Sam Pittman opens up on volume of roster turnover at Arkansas

Few college football programs had as much roster turnover since the end of the 2022 season as Arkansas has, with 39 players coming or going via the transfer portal. As head coach Sam Pittman discussed it recently, it’s not all bad.

Arkansas had 27 players head out via the portal, with 11 coming in. That sort of roster attrition could hamstring a team, were it not somewhat desired by the head coach.

“I think it’s pretty well known I thought we needed a change. And strength wise, I thought we needed to do some different things and that’s not negative against anybody at all. It’s just sometimes change is good,” Pittman said. “And I think these new coaches — what we learned from it, I guess on the bottom line is we needed to communicate with our kids more often. We need to see them in settings other than just football. Which we’ve done. And try to foster a relationship with these guys more than just on the field. I think we’ll have guys enters the portal and other teams will through the years, certainly hope that it’s not as many.”

While a largely overhauled roster presents the challenge of new faces and building bonds, Pittman explained that NCAA rules allow for more offseason interaction now. Plus, being around the players more is part of the change he’s hoping to create.

“That’s a lot of change but they do give you time. And the way the rules are now, you can certainly get out with the kids and see your coaches coaching them in these walks and things of that nature that we’re doing. I think we’ll be fine,” Pittman said. “As you well know, we had a fall season with a first-time head coach and no practice. So I think we’ll be fine. I’m really excited where we are right now as far as relationship building with our kids.”