Arkansas
An SEC Preseason Ranking Where Arkansas Leads Even Alabama and Georgia
Sam Pittman knew, even means again when he was employed in December 2019, that a few of the challenges forward as Arkansas soccer coach can be the seemingly ageless ones.
Within the SEC West, recruiting is hard as hell, and successful persistently is even more durable. Chad Morris’ 22-game run soured followers and made a fast rebound very tough to examine.
COVID-19 dealt an unpredictable added blow to Pittman. Right here’s a 10-game, all-conference slate so that you can reckon with, Coach. And we’ll throw in Georgia and Florida from the East, too. Pittman by no means stopped effusing confidence and hope. Two years later, he someway has a successful report because the Razorbacks’ head coach and a preseason top-25 staff.
It results in Arkansas soccer out of the blue having swagger. Pittman’s smile is now not that of profession assistant who lastly received an opportunity, however one which’s reflective of a program-building badass.
One of many columnists over at Outkick characterised it lately as “juice.” It’s an apologetically ambiguous metric by which Arkansas surpasses even Alabama and Georgia to take the highest spot within the SEC. The Hogs are even with Tennessee in line with the malleable requirements put forth, which appears honest given the Vols’ fast progress below Josh Heupel. It’s in no way an official gauge of something, however the evaluation of each program’s relative well being is pretty on level.
Arkansas appears to have it in spades proper now, for any variety of causes.
Traditionally, if Arkansas is on the receiving finish of a lot preseason fawning, you’d finest be cautious.
Houston Nutt might whip up fast pleasure in suits and begins, however disappointment oft adopted. Bobby Petrino’s self-sabotage after 2011 battered him bodily and this system internally.
Bret Bielema sparked, however combusted, and Morris failed spectacularly to make his “model” something however a punchline.
That’s why it’s arduous for a jaded Hog fan to have a snug relationship with hype.
Pittman’s “juice” tastes totally different, although, and to hold this expression to the acute, that’s as a result of Pittman squeezes it masterfully. When the aftermath of the Outback Bowl introduced a couple of sudden departures, Pittman and the employees stuffed any and each emptiness with aplomb.
Joe Foucha and Greg Brooks Jr. made the choice to go away for LSU; Malik Hornsby flirted with leaving, too. However Jadon Haselwood arrived from Oklahoma to compete for Treylon Burks’ lead receiver spot. Drew Sanders, Dwight McGlothern, Latavious Brini, Landon Jackson and some others additionally entered the fold.
Because of this, not solely does Arkansas enter 2022 with personnel stability, but in addition with employees cohesiveness. Pittman’s coordinators stay entrenched and revered, and even when Kendal Briles and Barry Odom do depart, he’s deftly employed place coaches who may very well be elevated.
Right here’s a Razorback staff that went 9-4, has its most crucial offensive asset returning and a top-shelf teaching employees on board. It’s no marvel the “juice” issue is so excessive.
Outkick’s juice ranking is, clearly, imminently controversial. Within the beneath rankings, I personally thought the columnist undersold Kentucky and Ole Miss, and perhaps gave LSU a extra favorable nod than deserved.
SEC JUICE METER RANKINGS
- Arkansas- 9
- Tennessee- 9
- Alabama- 8.5
- Georgia- 8
- LSU- 8
- South Carolina- 7.5
- Ole Miss- 6.5
- Texas A&M- 6.5
- Florida- 5
- Kentucky- 5
- Vanderbilt- 5
- Mississipi State- 4.5
- Missouri- 4.5
- Auburn- 2
It’s arduous to contest the essential premise, although, which is that Arkansas’ “groove” right here could be very actual. Actually, KJ Jefferson should keep wholesome because the Hogs face a damned tough dozen this fall. The absence of Burks, and losses of John Ridgeway and Tre Williams on the defensive position, do have consequence.
However this may very well be the perfect general preseason feeling about this system in, for a lot of Arkansas followers, a literal lifetime. It helps that Pittman’s recruiting acumen retains paying off in precisely the way Hunter Yuracheck believed it will.
Whereas his ill-fated predecessors talked of “championships below building” or tried to drive #unusual and #hammerdown on us, Pittman is bereft of such platitudes. The truth is, as he livened up SEC Media Days this week, he tempered the gusto completely:
Merely put, Arkansas isn’t a patsy anymore, and that pithy “Go Hogs!” is the coach’s well mannered means of asserting it.
Whereas he says that the work isn’t remotely full, Sam Pittman additionally acknowledges the cache his program carries these days. At SEC Media Days, he acknowledged it and maybe most refreshingly of all, bore accountability proudly.
“No matter individuals could say, all people has a mouth, all people has an opinion,” Pittman mentioned. “A few of ’em, the opinions are worthy and a few aren’t. I’m going to let our soccer staff, myself, drive what we have to accomplish. If we do, the youngsters and the teaching employees did a fantastic job. If we don’t, I screwed it up.”
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Extra protection of Arkansas soccer from BoAS…