Sam Pittman: Georgia transfer Latavious Brini starting to show true form

After getting through the first chunk of spring practice, Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman shared his first impressions of new Georgia transfer Latavious Brini. Pittman describes the veteran defensive back as a big safety/nickel, which the Hogs need for their frequently used nickel and dime packages.

“I think with Brini, he played the nickel at Georgia and when we recruited him, he wanted the opportunity to play safety, for us it would be boundary safety,” Pittman said last week. “There’s a bit of a learning curve … I think over the last couple of practices, we’ve seen the Brini that we thought we recruited and that we knew when we were at Georgia. I think we’ll move him to nickel as well or get some type of combo role out there.”

The Razorbacks have several defensive stars returning from the 2021 season in the secondary room, including safety Jalen Catalon, but lost starting corner Montaric Brown to the NFL Draft and several more to the transfer portal. The Hogs also added former LSU Tigers cornerback Dwight McGlothern from the portal this offseason.

Brini, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, is from Miami Gardens, Fla. He is coming off his most productive year to date with the Bulldogs. He played in 13 games for Georgia in 2021, starting 11. Brini finished with 38 total tackles and eight pass breakups, both career-highs. He ended his Georgia career with 50 total tackles (33 solo stops) and one interception.

Pittman discusses how he’s built roster to compete in SEC

Sam Pittman has made it pretty clear how he is going to continue building his roster — by adding size at every single position. Pittman, a former offensive line coach, wants a bigger, stronger team to compete within the SEC.

“We’ve been pretty good on offensive line as far as getting some size,” Pittman said. “The backs that we have seem to be a pretty good size. Our quarterback, probably the biggest one in the SEC. I like long receivers. You look out there with two in Warren (Thompson) and (Jadon) Haselwood. Malik (Hornsby), when he’s out there – there’s been some big, tall receivers.

Pittman then moved over to the defensive, specifically talking about two players they got through the transfer portal. Former Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Drew Sanders and LSU Tigers edge rusher Landon Jackson are both good additions that bring size.

“We went into the portal and we tried to build in that aspect as well. You know, Drew Sanders is a big linebacker and Landon Jackson, he’s a big man too as a defensive end. (Latavious) Brini is a big nickel, big safety.”

Although he’s added seven new players, Pittman plans to monitor the transfer portal after the spring as well.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.