Sam Pittman explains OC change, why it didn't work out with Dan Enos: 'We lost our spirit on offense'

Arkansas made a mid-season coordinator change, dumping Dan Enos and promoting Kenny Guiton to interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Head coach Sam Pittman made the move for one simple reason.

“We lost our spirit on offense and we’ve got to get it back,” Pittman said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “I think Kenny has a great rapport with the kids and he’s very knowledgeable, and I think the kids believe in him, and that’ll make us play better right then and there.

“We obviously have to block them better and do things like that, but we also have to have the enthusiasm to do that and I think that’s what he’s bringing to our offensive staff.”

Guiton is in his third season as an Arkansas assistant, so he’s familiar with everything the Razorbacks have been doing throughout the last few years.

Importantly, that should make the transition relatively seamless.

“I think Kenny’s ready. He obviously knows the offense,” Pittman said. “He’s more knowledgeable than even what I thought in the run game. Obviously I’ve been in every meeting. I stepped out of the one that I was in now to talk to y’all, but I’ll go right back to it, so I’m trying to help in every aspect I can in the running game.

“But he’s ready for it. More importantly than that, he believes that he’s ready for it and the players believe that he’s ready for it. So I think it’s been, I go back to Auburn last year and (Carnell) ‘Cadillac’ (Williams) going and him becoming the head coach and they beat A&M and they beat Western Kentucky, they played Mississippi State real tough, who was a really fine team on the road.”

Sam Pittman on why Dan Enos didn’t work

In addition to his comments on Guiton and his readiness for the offensive coordinator job, Pittman also touched on why he thought things didn’t work out with Dan Enos.

He didn’t have a firm reason.

“I can’t really put my finger on it, because he’s a hell of a coach, a good man and has had great success in his career,” Pittman said. “I really don’t know. Maybe we aren’t a pocket protection team. We ran it, I don’t know, probably averaged eight to 10 dropbacks per game in the previous three years, maybe a little bit more when Feleipe Franks was here. It’s just our quarterback wasn’t great at just sitting in the pocket. Our wideouts weren’t getting open. We couldn’t protect. A lot of things.”

Beyond the Xs and Os, Pittman simply felt like the Arkansas offense had lost its mojo. That was reason enough for change.

“Maybe that’s part of it, but I just think everything was hard for us,” Pittman said. “Everything was very difficult. Three yards was difficult. I don’t know exactly why because Dan’s a fine coach. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I do know that we lost our spirit. How we did that I really can’t put a finger on that, but we’ve got to get it back.”