Building Staff, Culture That Lends to Better Mental Health Paying off for Hogs

Large number of elite recruits, words of current Razorbacks showing how much change matters

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Apr 14, 2023 11:58 AM EDT
Original:
Apr 14, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When Arkansas lines up on the field at Razorback Stadium Saturday afternoon to allow fans to watch its glorified practice, there will be an unusually high number of elite level recruits watching also.

Arkansas isn't coming off a national championship run or even a good season. If anything, it was a painful end to the regular season that resulted in a lot of turmoil.

However, out of pain comes growth, which is exactly why the ratio of top level recruits on campus this week has been much higher than in years past. When this coaching staff was first assembled, the initial review was that head coach Sam Pittman had taken a huge step in evolving the Razorback program into a place better equipped to handle modern athletes.

Around five to six years ago, there was a dramatic shift within teenagers that rendered old school coaches incapable of understanding and reaching the players who began populating the college ranks once the 2020s rolled around. Staffs that were younger in age, had more permanent connections to school-aged children in their lives, and also featured a higher level of diversity were going to build success while staffs that didn't adapt would fall behind.

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, when presented with a chance to reshape his entire staff, took the opportunity to assemble a group of coaches more suited for the times to help build a bridge between today's athletes and his life-long experience on staffs more authoritarian coaching practices.

It is a move that has not only opened the program up to more recruits, it's paid off with players who are already suiting up.

"I love the atmosphere in Arkansas," Missouri transfer Trajan Jeffcoat said. "The coaching staff, Coach Deke Adams, Coach T-Will, Coach Pitt, they welcomed me with open arms. I love the environment here. They cared about me as a person rather than a player. I always wanted that, so I really felt comfortable with the environment here. That was very different from all of my other calls to every other school.

"They actually cared about my well-being. I really, really, really, really enjoyed hearing that from them."

When first trying to help Arkansas fans understand why the moves Pittman made were encouraging for the future of the program, running backs coach Jimmy Smith was the example provided. He was the one coach who could not be allowed to walk because of his ability to relate to current athletes and to serve as the model for future hires and a catalyst to help other coaches adapt.

Here's how it was described on allHogs back in December:

"That brings us back to Smith. He was a high school coach not that long ago.

He's not exactly that experienced when it comes to recruiting and planning against college defenses. Yet, when you talk to recruits, especially right after they arrive on campus, regardless of which side of the ball they play on, Smith's name is always mentioned.

Words like "relatable" and "cares" come up a lot.

One dynamic that has evolved that people who don't work with large numbers of teenagers on a regular basis might not realize is the extreme change that has taken place over the last four to five years.

For pretty much the entire existence of the sport, the young men coming through were pretty much the same from year to year. There were a few minor differences, but not much.

Therefore, coaching was coaching. It was a lot like baking the same cake over and over.

However, around 2017 or so, a massive change happened in the upcoming group of teenagers. It was so extreme that it's almost as if a different subspecies of humanity had risen.

Their brains work in dramatically different ways that can keep them on a non-stop emotional overdrive.

Teachers and coaches retired by the droves as they struggled to relate or be able to manage this new crop of young men and women.

Those who found success were those willing to listen endlessly and ride out the non-stop wave of rising and falling emotions.

They found a way to maneuver through the never-ending minefield of eggshells that could trigger emotional breakdowns, sending countless teenagers running from the room in tears, leading to calls for administrators and SROs to comb the campus looking for the student in question before things could get worse.

Coaches who relied on yelling or just expecting athletes to do what they're told watched as a mass exodus of players left their rosters. Even those who were simply stern when they felt the moment called for it struggled to manage the room.

The ability to handle even the most basic adversity became a fading trait.

This new generation of athlete has begun to hit campus. Smith was a head coach in high school when this change started to take place.

That has put him in position to have the tools and understanding for managing this current crop of young men that older coaches don't have yet, and may never have."

Pittman may not have understood how valuable someone who can wrap his mind around modern athletes is on the field, but he places a high price on recruiting and could easily tell he needed more Jimmy Smiths out on the road. So, with that profile in mind, he set about finding coaches who fit the bill.

He brought in Deke Adams, Marcus Woodson, Dan Enos and Travis Williams, all of whom either have school-aged children or had children in school when the effects of technology, social media and youth society movements started changing how young men and women function and process the world.

That made for a team of men who could relate and knew how to shape the culture in such a way as to make it not only more appealing to the current crop of upcoming players, but more conducive to their success.

"I'm always going to bring what I can to help this defense," Jeffcoat said. "I enjoy the defense, how they're very encouraging to everybody, so that helps the confidence level for everyone. I really appreciate that from everybody."

But building on that success doesn't solely rely on putting together a coaching staff that can relate. Arkansas fans have to do their part also.

The community surrounding a university has a much larger impact that most fans realize. How the athletes are treated both in the real world and online makes a huge difference.

The most valuable thing fans can do is get to know the athletes as humans and not just as a jersey with a number and treat them accordingly as the Bible says guests should be treated. So far, the citizens of Fayetteville have managed to do just that.

"The city of Fayetteville is pretty cool," Jeffcoat said. "It's way better than Columbia, Missouri where I was at prior. I really enjoy being here – the atmosphere – everyone is very loving. Everyone is very respectful as well."

This weekend will be a chance for Arkansas fans to continue that trend. The Razorback spring game will kick off the Saturday portion of Wooo Pig Weekend at noon in Razorback Stadium.

Just like on game days in the fall, HogTown – featuring live music, food trucks and more – will be open prior to the game in Lot 44 near Gate 14 on the north side of the stadium. Admission to the spring football game and HogTown will each be free.