Sam Pittman explains Arkansas' process for selecting team captains

The Arkansas Razorbacks have no shortage of player leadership, naming six captains last week ahead of the 2023 season. Head coach Sam Pittman was asked about his high number of captains on Tuesday, pulling back the curtain on the selection process.

“The team selected them, we don’t have any influence on then,” Pittman said. “We’re not in the locker room with them, we’re not with them every day outside of football. The weight room, how they work, the accountability.”

Arkansas’ coaches and staff don’t have a vote on the team’s captains, with their peers who are alongside them on a daily basis making that choice. But once a handful of players started receiving an abundance of votes, Pittman stepped in.

“So there were a few that were certainly high in votes, a couple, and then the rest of the guys were all about the same and so I decided to go with six this year. I think we’ve gone maybe five one year I think maybe, but it was so close that I didn’t want to have to be the guy who made the decision on one vote here or there whether you couldn’t become a captain or not,” Pittman explained.

There’s no such thing as too much leadership, and the fact the the Razorbacks had six consensus leaders heading into their fourth season under Pittman is a great sign.

“So we decided to go with six, I thought it was really good,” Pittman said. “We have good leadership on our team. And that was basically because of the voting, that’s why we decided because of the closeness of the votes, that’s why we decided to go ahead and go with six.”

To no surprise, the elite quarterback and running back duo of KJ Jefferson and Raheim Sanders were selected as two of the six captains for the Razorbacks. Sanders ranked second in the SEC in rushing yards last season with 1,443 yards on the ground, adding 12 total touchdowns and 271 receiving yards to his stat line. While Jefferson enters his third season as Arkansas starter, establishing himself as one of the nation’s premier dual-threat quarterbacks.

The defensive end duo of Landon Jackson and Trajan Jeffcoat were also both named captains this season, with Jackson just joining the team from LSU last offseason and Jeffcoat joining this offseason from Missouri.

Rounding out the captains are three-year starter on the offensive line Brady Latham and the team’s leading scorer from last season, kicker Cam Little. Both of which have been penciled in as Preseason All-SEC selections.