Sam Pittman cites improved depth as reason for Arkansas optimism in 2025
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Sam Pittman isn’t worried about depth as he enters into his sixth fall camp as the head coach at Arkansas.
The Razorbacks, coming off a 7-6 season that saw them take a step in the right direction away from the 2023 debacle, begin fall camp on Friday. During a media event with local reporters on Thursday, Pittman echoed comments he’d made at SEC Media Days last month, citing a more talented roster from the top to the bottom as reason for optimism in 2025.
“I really do (feel good about depth). I think there’s a difference in what the public may know, what y’all may know at times, and what we know. So, I really do like our depth,” Sam Pittman said. “I think we’ve had more depth than I’ve had since I’ve been here. Therefore, when you have more depth, you have more competition.
“I really like this team. I like the talent, I like the speed. For one of the few times, we’ve got a big football team at every position. We’re big. Certainly to survive in this league, you have to have some stature, some size to you.”
In the 2025 recruiting class, Pittman and his coaching staff put an emphasis on size and positional versatility. The Razorbacks hammered the transfer portal, bringing in more than 30 transfers to bolster the roster.
“I think it sure makes you feel better going into camp,” he said. “It makes you feel better. You’re not going ‘Oh man, if so and so gets a hurt toe, we’re dead in the water.’ We don’t feel that way at any position. So it makes you feel a lot better.
“I think our guys did a good job of bringing in the right character guys and the right size. I think we put a lot of emphasis on size, bringing in guys that can run, but size. When I first got here, we couldn’t necessarily get the size and speed guys across the board — we went for speed. We didn’t care how big they were, we were trying to get fast. Now we feel like we can get both, so that’s what we did.”
Arkansas hasn’t posted a winning record in SEC play since the 2015 season. This year, the Hogs will be trying to end that slide against one of the toughest schedules in all of college football. BetMGM set the Arkansas win total at just 5.5.
The Razorbacks begin play on Aug. 30 against Alabama A&M.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
