Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said the two things everyone can control is their effort and their attitude.

Based on that comment, it’s no wonder Sam Pittman is so pleased with what he’s seen from his Razorbacks this offseason.

While Arkansas never had the opportunity to start Pittman’s first spring practice as head coach, the first-year head coach saw enough to know his players are committed to turning things around on The Hill under the guidance of the program’s new coaching and training staff.

During a recent appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” Pittman was asked to share his thoughts on his football team and the work that’s been put in since his arrival in early December.

“I do, I love the staff that we have and I’m very excited about those guys,” Pittman said. “Our team, Paul, they worked extremely hard in the offseason. Now, we went, usually we divide it four and four — the first four concentrating a little bit more on your strength, building bulk, building confidence in a weight room. And then four, teaching them how to run, get them in shape, different things.

“We went five and three, and I contemplated going six and two in the weight room, just so we could continue to build the confidence and the size of our football team.”

Based on his comments there, Pittman must have noticed a considerable difference between the roster he saw in Athens last season to the one he inherited in Fayetteville in terms of size and strength, but the buy-in factor from the Razorbacks was present and that’s something the first-year coach can appreciate considering the program is on its third head coach in just four seasons.

“I love the way they work. They work very hard, their attitude very good,” Pittman continued. “We’re not a very big football team, and we have to get bigger, we have to recruit bigger, but our strength coaches do an outstanding job of trying to, you know, put some bulk, put some weight on our guys. Because to compete in this league, we have to become a bigger more physical football team.”

That’s not something that can be accomplished in a single recruiting class but the Razorback have added six players that weigh 265-pounds or more this offseason via the high school or transfer ranks. If the players continue to grind away and the coaching staff continues to have success in recruiting, it won’t be long before the Razorbacks have the size Pittman knows he needs to win at a high level in the nation’s toughest conference.