During [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag]’s tenure as Arkansas head coach, we’ve seen him not be afraid to take chances and be aggressive.
The fake field goal pass for a touchdown against Alabama in 2021 and then a spectacularly executed onside kick in the same game last season, immediately come to mind.
However, that boldness never really became a regular thing, and it certainly didn’t translate to Barry Odom’s defense or Kendal Briles’ offense week-to-week. Fans came to expect Arkansas to drop eight in coverage routinely and be a run-heavy offense – rarely utilizing deep throws or passes over the middle.
But that looks to be changing in 2023.
One of the main takeaways from Sam Pittman’s comments during SEC Media Days is how different things will be with [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Dan Enos[/autotag] as the new coordinators.
Williams, who was the defensive coordinator at UCF last season, has developed a reputation as being extremely aggressive with his schemes and play-calling. His UCF defenses would sometimes be in “Cover 0” – man coverage with no help deep in the secondary.
“I imagine we’ll see a lot more aggressive but not that aggressive. Man, they were in Cover 0 a lot,” Pittman said, with a laugh, when asked about Williams. “I have a lot of confidence in him and we will certainly be more aggressive. That’s just his nature and his style.”
It’s risky to have an overly-aggressive defense in the SEC, you can’t blame Arkansas for going in a different direction from last. Last season, with a more conservative, Barry Odom-led defense, the Razorbacks ranked dead last in all of college football in passing yards per game (294.7).
While we’ll have to wait until September to see Williams’ defense, it’s hard to not be optimistic about this new direction. One reason is that, statistically, the defense can’t be much worse than last year.
On the other side of the ball, Dan Enos is back as offensive coordinator and his job will be a little more difficult than Williams. The last two seasons under Briles, Arkansas’ offense averaged 30-plus points per game and ranked in the top two of the SEC in rushing.
That could be a tough act to follow, but Enos has proven he can produce elite offenses. He did it during his last stint at Arkansas. When Enos arrived, Arkansas’ scoring jumped from 31.9 to 35.9 and yardage increased from 406.0 to 465.5. Enos’ 2015 offense also averaged 6.8 yards per play, which is the second most in program history – behind Bobby Petrino’s 2010 team (7.1).
Another area that Arkansas struggled was in short yardage situations – particularly in the redzone. Nationally, Arkansas ranked 70th in redzone offense and 85th in fourth down conversions. Enos’ Maryland offense ranked 21st and 23rd in the nation, respectively.
It’s easy to see what Sam Pittman is going for with Dan Enos. Pittman is looking to be more aggressive in short-yardage situations and putting a premium on redzone points. It also looks like he’s going to let Enos air it out more with KJ Jefferson.
KJ Jefferson said he’s become more of “passer” than a “thrower” under new @RazorbackFB OC Dan Enos. Jefferson still expects to play around 240 pounds, but is much leaner. He trained this off-season out in San Diego. “It’s as healthy as I’ve been.”
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) July 19, 2023
“We’ll probably not run [Jefferson] as much as we have in the past,” said Pittman during an interview with Jake Crain at SEC Media Days. “I think we’ll probably throw the ball and be little bit more aggressive than we have in the past.”
Like with Williams’ defense, we won’t get to fully judge Enos’ offense until September 2 against Western Carolina. However, it’s obvious that Pittman knows the areas where his teams have struggled and did everything he could to fix them with these new hires.
One thing that is certain is that fans will see a much different Arkansas football team this year compared to 2022.
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