New Offense Stalled for Part of Hogs' Practice Tuesday

Razorbacks' Coach Sam Pittman called out offense early in workouts

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Aug 16, 2023 12:50 PM EDT
Original:
Aug 15, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The brief part of Tuesday's practice seen by the media didn't look particularly sharp and the ineffectiveness didn't go unnoticed by coach Sam Pittman.

"This is the worst we've looked all camp!" Pittman yelled at one point.
The quarterbacks especially looked off. There's no idea if Pittman got their attention and they finished strong or not. We don't get to hang around for long in these practices nowadays. Whether it was the quarterbacks being off target or receivers running the wrong routes is inconclusive.

It is a more complicated offense under new offensive coordinator Dan Enos. We've gotten enough bits and pieces to find out he's introducing some aspects of Mike Leach's Air Raid offense along with offensive line coach Cody Kennedy's explanation that was probably different that what a lot of Razorbacks fans were expecting.

"Did you watch the Super Bowl? You had the Chiefs and the Eagles. If that’s pro style, then 'yes,'" Kennedy said.

Too many folks are still under the impression the phrase "pro style offense" means the quarterback is under center with two running backs and occasionally a single back. The quarterback may be under center, but more often that not he will be lined up for the snap. That's not even new, despite what a lot of people think. Red Hickey came up with that in the 1950's with the San Francisco 49ers because he didn't have good enough blockers to allow quarterbacks Y.A. Title and Frankie Albert to pass.

Nothing is original in football. Remember, Darrell Royal and Emory Bellard didn't invent the wishbone. That was stolen from a high school football coach in Fort Worth, given a fancy name and used to win games in college. Although, neither appear to have said anything to discourage the notion they invented it.

Enos has adapted his offense to a pro style system. More and more it's looking like that has evolved from the college game because nobody is developing drop-back quarterbacks in college these days. Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes didn't do a lot of that in the Super Bowl last year.

It is more complicated than what Kendal Briles did the last three years. A lot more decision-making is going to be placed on the quarterbacks' shoulders this year and how well they are able to implement that and if the offensive line can give them enough time are the biggest questions on offense.

That was the original purpose of Kennedy's press conference today. He's the one that has to figure out the new faces in the offensive line. How well he accomplishes that (and he's naturally confident they'll have the answers in a couple of weeks) will be known in November.