The Monday after a long holiday break can be among the most difficult days of the year for adults. The alarm goes off early, kids need to get to school on time, and once again you have to get to the office where your boss will actually expect you to be productive. And it’s cold. My goodness it’s cold in Arkansas!
Thanks to the Razorbacks and their destruction of Penn State on New Year’s Day that all seems a bit easier to take this time. It seems that every Arkansas fan continues to bask in the glory of the first NYD bowl win in 20 years. And, as Tom Murphy at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette points out, Saturday’s win sets up the next phase in Sam Pittman’s rebuild.
Pittman and Outback Bowl MVP KJ Jefferson met with members of the media afterward, and Pittman described the potential momentum from the season.
“I think it’s got to be easier,” he said. “I think the recruiting has to become a little bit easier. We don’t have a discipline problem on our team or anything of that nature, so they’re going to do what we ask.”
Coach Pittman already secured a Top 20 recruiting class in the early signing period, allowing him and his staff to cherrypick gaps they need to fill via the transfer market. And the 2023 class is off to a hot start with five commits already champing at the bit to get to Fayetteville. With that type of momentum and excitement spring football can’t get here fast enough, let alone September 3, 2022.
Wayne noted this weekend that next season’s schedule is a doozy. The Hogs kickoff with 2021 CFP entrant Cincinnati and have a non-conference road trip to BYU right in the middle of the conference season. Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss remain on the schedule, too.
All of that seems easier to handle today, though.
In Sam, we trust.