When Sam Pittman was previously coaching in Fayetteville, there may not have been a tougher team in the Southeastern Conference than the Razorbacks.

Things have certainly changed between now and then.

That’s a big reason Pittman was hired this offseason and one of the realistic goals this season in Fayetteville will be returning that pride and toughness back to the program and played with intensity week in and week out.

During his latest media availability, Pittman was asked about his plan for bringing that edge back to the Razorbacks.

“Well, first of all, I believe you have to be mentally tough before you can be physically tough,” Pittman commented. “And so you have to work on it, in my opinion, in that order. And the bottom line is, mental toughness you see. In other words, I took a shot, am I going to get up?

“Am I gonna go back to sideline? Am I gonna go to the trainer? Or am I going to go play another play? And if I’m a little tweaked,  certainly if they’re injured, we don’t want to be out there, but if they can practice – we want them to fight through the practice and let us, you know, decide whether they can, you know, go full speed or can they go with individual drills. Things of that nature.”

After his first few practices as head coach in Fayetteville, Pittman is pleased to say his team has shown a level of toughness he demands of his players.

“Before it was, if you’re out, you’re just out, and you don’t practice individual,” Pittman continued. “You don’t practice one-on-one pass pro. You don’t practice backpedaling. And we’re trying to mentally get them out there – okay, at the individual, can you go? Well, the answer’s yes, the answer’s no. We’ve had more yes than no.”

Pittman has had a keen eye on this aspect of his team early and camp and said he recently went out of his way to praise one position group for the toughness they displayed on the practice field.

“Today we didn’t have a whole lot of wide receivers out there. I thought they fought through the practice,” Pittman added. “I’ve made a special announcement after practice about those guys. Because they fought through it.

“We talk about it all the time when we say something we expect it, the kids expect us to be truthful with them and whatever we asked them to do we expect them to do it and certainly whatever we tell them they expect us to do it.”

Photo credit: Arkansas Razorbacks