SEC Shorts, SEC Roll Call worlds collide, giving Hogs fans special college preview

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's officially football season in Arkansas. The arrival of the season premieres of "SEC Shorts" and "SEC Roll Call" deem it so.

However, sandwiched in the middle, unbeknownst to much of the Southeastern Conference footprint, was a moment of epic proportions. It's on the level of a DC and Marvel crossover event, only much bigger when it comes to the South in the fall.

On an offshoot podcast known as "Hoot'n & Holler'n," Matt Mitchell, creator of "SEC Roll Call," hosted "SEC Shorts" co-creators Robert Clay and Josh Snead as part of a college football preview. It was certainly worth the hour-long watch, along with fighting through the struggles Snead had with his less than reliable internet connection.

Here are some of the highlights and any direct or indirect mentions of the Razorbacks.

Sam Pittman is well liked among SEC comedy content creators

It's pretty clear that Sam Pittman is well liked as a person among the SEC media. Well, that carries over into the SEC comedy world as well.

Over the years, these comedy teams have treated the Hogs well as a whole. Perhaps the most Pittman friendly sketch is a. piece that is impossible to find these days because it's one of the few SEC Shorts owned by ESPN.

It's based on the Indiana Jones movie where they were in search of the Holy Grail. Representatives from teams that recently needed to find new coaches enter this fire lit cave that is lined with photos of various possible coaching candidates resting on ledges and in holes along the walls.

Each team reaches for coaches placed in more prominent positions, but when Arkansas comes in, there's a long look around the room before several are pushed aside, revealing an obscure offensive line coach tucked away way back in a hole. It's Sam Pittman, and from the moment his picture is chosen, highlights of great moments in his tenure so far begin playing, giving a beaten Razorbacks fan base hope for the future.

It was truly one of their best works and it's a shame they can't include it in their regular collections. There's, of course, the one after Pittman led the upset of Texas where the Longhorns try to steal their contract with the SEC only to find out they're stuck there with the Hogs.

Of course, it was Mitchell who coined the phrase "Take 'em down to Hawg City" during the Pittman era as part of a play on the infamous Brock Lesnar series of suplexes where people say he "Took 'em to Suplex City!"

Despite being the person doing the interviewing, it was Mitchell who best summed up feelings toward the Arkansas coach.

"That one [part of the Netflix documentary episode] is all around Sam Pittman, which just confirmed, like, I just love Sam Pittman even more," Mitchell said. "That's just the most like, that's everybody's Paw Paw."

Is it OK to take shots at average to struggling SEC programs?

One topic that came up that pertains to the Razorbacks a little more than Arkansas fans might like is how far is it OK to go when a team hits a rough spot. Both shows rely on viewers and also would like to keep in the good graces of coaches in most instances, so deciding the line to walk can be a bit hard.

However, they've learned it's possible to stray to far in the area of caution. Fans in desperate need of the therapy both programs provide after a tough week, don't want their team's struggles pushed under a rug.

They want it addressed in a way that can help them laugh it off a little bit, and when that doesn't happen, they reach out and let creators know.

"I will say is as bad as it gets in the SEC you still got, like, Mississippi State fans that will take the time to comment and remind me that they suck, and then just leave," Mitchell said.

Clay agreed the experience is similar for their videos.

"I feel like the worst they are, yeah, they want you [to make fun of them], Clay said. "Like, 'Hey, you didn't make fun of us this week. What gives?' Like they they want to be told they suck this year."

Which SEC coaches have caused trouble over the years?

While Pittman has found a nice balance of being able to keep things simpatico with basketball head coach John Calipari, things weren't as smooth over in Kentucky. There was a point in time where the football team was overshadowing the Wildcats' basketball team and that had head coach Mark Stoops on edge because he had needs he wanted met, but had to tread carefully because he didn't want to create a war with Calipari.

Well, one particular sketch "SEC Shorts" put together definitely highlighted the disparity between the programs' success and showed how things really should have been based in-season success.

"Mark Stoops got mad at us for like, a very pro Kentucky football video," Clay said. "This was back when we would make stuff for SEC Network. And the joke was the basketball team was having to, like, do car washes and sell, like cookies to raise money to buy jerseys, because Kentucky football was good, so no one cared about basketball anymore.

"Very tastefully done, and [Stoops] got very upset about that, and tried to, like, pull it off the air and stuff. It was very dramatic. But luckily, you know, SEC Network, the journalistic bastion of integrity they are were like, 'No, we're gonna run it. We can't let coaches dictate the content,' unless it's the Paul Finebaum Show."

Swaggerbilt (Vandy Pimp) was almost played by a girl

Perhaps the biggest breakout character of the 2024 season was the rise of the Vandy Pimp. He's a happy-go-lucky dancing machine who often wanders around the back of scenes enjoying life in his crown and cape with his signature cane.

He was a character the team tried to literally bury at one point, but the Commodores found the ultimate reason to drag him back out on a night where Arkansas was poised to finally seize its own episode.

Mizzou, Auburn try to bury the Vandy Pimp for good

Rise of the Vandy Pimp

However, this character, who eventually received an invite to make appearances at the South Carolina game for Vanderbilt, almost went an entirely different direction thanks to Clay.

"Originally, the first video we were doing it, I asked our actress, Hannah Kuykendall, like, 'Hey, can you pimp walk?' and she was just like, 'Absolutely not!" Clay said.

Kuykendall was already loaded with beloved recurring characters such as Hope and the Loss Claims lady, so it might have been a bit much, especially considering where some of the sketches eventually went. There was doubt as to whether it should be a character for a moment.

"Then you're like, 'Oh, man, this might be inappropriate,'" Clay said. "So I text Josh, Hey, man, I don't want to force you to do this or anything, but can you just responded with like an emoji of a guy, like this full swag. He was good to go from the beginning."

For Snead, it led to a magical afternoon in Nashville, even if he was asked to hide when things turned south in a loss to the Gamecocks.

"After Vandy scored a touchdown one time we we jumped up into the student section, and a guy held me up on his shoulders, and I was like, jumping through the student section, and everybody was like, going nuts and stuff," Snead said. "Before the game, though, I got to come out of the tunnel with, like, pyrotechnics and smoke, and they played this music for me and everything, and it just, it was like, right before the team came out, the Vandy and the mascot was dressed like I was and everything like it was. It was awesome."

Why are programs like Arkansas blessed with comedic football content, but not other conferences?

"You know this as well as anybody, it is just, it's hard," Clay said. "The turnaround time is just, like, you have to really be dedicated to it. And I also don't think the Big Ten is just not as deep. I mean, you've got, like, probably huge fan bases for Michigan and Ohio State. But, I mean, let's be real, like Purdue fans aren't going to be lining up to watch viral content about themselves."

Mitchell agreed there were problems with the bottom two-thirds of the conference, not just in interest, but in making the big games appealing.

"I feel like every week your marquee match-ups are just blowouts," Mitchell said. "It's just Ohio State or Michigan year before last, just beating up on everybody, or now Indiana. I guess Indiana fans cared a little bit last year, and that ended very abruptly after that Notre Dame game. But also, too, it's not just the SEC.

Both groups also agreed there's just naturally been a large concentration of online creator talent in the Birmingham area in regard to college football. Part of this, according to them, is because that area is always among the highest markets for college football television viewership, even if it's a Tuesday night and there are two teams no one in Birmingham has ever heard of playing.