Razorbacks' Brown Points Out Stark Differences in Coaches

Direct response on difference between Enos, Petrino and recruiting approach by Pittman

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Dec 28, 2023 8:48 AM EST
Original:
Dec 27, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans knew immediately after Sam Pittman turned to Bobby Petrino after dumping Dan Enos before Halloween what they were getting. The new recruits apparently knew it too right after the announcement came earlier this month. He also gave a surprisingly frank impression on recruiting approach.

"The difference with [Petrino] and Dan Enos is when Enos got hired, he had to do a lot of convincing," Bentonville signee CJ Brown told Tye Richardson on The Morning Rush at ESPN Arkansas. "He was telling everybody how good he was. When Bobby Petrino was hired everybody knew how good he was. There's nothing but positive things talked about with Bobby Petrino."

You don't hear that kind of candor every day with players who have been here a while. It's even more rare with kids coming from high school. It's something we would have more from players, but they either don't know what to say or are given talking points and not allowed to be good interviews. It's a disconnect with the fans.

"I had a couple of coaches that played for Bobby Petrino, so I've heard everything there is," Brown said. "I've got some friends that played for him at A&M so, yeah, I know a lot about him."

He's also watched some film with Petrino. It's likely Brown was a high value recruit and one with some urgency after the hiring in early December. The proximity of Bentonville to the football center made it fairly convenient for Brown to come by.

"You watch film with him and you can't do anything but sit there and listen because of how amazing it is and how his mind processes football and offenses in general," Brown said. "That's one of the more amazing things. I'm a really technical person and getting taught by another technical person, that's going to work out really well for me."

It's the same thing Petrino had with Jarrius Wright from Warren, who came to the Hogs at the same time as him in 2008. Wright had a football IQ off the chart and rode it to the NFL. Brown knows all this and is hoping to ride with it.

As for recruiting, he talked about a couple of misses Pittman had with recruits this year. It's not hard to figure out which ones he's talking about, but his impressions of the reasons were pretty clear.

"Arkansas missed on only two recruits this year," Brown said about his impressions. "A lot of that had to do with money conversations. I don't want to speak for coach Pittman, but from what I hear it doesn't sound like he wants to get in a bidding war with a high school athlete that hasn't proved anything."

Brown, like a lot of other cerebral players, watches a lot of film of the other so-called top recruits. He may be as good of an evaluator as some coaches in his impressions of guys. Again, very direct and interesting takes we don't get to hear a lot.

"I just don't see it," Brown said of his impressions on some of them. "You are not dominating at a high school level. Why would somebody get in a bidding war with you? That doesn't make sense to me."

In other words, the talent evaluations and rankings don't mean as much as what a lot of people put into them. Sure, there are going to be a lot predicting greatness and they are exactly correct. Enough, though, are just flat wrong.

"Coaches get caught up a lot in what's around them," Brown said. "I'm not in a hot-bed for athletes, right? That doesn't take away from the fact I can play ball. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get frustrated that I don't get the recognition I deserve, but I don't get caught up in it. Those star rankings don't matter when you get to college. That doesn't matter at all."

Listen to the complete interview. Keep an eye on him because if he plays as well as he interviews, this is going to be something special for fans. In case you're wondering, he can play really well, too. The guess is that 3-star ranking just may not have factored in the IQ factor. It's worked out well for the Hogs in the past.