05 I know he's coaching quarterbacks now,
21:06 but his experience at receiver,
21:08 now being the offensive coordinator,
21:09 how - are there any ways where he can maybe start
21:12 to maximize the wide receiver unit
21:14 now that he's calling plays?
21:16 Well, he knows them better than anybody, you know.
21:18 So I think targets for whom he thinks are his best players
21:24 is going to be big for us.
21:26 And he knows them better than anybody.
21:30 So he should be able to know what routes they run the best
21:33 and where they can get open and we can get it to them faster.
21:39 You know, you watch tape and you look at a lot of different
21:43 things on tape, but what you might or might not look at
21:48 is how fast a quarterback gets rid of the fullback.
21:53 And, you know, sacks can have a lot to do with protection,
21:57 have a lot to do with running backs.
21:59 It can have a bunch to do with wide receivers,
22:01 and it can have a bunch to do with the quarterback.
22:04 And so we've got to speed up all that process.
22:10 We hope to protect better in those things of that nature,
22:12 but we also have to be able to move the pocket,
22:15 add different chips and do it in a game.
22:20 And so there's a lot to be said about all that kind of stuff.
22:28 I would just say, Josh, Rowan's played.
22:30 He's obviously going back to Florida
22:32 where he's played a couple of seasons.
22:34 Kind of your thoughts on his season?
22:35 Josh is tough.
22:37 He's played hurt quite a bit this year.
22:39 I think he'll be as healthy as he had.
22:41 I'm sure it'll be an exciting point for him
22:45 to go back to Florida and be able to play in that game.
22:48 He's a quiet kid, so he would never say anything,
22:51 but obviously anybody that transfers from somewhere
22:54 and they go back and have an opportunity to play,
22:57 they want to play well.
22:59 Maybe a little extra motivation there.
23:04 Josh had a good season for us.
23:06 Lord knows where we'd be if he didn't come in here.
23:10 And I look for him to continue to improve each week,
23:13 and he still has two years after this
23:16 to help us on further than that.
23:20 Coach, I think last week you mentioned
23:21 that Kenny was maybe more comfortable on the sideline,
23:24 but I saw in Kyle's notes he's going to be in the booth.
23:25 Is that right?
23:27 Is that a decision?
23:31 What other -- where are the notes so I can know what's --
23:35 I'll try to get you some.
23:37 He -- he -- he --
23:44 I don't want to tell Kyle, but he told me
23:46 that he wasn't that comfortable.
23:49 He didn't think he'd be comfortable on the sideline
23:51 after he initially thought that's where he needed to be,
23:54 and I think part of that has to do with Keith.
23:56 You know, he was -- somebody asked me about it.
23:59 They're in -- so I think part of that
24:01 has something to do with it,
24:02 but I think he'll be any coordinator to me
24:05 that's especially young would be much better upstairs,
24:08 but I gave him that opportunity to decide what he wanted to do,
24:11 and he's changed to want to be in the box.
24:14 You mentioned Nudy is second team now.
24:17 Is it anything he needs to do to get back to first team,
24:19 or is he just kind of got lollipop?
24:21 Well, I just think -- yeah, I mean,
24:22 I think there's probably something to be said for that,
24:24 but Nudy's a good player,
24:26 and I look for him to continue to compete,
24:29 and, you know, it just is what it is right now,
24:34 but he certainly can earn that spot back,
24:36 and I expect him to -- I expect him --
24:39 he's a great kid, and I expect him to battle his butt off
24:42 to get it back.