Kurt Anderson cleaning up Pittman's mess

[Biggus Piggus]

remember the whole "we don't need 2-a-days" bit?

The statement alone is proof enough of how little you pay attention to details.

[Pig in the Pokey]

The statement alone is proof enough of how little you pay attention to details.

Why is that? I remember it clearly and it was almost solely based on the Oline , and to some extent the Dline, being "ready" and that they "didnt need" the 2-adays. That was Pittman and Coach B saying that. Do you REALLY think we would have lost to Toledo if our Oline hadn't played so obviously NOT ready? Could 2-adays have helped? Not sure you could argue that they wouldn't have changed anything, but I doubt you'd say that. Only way it would have been worse than what happened would have been 2 or 3 more broken feet practicing on the Practice Field of Broken Feet all those extra times. And, yeah, I get they couldn't all be in pads. #pansyfootballnowadays

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Do you REALLY think we would have lost to Toledo if our Oline hadn't played so obviously NOT ready? Could 2-adays have helped? Not sure you could argue that they wouldn't have changed anything, but I doubt you'd say that.

Toledo was the ugliest game that we had for RZ Points all season. 4 trips, 3 points.

Two-A-Days are usually for getting more reps, conditioning and developing mental toughness, but if they weren't practicing to counter smaller D-Linemen that were going to shoot and stunt and try to get the O-Line going sideways, it wouldn't have mattered if they would have had Three-A-Days.

[Pork Twain]

Sam was way overrated.

No, not even close.  Just because he lost his fire while he was here and is gone now, does not change the fact that he is one of the tops.

[PorkRinds]

No, not even close.  Just because he lost his fire while he was here and is gone now, does not change the fact that he is one of the tops.

I was a big Pittman fan.  But his results here were not those of one of the best in the country.  We had good lines.  Our recruiting was decent, but he left a serious hole in our depth chart on OL.  While he did get some highly rated guys, he didn't get nearly ENOUGH of them.  Maybe he is one of "the best in the business", but it's hard to prove that from his work here. 

[Pork Twain]

I was a big Pittman fan.  But his results here were not those of one of the best in the country.  We had good lines.  Our recruiting was decent, but he left a serious hole in our depth chart on OL.  While he did get some highly rated guys, he didn't get nearly ENOUGH of them.  Maybe he is one of "the best in the business", but it's hard to prove that from his work here. 

I agree that the results were not always great here, but every time a coach leaves here he gets slammed for being awful and I do not think that is accurate in most cases.  Not being a good fit is usually more accurate.

[greenie]

I agree that the results were not always great here, but every time a coach leaves here he gets slammed for being awful and I do not think that is accurate in most cases.  Not being a good fit is usually more accurate.

I can't buy into any conversation that Pittman isn't a very good o-line coach.  We had solid o-line performance on his watch, he recruited those positions as well as anyone has in the recent past, and his players seemed to really like playing for him.  However, it sure seems like he "mailed it in" the last year (particularly in recruiting), for whatever reason.  No hard feelings from me.  Anderson has made a good impression so far, so I'm optimistic.

[PorkRinds]

I can't buy into any conversation that Pittman isn't a very good o-line coach.  We had solid o-line performance on his watch, he recruited those positions as well as anyone has in the recent past, and his players seemed to really like playing for him.  However, it sure seems like he "mailed it in" the last year (particularly in recruiting), for whatever reason.  No hard feelings from me.  Anderson has made a good impression so far, so I'm optimistic.

Yeah I have some hard feelings for a guy that "mailed it in" to the detriment of our team. I'm not going to say he's terrible, but his performance here wasn't anything above average.  We are just used to below average, so in comparison it looks great!

[Kevin]

getting skipper & Kirkland his first year, then ragnow the second year, put him in the great recruiter category.

I think swanson made him look better than he was as a coach

[idochog]

Good coach who quit giving max effort when Cheney was let go.

[BearsBisonsBoars]

Just name me one Assistant coach that has left in the last three years that hogville has good words about? Yet The narrative is that CBB hires great assistants according to here.....

CBB is a great talent evaluator and recruiting is great at Arkansas according to Hogville(I actually agree).
"Insert ex-assistant coach name" was a horrible recruiter its his fault we are weak in that area in recruits.


These are ironic conundrums that you guys completely ignore. And you go on and on in an infinite loop with them.

I liked Ash. 2013 was the way it was because of Petrino and Smiley. I knew it would be that way even before Bielema was hired. Ash is a good DC. He just had turnips that year.

Robb inherited some good bones from what Ash began, and made them great in 2014. We'll see how that goes going forward.

[DeltaBoy]

Towards the end, yes.  And I also now believe that he was a big part of our kicking game woes because Anderson came in and completely revamped our FG blocking.  I think Pittman is a stud, but only when he's happy and he wasn't happy here towards the end evidently.  When he left I didn't think we'd be able to replace him and upgrade like we usually do.  But at this point, if Pittman was going to keep it up the way he had been since Chaney left, we needed the change and Anderson is an upgrade.  I'm not claiming he's a better coach, that remains to be seen.  But he's more committed and happier to be here.

I agree Pitt went to seed on us.

[nwahogfan1]

Toledo was the ugliest game that we had for RZ Points all season. 4 trips, 3 points.

Two-A-Days are usually for getting more reps, conditioning and developing mental toughness, but if they weren't practicing to counter smaller D-Linemen that were going to shoot and stunt and try to get the O-Line going sideways, it wouldn't have mattered if they would have had Three-A-Days.

My response to the stunting DL is why were we not able to counter with some big plays.  When the stunt goes the wrong way it usually leaves defenses out of position and open to big plays.   I don't remember us getting any in that game.  I lay the blame on CBB and the entire offensive coaching staff and not just Pittman for not getting the team ready mentally.  We should have been more ready to combat that style of Defense and we were not.   

[BirmingHam]

I agree Pitt went to seed on us.

One of the better analogies.

[Biggus Piggus]

Why is that? I remember it clearly and it was almost solely based on the Oline , and to some extent the Dline, being "ready" and that they "didnt need" the 2-adays. That was Pittman and Coach B saying that. Do you REALLY think we would have lost to Toledo if our Oline hadn't played so obviously NOT ready? Could 2-adays have helped? Not sure you could argue that they wouldn't have changed anything, but I doubt you'd say that. Only way it would have been worse than what happened would have been 2 or 3 more broken feet practicing on the Practice Field of Broken Feet all those extra times. And, yeah, I get they couldn't all be in pads. #pansyfootballnowadays

Guess you missed the part about how Arkansas practiced the maximum allowable time regardless of not using two-a-days.

And your claim about "almost solely based on" the lines = 100% horseshit.

[Biggus Piggus]

I can't buy into any conversation that Pittman isn't a very good o-line coach.  We had solid o-line performance on his watch, he recruited those positions as well as anyone has in the recent past, and his players seemed to really like playing for him.  However, it sure seems like he "mailed it in" the last year (particularly in recruiting), for whatever reason.  No hard feelings from me.  Anderson has made a good impression so far, so I'm optimistic.

I was unimpressed with his overall recruiting performance. It is possible that Pittman fit better with Chaney than with Enos, technique wise, who knows. But Pittman clearly is a good teacher.

Arkansas's Oline recruiting after Pittman seems really good, but let's wait till signing day before celebrating.

[mhuff]

I can't buy into any conversation that Pittman isn't a very good o-line coach.  We had solid o-line performance on his watch, he recruited those positions as well as anyone has in the recent past, and his players seemed to really like playing for him.  However, it sure seems like he "mailed it in" the last year (particularly in recruiting), for whatever reason.  No hard feelings from me.  Anderson has made a good impression so far, so I'm optimistic.

[Oklahawg]

Anderson has landed commits from early targets. That means something. Might be that we are wanting him to build some confidence on the recruiting trail. Might be that we are identifying elite talent and locking it up before others find it. Might be that we are now going to chase the elite of the elite with the final slots. Regardless, I am guardedly optimistic about Anderson's work with the OL. The vibe on the street seems to be positive.

Now, to see who shows up for the spring game.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

I'm just happy he's signing bonafide OT with length.

Bielema earned his rep by taking huge OT prospects and putting them inside when they were a couple notches below other guys they had on the team and brought in behind them.

They kept saying we were building from the interior line out, if so how are we in such a spot at OG? the guy from Hawaii being about as big a 4* bust as you could ever see didn't help, Pittman built himself and us a very small margin of error and this is what Anderson is cleaning up.

With 3 really good developmental OT in the fold we can really swing for the fences. Call me crazy but I think Adcock could certainly play some next season as long as he stays healthy and continues on his upward arc.

As well as we're doing in Louisiana, it'd be nice to see us pull some of the big boys out of there too and also get a better footing in Mississippi.  The U. of A has a real gem on it's hands being located in NWA, I know they sell it well, but they don't sell the diversity here good enough. It's hard for 16 and 17 yr old kids to look at what they want out of life 25 years down the road when football is over but that's something that every player and recruit will face and I think our state offers a lot.  Just point at Scotty Thurman or Keith Jackson if you want to show a big time recruit how well you'll be taken care of by the crazies in this state.

[WizardofhOgZ]

I was unimpressed with his overall recruiting performance. It is possible that Pittman fit better with Chaney than with Enos, technique wise, who knows. But Pittman clearly is a good teacher.

Arkansas's Oline recruiting after Pittman seems really good, but let's wait till signing day before celebrating.

Which brings up the question - that we'll never know the answer to - would Sam have offered/accepted commitments from the kids we've already got in the fold for 2017, or would he be chasing various 4-5 stars in all-or-none fashion?  Just something to think about.  Guess the best approximation of an answer we can get is compare our OL to Georgia's in 3 years or so (if he sticks around there that long).

[MuskogeeHogFan]

My response to the stunting DL is why were we not able to counter with some big plays.  When the stunt goes the wrong way it usually leaves defenses out of position and open to big plays.   I don't remember us getting any in that game.  I lay the blame on CBB and the entire offensive coaching staff and not just Pittman for not getting the team ready mentally.  We should have been more ready to combat that style of Defense and we were not.   

I don't know how Pittman was coaching the O-Line and I will submit the mandatory disclaimer here that he has probably forgotten more about line play than I have ever known. All I know is that when I played if we had linemen slanting to counter our blocking schemes (based on our down and distance/field position/offensive set tendencies) we were taught to block "area" and just try to take them out of (or across the hole) the play. At that point it is up to the RB to have the vision to find a hole or seam and run to it. It didn't always work and that is why a lot of teams that aren't big enough to play head up, read and move to the play, often choose to slant and stunt to confuse the O-Line and RB's and take away the designated hole. There isn't any doubt that to a certain degree, it is a roll of the dice, a gamble. Sometimes it pays off, other times, a defense should get burned by being out of position.

But it wasn't the run game that burned them, it was the passing game. Problem was, we weren't effective in the RZ when we got there and it wasn't until the Auburn game that we really began to score more effectively from outside the opponents 20 yard line (37 of 54 points scored).

[nwahogfan1]

Why is that? I remember it clearly and it was almost solely based on the Oline , and to some extent the Dline, being "ready" and that they "didnt need" the 2-adays. That was Pittman and Coach B saying that. Do you REALLY think we would have lost to Toledo if our Oline hadn't played so obviously NOT ready? Could 2-adays have helped? Not sure you could argue that they wouldn't have changed anything, but I doubt you'd say that. Only way it would have been worse than what happened would have been 2 or 3 more broken feet practicing on the Practice Field of Broken Feet all those extra times. And, yeah, I get they couldn't all be in pads. #pansyfootballnowadays

I am not sure if we shouldn't put most of the blame on our Offensive coaches to being out coached and under prepared for Toledo's stunting and blitzing schemes on defense.    We got out coached and were not ready.  I hope CBB learned a valuable lesson and get his team on both sides of the ball ready.  He is in charge.

[PorkRinds]

Why is that? I remember it clearly and it was almost solely based on the Oline , and to some extent the Dline, being "ready" and that they "didnt need" the 2-adays. That was Pittman and Coach B saying that. Do you REALLY think we would have lost to Toledo if our Oline hadn't played so obviously NOT ready? Could 2-adays have helped? Not sure you could argue that they wouldn't have changed anything, but I doubt you'd say that. Only way it would have been worse than what happened would have been 2 or 3 more broken feet practicing on the Practice Field of Broken Feet all those extra times. And, yeah, I get they couldn't all be in pads. #pansyfootballnowadays

We used all the allotted practice time. Just not with two a days. We had one longer practice instead. Not sure how that made a huge difference.

[TNhawgfan]

No, not even close.  Just because he lost his fire while he was here and is gone now, does not change the fact that he is one of the tops.

If you only put in the time doing your job when you are happy, then you are not one of the best at your job. Many days lots of us go into a job situation we hate and give it our absolute best because we are professionals and we get paid to do it. If Sam started slacking in recruiting and teaching because he wasn't happy with Coach and/or upset his best friend was gone, he should have looked at that huge check he was getting from the university and still gave it 100%. There is no way you could convince me he wasn't slacking in OL recruiting at the end of his tenure here