Translating Pittmanese Hints at Rough Week for Hogs

Arkansas Razorback head coach seems fed up with specific people, actions or lack thereof heading into showdown with BYU Cougars

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Sep 11, 2023 7:14 PM EDT

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When Arkansas coach Sam Pittman stepped up to the podium Monday, he laid out a bit of blunt honesty as it pertains to his team's most recent performance.

There were a lot of nuggets in what he had to say. Unfortunately, for a lot of people watching at home, some of it was a little lost. There was lingo the average fan may not know and specific lines that might have sailed right by. So, let's go through that opening statement and fill in the gaps so everyone is on the same page as to what was actually said.

"Here's what I saw. Our fits up front have to get better. Everything's getting popped out to safeties and we're not making any of them miss either. We've gotta make safeties miss."

So what Pittman is talking about here is how the offensive line is handling defensive linemen and linebackers plugging the gaps. Defenders want to "fit" the gaps, essentially creating a solid wall that takes a play designed to go inside and force it outside where the blocking isn't designed to spring a big play. There players who may not normally get involved on a run inside the tackles can help make the stop.

In this case, what Arkansas has seen is its running backs forced into situations where safeties are able to come in and clean things up. So, Pittman's frustration here is two-fold. The linemen have to prevent the gaps from getting closed off, forcing the running lane further outside, and in situations where the running backs face safeties when it does happen, there has to be something in the arsenal to win a one-on-one battle to pick up extra yards. That can be a burst of speed, hard cut, stiff-arm or simple power, but this vaunted running back stable has to find a way to exert its will upon defensive backs and not go down so easily.

"This week, it's all about edges, it's about displacing linemen when we're in double teams. The only time we truly displaced their d-line is at the end of the game, the last six minutes. Those things have got to become more consistent. I think Beaux [Limer] has to become a more vocal leader. He's gotta go. I think having Brady [Latham] back will help us, but we have to get better there. We're addressing it. We addressed it last week. It may not be just a quick fix."

Let's start with the term displaced. In old school football lingo, it's driving guys back and putting them on their backsides if possible. It appears Pittman is seeing a lot of stalemates or even the offensive line getting pushed back when it shouldn't be happening. This is the very reason he put so much emphasis on the team working hard to get stronger in the offseason.

However, there's a lot more to moving defensive linemen backward that pure strength. There are obviously a lot of technique issues to be resolved. Everything from footwork, proper use of hands, contact speed needed to punch the other guy first, to proper bend in various parts of the body, all play a role in making that happen.

Another thing that apparently isn't happening is representation of the coaches while on the field. The voice of the coach has to come through with the leaders during the game, and from an offensive line standpoint, that voice is supposed to be Limmer. Direct translation from Pittmanese to English is Limmer needs to lay into some of his fellow linemen and make any corrections he can between plays.

He obviously can't see what everyone else is doing, but he knows what they should be doing and the issues specific players have had throughout the week. There has to be immediate accountability and it has to be firm. That doesn't mean he has to curse players or necessarily scream at them. However, he has to command the group and not let anything slide.

"We weren't particularly throwing the ball well either. We weren't catching it. At some point Dan and I had a conversation about we're going to win the game, let's see if we can't try to get established, get our run game going. We tried several different things. We found out some things that we can do and found out some things that we can't do. How we can take the ball the last six minutes and displace the line of scrimmage like we did, and not do it at the beginning, we've got to figure all that kind of stuff out."

There's a lot to take in from this one. First off, Pittman was frustrated with the passing game. He later referenced receivers dropping the ball twice on third down as drive killers that kept the score from being what a lot of people envisioned before the game. He also seems frustrated the offensive line and run game are getting so much spotlight when there's plenty of heat to be taken on by the other half of the offensive game plan.

Since things weren't going well in the passing game and he felt confident Arkansas was going to win, Pittman issued an order to use the time to get answers in the running game. The answers he got don't appear to be something Razorback fans want to hear.

Notice Pittman said they found out some things they can do and some things they can't do. Choice of words are important. Typically, you never want to say there are things your players can't do. Words like "struggle with" or "need to work on" or "needs improvement" are used. The usual order of operations when creating growth is to identify what works well and build off it while improving the areas that need help.

However, Pittman's frustration with the line has presented itself in a more definitive response. There are things he believes this line is not going to be able to do. If there is something team members can't do, time isn't wasted on that aspect of developing the game. If the basketball team were full of guys who were 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-2 with four-inch verticals, there would be no need to invest precious time on anything related to dunking. No need to spend hours perfecting where to position alley-oop passes.

Pittman has said there are things his linemen can't do. That means there's a portion of the arsenal he would like to execute that is going to be scrapped until linemen who can perform the tasks needed can be found in the portal or recruiting. It's a demoralizing thing to admit for a coach who values versatility in offensive line play so deeply.

"I think where we're going in order of how we're playing our games is gonna help us with a new coordinator, and there were some mistakes ya know. New coordinator, continued to try to figure out exactly what we do well, what we can do well, but you have to do something well, and I think our backs have gotta run harder."

Again, two major points in this statement.
1) These first two games were more or less glorified scrimmages where the play calling was more about seeing certain situations for specific players or position groups than it was about calling the perfect game. It was more important for Enos and Pittman to learn everything possible about what the players do well in certain circumstances than it was about trying to make fans happy with the final margin. Getting an extra seven points on Saturday by executing something the coaches already know will work may mean losing 14 points in conference play because they didn't get an extra look at something that needs work.

2) Pittman is disappointed in how everyone from quarterback KJ Jefferson to the waterboy conducted themselves against Kent State. When he says "but you have to do something well," there's a feeling the room wasn't exactly comfortable after the game or Monday morning. The fact he threw in the comment about the running backs needing to run harder as the immediate thought after voicing the most extreme of frustrations indicates some guys better get it together this week or Isaiah Augustave might be the new starting tailback sooner than later. He was by far the most impressive back from an effort standpoint against Western Carolina.

Final Thought

There was obviously much more said than the opening comments. However, Pittman said more than enough to get his point across right out the gate. He said earlier in the year that he couldn't afford to get hung up on wanting to be everyone's friend and not hurt people's feelings when it comes to what's best for the team. His demeanor at the podium made it clear that change in philosophy is going to get tested this week.

It will be interesting to see how his team responds Saturday evening. Either the team gets the message and steps up with a huge performance, or everyone proves not capable of handling a little tough love, sulks and folds. In the modern era of college football, it's a 50-50 shot either one happens.

Saturday will be the pivot point for the rest of the year. If this team responds in a positive manner, then look out. It could be a long season for the rest of the schedule. If the body language and effort shows players with no heart and hurt feelings, then it will be a long season for Razorback fans.