Sam Pittman on Addison Nichols, Doneiko Slaughter: 'I'm glad they're here'
Addison Nichols has started all five Arkansas games this season at center, anchoring at an offensive line that has helped the Razorbacks rank 21st nationally in rushing offense this season, averaging 212 yards per game.
On the other side of the ball, Doneiko Slaughter has 27 tackles, third most for the Hogs on defense. He has two tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and three pass breakups.
Both are Tennessee transfers and both this week are preparing to face their old team, with the fourth-ranked Vols (4-0, 1-0 SEC) making the trip to Arkansas (3-2, 1-1) for Saturday night’s 7:30 Eastern Time start (TV: ABC) at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
‘Those two guys coming from Tennessee have helped our program’
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, a former Tennessee assistant coach himself, said Monday that the impact both former Vols have made has been evident.
“Any time you got a guy that’s starting, he’s the best you got,” Pittman, who coached Tennessee’s offensive line in 2012, said during his weekly press conference. “You feel like that’s the best you have, especially if you’re not in a rotation. So with Nichols coming in here and starting for us has been really good for us.
“And then with Doneiko, he’s played really, really good ball for us. And so those two guys coming from Tennessee have helped our program. I’m glad they’re here.”
Nichols was a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class when he signed with Tennessee out of Greater Atlanta Christian School. Slaughter was a three-star prospect in 2020, picking the Vols out of Roswell High School in Georgia.
Slaughter appeared in 43 games at Tennessee from 2020-2023, recording 87 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and one interception. He defended seven passes and had one fumble recovery.
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Nichols played in 12 games as a backup offensive lineman last season and two as a freshman in 2022, when he sat out most of the season as a redshirt.
Doneiko Slaughter last season: 32 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack in 10 games with Vols
Pittman admitted that both players will likely have some extra energy and emotion facing their previous team, but that it usually doesn’t stick around for long.
“I think there’s something to some of that,” Pittman said. “I also think that lasts about four or five plays and then you get hit in the head and somebody cuts you or somebody knocks hell out of you. And then at that point it’s about preparation and what you’re made of in the heart and how hard you want to go. So I do think there’s something.”
There’s something to it during the week leading up to the game, too.
“I think that has to do with preparation,” Pittman said. “I think whenever you’re wanting to do something so bad, I don’t know that that feeling that you have right before the game’s going to help you play a lot better.
“But I do know that feeling helps you prepare, which then you’ll play better. So I would assume they’d have that this week.”
