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Joining the fight: Sam Pittman becomes the first SEC coach to publicly support #WeWantToPlay movement
Following the Southeastern Conference’s Friday night release of the additional two games added to the schedule for each league team — this move was necessary after the league shifted to a conference-only, 10-game schedule for the 2020 season — if there was one SEC team that you could forgive for not wanting to play the season, it would be Arkansas.
Arkansas is coming off consecutive winless seasons in league play and fired its previous head coach less than two years into his tenure in Fayetteville. Facing an uphill battle to be competitive on the field next season, the SEC handed the Razorbacks two games against the teams perceived by most as the best in the SEC East in Florida and Georgia.
Despite the added difficulty facing the program, Arkansas AD Hunter Yuracheck joined the #WeWantToPlay movement on Monday morning (it should be noted that Yuracheck has a son on the football team, which should indicate his level of confidence that the players in Fayetteville are in the safest environment possible).
Following Yuracheck’s decision to publicly support the player-led movement, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman has also joined the fight.
The way our student athletes have handled these uncertain times is incredible and our staff is so proud of them. As the Head Coach of @RazorbackFB #WeWantToPlay
— Coach Sam Pittman (@CoachSamPittman) August 10, 2020
Pittman has yet to coach the Razorbacks on the field for a single game since taking over for Chad Morris yet this version of Arkansas football already feels like a more competitive program than the one we’ve seen in recent years.
It would be criminal not to let these players actually prove that on the field this fall.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com