FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football will begin its fall camp Wednesday evening, with a month of preparation all that remains before a season opener against UAPB in Little Rock.

Bobby Petrino is back, and he’ll be working with a new signal-caller in quarterback Taylen Green. Together, they’ll try to orchestrate a bounceback season for head coach Sam Pittman after a disappointing 2023 campaign that ended with a 4-8 record.

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Before the in-state showdown with the Golden Lions — and another grueling schedule in the SEC — there are still roles to be defined and plenty of questions throughout the Razorbacks’ roster.

Here’s a look at three key Arkansas football position battles to watch throughout fall camp.

Outside Cornerback

Jaylon Braxton is an unquestioned starter and primed to be one of the best players on the roster. There are three candidates to join as a first-team cornerback.

Kee’yon Stewart and Jaheim Singletary are two options who transferred to Arkansas prior to last season. Stewart, from TCU, was a starter and consistent performer for most of the spring. At 6-foot, 2 inches, and 182 pounds, Singletary has the ideal frame to be an SEC cornerback, but he hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a five-star high school recruit who began his career at Georgia.

The third option is a fresh newcomer in Marquise Robinson, who produced a fine junior campaign last season with South Alabama, racking up 36 tackles and three interceptions. He was recruited out of the transfer portal to challenge for a starting spot, and he’ll have that opportunity beginning Wednesday.

Defensive End

This is another spot on the defense with one obvious starter and a question mark on the opposite end. Landon Jackson could be one of the best players in the country this season and is a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

His running mate on the edge will likely be either Nico Davillier or Anton Juncaj. Davillier is a product of Maumelle High School who has been inside the program for the last three years. Coaches were impressed with his motor this spring, and he held on to a starting spot throughout the 15 practices across March and April.

Juncaj though will provide stiff competition, especially considering his strengths rushing the passer. He led all of FCS with 15 sacks and finished third with 21.5 tackles for loss last season at Albany. It’s important that Juncaj turns into the player Pittman envisioned when he transferred this offseason, and both players will garner plenty of snaps this fall.

Slot Wide Receiver

Isaiah Sategna feels like the front-runner for this position. Sategna is a local star — ranking as a four-star prospect coming out of Fayetteville High School in 2022 — who provides a big-play threat that’s unique to the Arkansas roster.

However, Jaedon Wilson will be a factor. The redshirt junior consistently received more opportunities than Sategna last season, and he was the starting slot receiver this spring until a hamstring injury.

Andrew Armstrong, Tyrone Broden and Luke Hasz give Bobby Petrino a terrific core of pass catchers, and the slot receiver will round out the group.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — New Arkansas coach John Calipari isn’t trying to put together a roster like anybody really expects. He’s not doing what fans and most of the media expect, but nobody really wants to believe what he keeps telling them.

“I just talk about what I want,” Calipari said. “Have you guys not understood that yet? You can ask me whatever you want, I’m going to say what …”

That last part sort of trailed off, probably due to exhaustion from having to answer multiple times a question that he’s made clear since April. Calipari’s looking for nine guys who can play to his level.

For those who haven’t noticed, that’s a higher expectation than what’s been seen around the Razorbacks for a couple of decades. He’s also talked about embracing the players who won in the past and did again.

Ronnie Brewer, who is part of the historic past as a player and because his father was a huge part of when Eddie Sutton started turning things around in the mid-70’s, was in the spotlight Monday. Calipari announced he will handle what he described as the mid-south, a region that includes Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Texas, West Tennessee, Missouri up to St. Louis and Mississippi.

“There’s an area that Ronnie can be [effective], but I also want him to be our liaison to all the former players,” Calipari said. “Anybody that knows how I’ve done this … I’ve talked to many of them already. We’re going to do a fantasy camp. I want them all to come back. Be a part of this. I’ve sent some pictures out of some of the guys. Corliss. The picture of him, and I’m saying we’ve got to get this back to where you guys had it. So he’s going to do that.”

The more his current players can be around guys who have won big in the past, he’s all for that. At Kentucky, he embraced the past.

He’s doing the same thing at Arkansas. Before Calipari took the job in April, he talked with Nolan Richardson. Don’t be surprised to see him around as much as he wants to be there.

But, it’s time to quit worrying about players 10-13 on the roster. There are guys who will be primarily for practice and development, and the change in number of scholarship players isn’t a big deal to him.

“Nope. I’m going to have eight or nine, and then I’m going to fill out the roster,” Calipari said … again. “You know what I can do? I can give walk-ons a scholarship now if I choose to. Maybe I use that somewhere else. Maybe I get GAs that can still play and I use it that way. How about I do that?”

Part of doing it the way everybody has gotten accustomed to seeing has changed with (or because of) the new rules in the game, particularly the free agency each year.

“What you don’t want with this transfer portal, every kid is a free agent at the end of the year,” Calipari said. “You have eight or nine, maybe one or two stay, but you’re not dealing with 10, 11, 12. Well, you got to do this, you got to start me, you got to do this. No, I’m not coaching a player so that another guy can coach him. I’m not doing that either. I got my eight or nine.”

That’s the magic number, folks. No matter how many ways the question is phrased, the answer is going to be the same.

When somebody tells you what they are, accept it. That works well with coaches, too. Take Calipari at his word.

HOGS FEED:

• Special rule gives insight into Calipari coaching style for Razorbacks

• Calipari wants Razorback fans to pull back on expectations

• Calipari unveils surprises in exhibition slate, updates schedule progress

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – According to John Calipari, kings think differently. And while Razorbacks fans are anxious to be anointed kings of the basketball world once again, their head coach wants them to cool it down just a bit.

As part of his end of summer workouts press conference Monday, Calipari told the story of Arnold Palmer being asked by a king what he would like as a gift, to which the legendary golfer requested a simple golf club. He waited a few weeks and was disappointed to see a nothing more than a thank you letter had arrive instead of the bejeweled driver he had imagined.

“So he opens the letter, and the letter thanks him,” Calipari said. “So he’s kind of disappointed, and he puts it back in the envelope, and there’s another piece of paper in there, and he takes out the piece of paper, and it’s a deed to a golf club.”

When he took the job and began skirting around the state, much like when Palmer met the king, Calipari had a decent idea of what he was getting into. It was a presence that was hard to ignore.

“I feel the excitement, like, I feel it,” Calipari said. “I feel it in the building. I feel it on the campus. I feel it around the state. I see it. I feel it.”

However, much like Palmer, he hadn’t fully processed how Razorbacks fans think. Much of the state was around for when Arkansas was a king in college basketball in the ’80s and ’90s when Final Fours were plentiful, as were trips to the national title game.

“I was told a couple weeks ago that we sold out season tickets,” Calipari said regarding a schedule that isn’t even complete yet. “People, it’s July. The building seats 20,000. Season tickets gone.”

Considering the slate was clean of coaches, players and even games when he arrived just a few months ago, Calipari is hoping for a nice golf club at best under the circumstances. Meanwhile, Arkansas fans envision domination the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Fayetteville since Nolan Richardson, although Eric Musselman certainly tried.

“What I say to you and all of our fans, I’m as excited as you are, but let’s be patient,” Calipari said. “I’ve already told you, we haven’t played.”

But that’s just not how Arkansas fans are thinking right now. Calipari acknowledges as much.

“First of all, they say, ‘How’s how’s it going?’” Calipari said. “I said, ‘It’s great. We haven’t lost a game yet.’ Everybody’s excited, but be patient because how we do this, it is a process. No staff, no team and no schedule three months ago.”

However, while he’s trying to get Arkansas fans to think a little smaller, behind the scenes, he’s working on getting his newly assembled team to think more like their crazed fans. On the practice courts, the bar is being asked to go much higher.

“Kings think different than we think,” Calipari said. “And I’ve got to get these kids to understand I want you to think big and dream big, but you must work bigger. But, your dreams for yourself and your teams have to be big as you dream bigger. Think bigger.”

HOGS FEED:

• Calipari unveils surprises in exhibition slate, updates schedule progress

• Cauley-Stein explains why it’s John Calipari, not Kentucky blue that brought top recruits

• Analysis of Pittman era recruiting shows why dip in wins, offers hope for near future

• Subscribe and follow us on YouTube
• Follow allHOGS on X and Facebook