Sam Pittman discusses how Quincey McAdoo elevated through depth chart

Arkansas started off the season with the worst pass defense in the country, and was allowing well over 300 yards a game through the air. So, some radical changes needed to be made and Hogs head coach Sam Pittman didn’t hesitate to get experimental with the secondary. In an effort to try and find someone who could defend the pass in the back end, Pittman had true freshman receiver Quincey McAdoo switch over to the defensive side — where he’s actually come on strong for the Razorbacks!

McAdoo has now appeared in four games as a defensive back and is already making plays. He has three tackles, a pass breakup and an interception to his name in 2022, when he started out the season as a true freshman wideout.

McAdoo’s emergence meant less playing time for some more established pieces in the back end. According to Sam Pittman, though, he just couldn’t trust those guys to get the job done.

“To me, the reason is because whomever’s out on the field, you trust them that they know what they’re going to do. And the guy who hasn’t shown he knows what he’s going to do, you’re afraid to put him out there. But the guy who’s out there who showed you he knows what to do, but he physically can’t do it, you can’t ignore that part of it either.”

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“What I mean, yeah, I know I can make all the calls. I can do all this. But I can’t do the job. I think coaches, a lot of times, we become comfortable with the guys who know what to do and not all the time are doing it, you know what I mean.”

Essentially, he’s saying that there are good players who know what to do and how to do it, but may not be as athletically capable as a guy like McAdoo, who’s an excellent athlete. Even if McAdoo is a little behind on how to play the position perfectly, his physical attributes more than help make up for it.

Pittman continued:

“So, with McAdoo, I just said I want him to play corner. I don’t care, I just want him to play. And if you don’t want to start him that’s fine. But I want him playing. Because I felt like, no matter what his mentality is, if I’m in man-to-man, this guy right here, he’s not supposed to catch a ball, I don’t want him to. And that was enough for me, because I knew he was talented.”

Talent over everything, says Sam Pittman. Who cares if he knows the position or has ever played it, McAdoo is talented enough to make it work regardless.

“And I think his confidence level is going to be okay. People are going to catch a pass on him, people are gonna catch a touchdown on him eventually, and all those things. But I know this: he’s tough, he’s smart, he loves being an Arkansas Razorback, he’s got the athletic tools, he’s long. I think he’s going to be a super corner at some point in his career. He had a nice start.”