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After seeing one practice difference clear with Pittman running show

Just watching a single practice you can see the difference in Pittman’s steady confidence compared to what we’ve seen around here for awhile.

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For a media starving to see football players wearing just helmets there wasn’t any pad-popping, drive blocking defenders or tackling going on the practice field Wednesday.

There was Sam Pittman (finally!) in charge of coaching a Razorbacks football team on a practice field doing more than jumping up and down.

Even from watching a single practice and how Pittman moved from one position group to another you get the idea what we’ve been hearing from players privately and in public interviews the last several months.

One player after another has told us “we’ve got his back,” referring to Pittman.

The difference was stark. Pittman walked with a quiet confidence and you would never know the man hadn’t even coached a real practice until this week, much less never even coached a game as a head coach.

The last coach looked like he couldn’t figure out what direction to go. Before that it was hard to tell with all the waddling around the field.

“Whenever he sees guys not upholding to the standard, he’s the first one to call someone out, kind of get that juice flowing,”junior linebacker Bumper Pool said Monday, “and I think that’s big.”

Players tend to listen and respond. That’s what we’ve heard about Pittman for years, saw for a few years when he was offensive line coach from 2013-15 and witnessed on the highest stage of college football at Georgia the last few years.

“They push us to limits this team didn’t know it could go to,” senior running back Rakeem Boyd said Monday. “That’s what I love about Pittman because if you’re jogging and not moving he doesn’t care who you are. It’s ‘Let’s go!'”

It’s a different energy level. At least in the only viewing we’ve had it seemed to be consistent and not the type that comes and goes quickly doing more harm than good.

Frank Broyles used to preach about that a lot.

“Pittman keeps everybody’s energy amped up around here,” Boyd said. “It’s a positive environment. We’ve been working really hard for the man. He’s doing his job.”

That’s what we’ve heard since Pittman first got the job. He spends more time talking about making the players here better than treading water until he could find enough players to figure out how to win a league game.

Pittman is working to win an SEC game his first season, in no small part because he hasn’t really got a choice with only league teams on the schedule.

The players aren’t making bold claims.

Just what appears to be a quiet confidence.

“Whatever he puts up ahead of us we go kill it and knock it out no matter if we’re dead tired and don’t want to do it,” Boyd said of Pittman. “We still get it done. It doesn’t matter how hard the task is.”

For fans desperate for any kind of success that could be a positive tone.

At least they’re hoping so.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.