Razorback Coordinators Ranked on Opposite Ends of Offseason Poll
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Sam Pittman added Bobby Petrino to the Arkansas staff as offensive coordinator in November, it was met with plenty of cheers and limited jeers. The only tears coming from anybody's eyes were men who were jubilant that the Razorbacks' prodigal son had returned home.
Pittman's hiring of Petrino was enough for SEC Unfiltered's Chris Phillips to rank the Razorbacks' former head coach as the top coordinator in the SEC. Ahead of the likes of other proven assistants like Alabama's Ryan Grubb, Georgia's Mike Bobo and Texas &M's Collin Klein.
Following a season where he turned around a stagnant Texas A&M offense, Petrino received a phone call with an invitation to reinvigorate the passion of Razorback football. The offensive mastermind will be paid $1.35 million to fix an Arkansas offense which ranked near the bottom in offensive ingenuity in 2023.
Arkansas was one of the worst offenses at creating big plays in 2023, finishing with 30 plays of 20+ yards, ranking No. 109 and worst in the SEC. In Petrino's lone season in College Station, the Aggies saw their offense produce 20 more plays of 20+ yards and that came while using three starting quarterbacks due to injury.
Petrino's influence pulled the Aggies offense out of the gutter and into a Top 5 unit in 2023. Texas A&M ranked No. 5 in scoring offense with 33 points per game and No. 5 in passing offense with 271 yards through the air.
For the job Razorback defensive coordinator Travis Williams did to improve his unit, he received little to no respect for a job well done in 2023. Williams ranks as the No. 15 coordinator behind the likes of South Carolina's Clayton White and Oklahoma's Zac Alley. A pair of new hires also rank ahead of Williams in Missouri's Corey Batoon and Mississippi State's Coleman Hutzler.
The Razorback defense gave up 27 points per game which was a three point improvement from 2022. Its run defense gave up 154 yards, good for No. 10 in the SEC including 20 yard improvement. Arkansas' largest improvement was pass defense finishing as the No. 4 unit in the conference surrendering 202 yards per game. The secondary cut off nearly 100 yards from 2022 when they averaged a SEC worst 294 yards per outing.
In Arkansas' first season under Williams defensive guidance, the Razorbacks finished No. 8 in total defense with 357 yards per game. His defense finished 2023 ranked ahead of LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss which were all programs ranked ahead of Williams in this particular poll.
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