Pittman Has Learned His Portal Lesson, Now He Wants Hog Fans to Do the Same

Change in mindset has helped Arkansas Razorbacks coach sleep easier when transfer season comes along now

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Dec 23, 2023 10:14 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For Arkansas head football coach Sam Pittman, it's easy to admit he didn't handle NIL well when the drastic change first hit college sports, but he has gotten better. However, he says, there's still a drastic learning curve for Razorback fans.

"You just jump in there and get amongst them," Pittman said in an interview with country music star Justin Moore during an interview on 103.7 "The Buzz" that aired Friday. "I mean, that's what you do. You can't fight it. It's here. You fight it, you lose. And so it's very, very difficult for everybody."

Early on, it was especially hard for Pittman. It was such a change for how the college game ingrained in him had always been that he saw those who embraced it blow right past him.

"You know, it's just like during COVID," Pittman said. "It's whoever handled handled that situation the best is who gonna win, you know. It's the same way now. It's not fair-fair because there's different budgets for different schools. Different people got more money than others, so that, that doesn't make it fair.

"But, you know, you look at my buddy Willie Fritz over there at Tulane and I know they didn't have a whole bunch, but he's kicking butt. So, you just have to coach a little bit better and get the kids that are proud and want to want to wear the Hog and want to play for the state. And so, is it difficult? Yes."

One thing Pittman wants Razorback fans to understand is college football has always been transactional, so technically, nothing has changed. There are just more decisions that can now be made.

"College sports has always been a business," Pittman said. "It has. It's a people business, but it's now when somebody comes in and they say they're transferring, it's it's not quite as hard to take as what it was two years ago. Your mind is saying this is a business decision, because, let's face the facts, there's two types of transfers – ones that need to and ones you don't want to."

While most fans would assume this would frustrate coaches, it was the one aspect of the portal Pittman was able to get on board with right away. He thought it allowed potential positive outcomes for both the athlete and the program.

"I thought the portal was a great idea because it would allow you, if you made somewhat of a mistake in recruiting, I'm talking about talent-wise, maybe this young man couldn't play in the SEC," Pittman said. "It gave him the opportunity to transfer and play in another conference or go down a level of football and play the game that he's been loving to play. That's certainly not what's happening, but I thought the idea of it was good."

Unfortunately, when it comes to their Razorbacks, fans don't always agree. Pittman hopes it's something on which they will become more educated.

"You can't take it personally when somebody walks out," Pittman said. "Now, the fans do. The fans take everything personally. You get a kid in the portal who walked on that, you know, nobody knows the conversation that goes on between me and the young man. If they come in and they they say 'Coach, I'm never never gonna be able to play here. Can you help me out in a portal?' And I say 'Yeah, absolutely. I'll do whatever you want me to help.' But then it goes out, 'Oh, Arkansas, got another guy in the portal.'

"Well, I mean, when's the last time he got on the field? That'd be never, so he needs to go. If he wants to play, he needs to leave somewhere and go play the game and we'll certainly help him, but all those things have changed."

Perhaps his biggest adjustment has come when it's time to have exit meetings. No matter how things have gone, eventually it's going to come down to three very big letters – N-I-L.

"You can start [the meeting] academically, you can start technique, you can start you gotta gain weight, you got to lose weight, but, it's going to eventually come back to 'How's my NIL looking and, and that's where it's at right now," Pittman said. "And I'm older, so I didn't handle it as well as I needed to when it was a few years back, but I feel like I'm doing a better job there."

Even when it's a player he doesn't want to see leave, Pittman said he's grown over the years, developing a positive mindset that helps him process the situation better for both him and the program.

"I think I've matured a little bit more in my mind," Pittman said. "If we lose somebody in the portal, they feel like that's best for them, then we just we need to go replace and we're in the replacement business. We're trying to replace better than what we lost."