Tag: sam pittman

Kolby Smith and Ronnie Fouch both know where the bread is buttered, so to speak.

Smith, Arkansas’ freshly named running backs coach, and Fouch, the Hogs’ new wide receivers coach would not be on the Arkansas staff if it weren’t for one man.

Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman hired Bobby Petrino as the team’s offensive coordinator in the fall and, in turn, Petrino brought along some of his disciples when jobs presented themselves as available on the Arkansas staff. Last year’s wide receivers coach, Kenny Guiton, left for Wisconsin and Fouch hopped onboard in late winter. Smith took over Jimmy Smith, who left in March for the same job at Texas Christian.

Fouch coached with Petrino when the two were at Missouri State and Louisville. Smith played for Petrino when he was running the Louisville program. Petrino greased the wheels for both of them to join him at Arkansas.

“I received a text from coach (Petrino) saying ‘Hey, there may be an opening,'” Kolby Smith said. “And then he said ‘I can get you on the phone with Catch Pittman, and you’ve just got to sell yourself from there.'”

Fouch’s story is much the same. Petrino floated his named to Pittman and both Fouch and Kolby Smith impressed the Arkansas head man enough to get the gig almost independent of Petrino’s recommendation.

Their work is cut out for them, certainly. All three of the new faces. Arkansas is coming off a 4-8 season in which the Razorbacks ranked 107th out of 133 FBS teams in total offense.

Sam Pittman seemed shocked sometimes last year during Arkansas’ 4-8 season at the sorts of ways he and his players were treated by so-called fans of the program. By the time that year was done, he had lost several players from the roster, hired a new offensive coordinator many believe is preparing to vulture the head gig and learned patience and sanity are not chief characteristics of Razorbacks’ faithful.

Especially in the monied corners.

Of course they have only tacit acknowledgement the game isn’t the same as it was when they inherited their millions 30, 40 years ago. It’s not even the same game as it was 10 years ago. Look at how many lament targeting ejections, the NIL, the transfer portal and the death of the hip drop tackle.

That’s beside the point for now, though. Little fanfare emanates from the Smith Football Center and its surrounding buildings this spring. In fairness, it’s yet another the way the game has changed: 10 years ago, schools were clamoring to pack the houses for spring games before eventually the fans wisened and stopped showing up in record numbers upon realization they were glorified scrimmages tasting of vanilla.

Frankly, the lack of a spotlight is a good thing for Pittman, Bobby Petrino and a football program that could use some time alone to get its act together. The Hogs have to find a quarterback to replace a school legend, a running back to replace the second best the team has had in the last 20 years, a competent offensive line, some linebackers, depth in the secondary, a new kicker and, oh, nevermind, you get it.

Little time remains for the football Razorbacks to stay out of the public’s consciousness. Arkansas baseball being ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation helps tremendously, as does that changing of how spring is handled from a public-relations standpoint. But the Hogs also run the risk of staying nationally irrelevant by avoiding limelight.

The whole thing is a Catch-22. A fan base that badly wants to be in the national conversation (or, at least, not a national joke) but a team that needs to avoid putting itself out there in order to powder its nose and cover its flaws.

As Arkansas enters its sixth, seventh and eighth practices of the spring, the clock is ticking.