Not Making Bowl Was Huge Benefit for Pittman

Odds of remaining Arkansas Razorbacks football coach went up dramatically by avoid Duke's Mayo Bowl

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Dec 28, 2023 11:32 AM EST
Original:
Dec 28, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – There's a general wisdom out there that making a bowl game is always beneficial to the teams that get to make the trip. However, in this case, not ending up in the Duke's Mayo Bowl this season might have been the best thing for Sam Pittman and the 2024 Razorback football team.

Squeezing out a .500 record for a spot in the Liberty Bowl certainly didn't do anything to make Arkansas better last year. All it did was serve as a pacifier for a Razorback fan base flustered by how the season ended and the mass exodus in the transfer portal.

Finishing 6-7 doesn't land many more recruits than 4-8, and a bowl game loss would have killed the good feelings built up by the hire of Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator. In all likelihood, had Arkansas gone to a low tier bowl, that recruiting class might not have shaped up as well as it did in the end.

Pittman wasn't hampered by preparations for a meaningless game. He was free to put in time recruiting the Razorbacks he wants to stick around. There was time to sort through the NIL budget and develop a well thought out cohesive plan.

He was able to get Petrino out into as many homes as possible and fully dive into who the player profiles with him while devising an approach once in the home that would bring things to a successful conclusion. While other coaches sorted out who they were going to beg to stay so there's enough players left to field a team for a bowl, Pittman was able to use their unavailability to his advantage while working the transfer portal.

If a recruit came around, there was no need to cut down one-on-one time to tend to other head coaching duties. Pittman was free to show all the personal attention needed to make a player feel at home and edge out coaches who had games that split their focus.

So what if the Razorbacks would have had a few more practices. The team going through them wouldn't be the team, nor the offensive scheme Arkansas will employ next season. Petrino's offense takes too much time to install on the fly and Guiton was working his way out the door for a new opportunity, so he wouldn't have been fully invested in the flawed offense of this past season.

Instead, players are able to get an early jump on the playbook that matters. They're learning the formations and patterns of Petrino and blocking schemes and expectations of offensive line coach Eric Mateos instead of rehashing the ways of Enos and former o-line coach Cody Kennedy.

Any time spent in the film room with Petrino instead of worrying about the North Carolina defense is a benefit. Even greater is the advantage gained by being able to bring in stronger roster additions for those who remain on the team

So, while it was surely fun times trying to figure out whether there would be concessions and toilets for last year's Liberty Bowl, Razorback fans should appreciate the opportunity to pass up an exhibition game that should no longer count on teams' records outside of the playoffs for better talent and preparation. That's sure to please their palates next fall more than any slathering of mayonnaise ever could.