Tag: travis williams

Merry Committmas: Four-star linebacker chooses Arkansas over Clemson

Arkansas football gets a Christmas morning surprise with the commitment of one of the top linebackers in the 2024 class.

It was a really good Christmas for the [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] program, as [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] and [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] added a top-rated commitment from the 2024 recruiting class.

Four-star linebacker [autotag]Bradley Shaw[/autotag] chose the Hogs over offers from Clemson, Auburn, Notre Dame and others. Shaw uploaded a video to Twitter (X) showing his Christmas-themed commitment with the caption “Merry Committmas.”

Shaw is a 6-1, 216-pound linebacker from Hoover, Ala. and is the eighth-ranked linebacker prospect in the country, according to 247Sports.com. That puts him as the 101st best overall prospect in the country by 247Sports.

Nationally recruiting analyst Cooper Petagna had really high praise for Shaw in his scouting report saying, “(Shaw) has a knack for being around the football and sniffing out opposing plays before they develop. A true three down linebacker, Shaw is more of a traditional inside backer with excellent feel and instincts in the tackle box.”

“He projects as a multi-year Power Five starter at the next level,” Petagna continues. “With the ability to contribute immediately on defense and special teams.”

Shaw is the 18th high school commit for the Razorbacks, who currently hold the 27th and 26th-ranked class according to 247Sports and Rivals.com respectively. Of those 18 commits, only Shaw and his fellow Hoover High School teammate, Jeremy Cook, have yet to sign their letters of intent.

What a hypothetical 2024 would look like under Sam Pittman

Taking a look at what 2024 could have in store for Sam Pittman & Co. now that Hunter Yurachek has confirmed he is returning.

News broke Sunday morning that Hunter Yurachek is retaining [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] the day after Arkansas defeated Florida International.

Fans are almost totally united that this is not the move the program needs to make in order to remain competitive in a SEC that will gain Oklahoma and Texas next season.

Unfortunately for the rank and file fans, they don’t get to call the shots, Yurachek ultimately does.

So let’s take a look at what a hypothetical 2024 could look like with Sam Pittman still at the controls.

Schedule

Arkansas doesn’t have to play Alabama for the first time since the 1991 season, when it was still a member of the Southwest Conference, and gets LSU, Ole Miss, Texas and Tennessee all at home.

The non-conference is UAPB in Little Rock in the season opener, at Oklahoma State, UAB and Louisiana Tech.

At worst, Pittman should go 3-1 in that non-conference.

The SEC road games are at Auburn and Mississippi State, places Pittman won at in 2022, and then at Missouri, which appears to be the toughest game it will have besides maybe LSU or Texas.

It’s not far-fetched to think 4-4 is doable in that conference slate. That would be a 7-5 overall record. Hardly something that would set off firework celebrations, but would be the best overall record of his tenure besides the 8-4 he posted in 2021.

Coaching staff

It’s no secret that members of Pittman’s coaching staff will have their jobs on the line in the season finale Friday against Missouri.

[autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] will be retained as the defensive coordinator for sure, and Williams will likely want to keep the majority of his staff.

The offensive staff? There’s no guarantee that any of them will return.

Fans have been clamoring for Pittman to fire Cody Kennedy, the offensive line coach.

[autotag]Kenny Guiton[/autotag], meanwhile, after an impressive debut against Florida and a nice showing against FIU, was completely stymied by Auburn’s defense, who turned around and got manhandled by New Mexico State.

Guiton will get one more chance against Missouri to show what he’s got.

Miscellaneous

One could argue that the reason Yurachek hasn’t pulled the trigger on Pittman yet is:

A) the buyout is too large to justify terminating him at this juncture considering what he inherited and

B) joining the coaching search carousel while also going up against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, and maybe even Florida, seems less than ideal. Plus if any other P5 jobs open based on coaches filling those roles.

Yurachek is going to bat for Pittman currently after a rough year. Pittman won’t have that luxury next year. Anything less than bowl eligibility by November next year likely has him canned.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams nominated for Broyles Award

Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams has been nominated for a prestigious award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach each year.

The 2023 season has been filled with a lot of losing and disappointment for this [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] team. However, there has been one bright spot for throughout most of this year – the defense.

In his first year as Razorbacks defensive coordinator, [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] took the worst passing defense in the country and completely transformed it into a very formidable unit. Arkansas currently ranks 49th in the country in total defense (357.5 YPG) and 38th in passing defense (205.6 YPG). In fact, Williams’ defense has played well enough for the Hogs to win all but two games this season.

For those efforts, Williams was one of 57 assistant coaches nominated for the 2023 Broyles Award. The Broyles Award, named after longtime Arkansas football coach and athletic director [autotag]Frank Broyles[/autotag], is given to the nation’s best assistant coach each year.

The semifinalists and finalists will be announced at later dates, and the ceremony to announce the winner will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.

Making history: Hogs take the field with all-black defensive staff

Arkansas football makes history with an all-black defensive coaching staff.

When Horatio’s Darrell Brown stepped onto the University of Arkansas campus in the fall of 1965, heroically breaking the color-barrier as the Razorbacks’ first African-American football player, the landscape of college athletics was slowly beginning to change.

Frank Falks became the first African-American assistant coach in Arkansas history in 1973, when he was hired by Head Coach Frank Broyles to work with the defensive ends. After Lou Holtz took the next step in 1977, hiring John Mitchell as the defensive line coach, Larry Brinson was later hired by Ken Hatfield to coach running backs from 1984-89. That began to open the door a little more for others. Garrick McGee then broke another barrier in 2010, becoming the Hogs’ first black offensive coordinator, under Head Coach Bobby Petrino.

The evolution did not happen as quickly as many would have hoped, but now 58 years after Brown suited up, the Razorback program has reached a monumental milestone under Sam Pittman. When the Hogs opened the season this past Saturday with a 56-13 win over Western Carolina in Little Rock, they took the field with an all-black defensive coaching staff.

“First of all, I think you have to give kudos to Coach Pittman for identifying the talent that was out there, who just happen to be of color,” said Dr. Fitz Hill, the first African-American assistant head coach in program history, under Houston Nutt in 2000. “And we know that Coach Pittman has to trust them because his livelihood is placed in their hands.

“You can’t have a token position in football, or in college athletics, because everybody is observing how well you do – Are we good? Are we bad? Or whatever. It’s not a subjective evaluation. But he was able to find some excellent coaches, who have the pedigree, and just happen to be of color.”

When former defensive coordinator Barry Odom left Fayetteville last December to become the head coach at Nevada-Las Vegas, he took linebackers coach Michael Scherer with him. Pittman also let go of cornerbacks coach Dominique Bowman following the season, leaving the Hogs with three openings to join the lone holdover on the defensive staff, line coach Deke Adams.

After thorough research and networking across the country to find the right fits for his program, Pittman selected his new coaches – and happened to make history in the process.

It didn’t take Pittman long to choose Travis Williams as Arkansas’ first black defensive coordinator. The former Auburn linebacker, who led the team in tackles during its undefeated 2004 season, had been the Tigers’ co-defensive coordinator in 2019-20, before spending the past two seasons as the DC at Central Florida.

In Williams first year with the Knights, his defense moved up 97 spots in the NCAA team pass efficiency defense rankings, compared to 2020, as well as jumping 86 spots in passing yards allowed (89.1 fewer yards per game) and 70 spots in total defense (122.5 fewer yards allowed per game). The Razorbacks finished 101st out of 131 FBS teams in total defense last season.

Another big factor in choosing Williams was his experience in the SEC, as well as his understanding and ability to recruit.

“It had a lot to do with that, because he understood recruiting and the urgency of recruiting in the SEC — it’s just different,” Pittman said after the hire. “Also, I liked his style. He’s very, very aggressive, and I like the fact that he’s going to keep four linemen on the D-line in the game.”

In January, the Razorbacks hired former Florida State defensive passing game coordinator Marcus Woodson to be Williams’ co-coordinator and work with the defensive backs in pass protection schemes. Three weeks later, they hired Florida cornerbacks analyst Deron Wilson to be the Hogs new secondary coach.

Including running backs coach Jimmy Smith and wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton, six of the Razorbacks’ 10 full-time assistant coaches are black.

“That’s the definition of inclusion,” Hill said. “You can say affirmative action, but inclusion is a whole different category. Now, you see that in 2023, which some thought would never happen, is that quality coaches are being given access, because of what they’ve earned, not denied because of color.”

After his 11-year stint on the Razorbacks’ staff, Hill was hired as the head coach at San Jose State from 2001-04, before focusing his career on education. In 2012, he wrote and published the book Crackback!, along with Mark Purdy, who is white, and a longtime columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. They detailed the disparity of minorities in college football, particularly in hiring practices and advancement.

“I wanted to write the book in collaboration with Mark, because I wanted a balanced perspective with two different mindsets coming together to reveal the truth,” Hill said. “I wasn’t trying to bash anybody, but instead just saying, ‘Here’s what the facts are.’ The book is factual, so if you don’t like the truth, then that’s on you.

“Race has always restricted space, particularly in football,” he said, referencing Warren Moon, who was one of the best college quarterbacks in America at Washington in 1977, but went undrafted and was relegated to begin his career in the Canadian Football League, likely due to the color of his skin. Eventually becoming the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1989, Moon was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

“For quarterbacks, time has evolved, but for coaches it’s still lagging behind,” Hill added. “So, these are breakthrough opportunities for some of these black coaches. And again, kudos to Coach Pittman for making that happen.”

But now, he also admits that the “double-edged sword” effect could come into play, depending on how successful the team is under this new regime.

“Now, the platform is there to perform, and if you don’t perform, it can have a negative effect across the board,” Hill explained. “Unfortunately, minorities are still evaluated collectively, whereas majorities are evaluated individually. It’s really a double-edged sword. You have to succeed or it can prevent other opportunities from happening.”

He also referenced former Colorado Head Coach Bill McCartney, who had three minority coaches on staff – two were black and one was Polynesian — when they led the Buffaloes to the 1990 National Championship.

“Yeah, the evolution has been slow, but now the statement has been made. The opportunity is there, so now the production must come.”

Column: Arkansas needs to handle business in convincing fashion Saturday

There’s plenty of reasons why Arkansas should beat Western Carolina convincingly, but for Sam Pittman, one reason stands above the rest.

Entering the Saturday’s game against Western Carolina, there’s some pressure on Arkansas head football coach [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag].

A lot of that stems from last season’s extremely disappointing results on the heels of a 9-win 2021. But a lot of that pressure isn’t really dominating the talk around Arkansas football entering this year.

Instead, there’s plenty of optimism about the team’s two new coordinators, [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Dan Enos[/autotag], and the collection of talent up and down the Razorback roster. As for this writer, I’ve actually gone on record as saying this is the most talented roster Pittman’s had since taking becoming head coach.

However, while that is all great, games aren’t played on paper and a majority of the fanbase won’t be satisfied if there aren’t results to back up some of the preseason optimism. The elephant in the room over the summer has been the pressure on Pittman to turn things around and remain in the good graces of Arkansas fans.

That elephant has largely been ignored, but it won’t be for long if things start to go south this season. The best way for Pittman to kickstart this important 2023 campaign is with an extremely convincing win and no theatrics.

Pittman himself admitted earlier this week that the Hogs have struggled with “non-logo” schools of late, and he’s not the only one that’s noticed. The Rice, Missouri State and Liberty games transported fans back to the dark ages of 2018 and 2019 – times they thought were long gone.

So, not only do the Razorbacks need to win on Saturday, but they need to leave absolutely zero doubt. Western Carolina is an inferior opponent, who should receive an extremely lopsided defeat to go along with their six-figure game check.

If that doesn’t happen and Arkansas stumbles out of the gates, the temperature on Pittman’s seat will begin to rise. Not by much but ever so slightly. That elephant in the room? It begins to draw a little more attention.

It’s just one game in an extremely long season, but it could represent a lot more later down the road.

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Walcott provides experience and leadership for Razorback secondary

Senior safety Al Walcott brings experience and leadership to an Arkansas secondary that was one of worst in the country last season.

[autotag]Alfahiym Walcott[/autotag] is a name that Arkansas fans should get pretty familiar with ahead of this season.

In 2022, Walcott recorded 82 tackles (42 solo), two sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception and five pass breakups for Baylor. His performance as a junior earned him second team All-Big 12 honors from the media.

Now, he’s in Fayetteville and projected to be a starting safety for a Razorback secondary that lost Simeon Blair (Memphis) and Jalen Catalon (Texas) from last season. Walcott provides much-needed experience and leadership for a secondary that was statistically the worst passing defense in all of college football.

“What I think I can bring to the defense is a leadership role because I am an older guy. I understand what it looks like and what it is going to be like in a game,” Walcott told the media after Thursday’s practice. “So fixing the little things will help us in-game…from our first shoulder pad practice we were doing a bubble drill and I just wanted to set the tone to show the defense, this is how we’re going to be. This is how physical we’re going to be.”

That last sentence has been a common theme for the Arkansas defense under [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag]. Physicality and aggressiveness are mandatory, especially in the secondary. With Walcott, that’s the way he’s always played and he knows that being physical is the standard for the entire team this season.

“I see it from the offense as well, whether they’re blocking to get to the next level with the O-line and everything,” Walcott said. “The physicality is there. That’s the standard we’re going to hold everyone to.”

Walcott has primarily played safety throughout his career, but can help out at multiple positions. He doesn’t care where his coaches have him playing, he just wants to be on the field.

“It doesn’t make any difference. I love to be on the field whether it’s at corner, linebacker. If I could play D-end, I would,” Walcott said. “In the DB room, coach Woodson does a great job of having us learn each and every spot.”

Walcott missed a large portion of spring practices due to a meniscus injury, so we haven’t gotten to see much of him at full speed. However, that will change on Saturday when Arkansas has their first scrimmage of fall camp.

Saturday also marks exactly three weeks from the Razorbacks’ season-opener against Western Carolina in Little Rock.

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Arkansas football adds Georgia linebacker to 2024 recruiting class

New defensive coordinator Travis Williams has added his first linebacker commitment to the 2024 recruiting class. Here’s more on Arkansas’ newest recruit:

[autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] has landed another defensive commitment for the 2024 recruiting class. Three-star linebacker [autotag]Justin Logan[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Razorbacks early Wednesday morning via Twitter (X).

The Marietta (Ga.) native is currently rated as a consensus three-star prospect, and is borderline four-star status by all of the major recruiting outlets. The 6-3, 205-pound outside linebacker prospect is highly-coveted and his extensive offer list is proof.

Logan chose Arkansas over offers from Missouri, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Louisville, West Virginia, UCF, Pittsburgh, Colorado and many others. He is the first linebacker commitment for the 2024 recruiting class and was recruited heavily by new defensive coordinator [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag].

Arkansas football is now at 18 commitments for the 2024 recruiting class and Logan is the ninth on the defensive side of the ball. The Razorbacks’ 2024 class is currently ranked No. 20 in the country by 247Sports and No. 22 by Rivals.

Arkansas football: Sam Pittman expects the Razorbacks to be more aggressive in 2023

With Travis Williams and Dan Enos as his new coordinators, Sam Pittman expects Arkansas to be a more aggressive football team this year.

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.

“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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Auburn receives crystal ball prediction for in-state linebacker

One of the state’s top linebackers from the 2024 cycle continues to trend towards Auburn.

One of the top programs in the state of Alabama heading into the 2023 season is Clay-Chalkville.

The metro-Birmingham school has four players that currently rank in the top 25 of the state’s top 2024 prospects according to 247Sports, and Auburn may be close to landing one of them.

[autotag]D’Angelo Barber[/autotag], the nation’s No. 44 linebacker and the state of Alabama’s No. 25 overall prospect for the 2024 cycle is trending toward Auburn. Christian Clemente of 247Sports recently gave Auburn a crystal ball prediction to earn Barber’s commitment, which brings the Tigers to two total predictions for Barber.

Barber recently competed in Auburn’s 7v7 tournament and told Clemente that he will announce his commitment at the end of this month. Where does Auburn stand personally?

“Auburn’s got the lead,” Barber said in an interview with Auburn Undercover. “(Arkansas) still in the mix. But it’s hard to go against Auburn. I can honestly say I haven’t been to a place yet that felt more like home than here.”

According to 247Sports, Barber will officially visit Georgia Tech and Arkansas this month before making his decision. The Razorbacks appear to be Auburn’s top competition at the moment, as former Tiger and current Arkansas defensive coordinator [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] is working hard to snag Barber out of Auburn’s grasp.

Auburn is also in the running for several of Barber’s high school teammates. Wide receiver Mario Craver included Auburn in his top 10 list while the Tigers are looking to flip the state’s top player, Jaylen Mbakwe, from Alabama.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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Arkansas football picks up commitment from 2024 four-star athlete

In case you missed it: Arkansas football picked up a big-time commitment for the 2024 recruiting class on Monday.

[autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] received some very good news on Monday afternoon in the form of a high-level recruiting commitment.

Four-star ATH Noreel White committed to Arkansas and announced it via his personal Twitter account. The 5-11, 170-pound Ocean Springs (Miss.) native chose the Razorbacks over Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Auburn and Florida State among others.

White is considered the No. 7 overall player in the state of Mississippi. He’s listed as an athlete on every major recruiting site, but he’s primarily a defensive back. Lead recruiters for Arkansas on this commitment were defensive assistants [autotag]Marcus Woodson[/autotag] and [autotag]Deron Wilson[/autotag], both of which were in his commitment tweet.

This commitment is huge for Arkansas’ 2024 class, but also signals a bigger shift within the program in regards to recruiting. The Razorbacks and newly hired defensive assistants [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag], Marcus Woodson and Deron Wilson aren’t playing around when it comes to chasing high-level talent. Arkansas is getting visits and serious consideration from much higher-caliber players than we’ve seen in the past few seasons.

Of course with recruiting it’s always a “wait-and-see” approach, but the fact that Arkansas football is starting to make noise with recruits they typically wouldn’t have gotten should never be considered a bad thing.

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