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As college football world turns, moving targets involve Pittman’s staff

Justin Stepp has reportedly decided to go to South Carolina and Hogs apparently have his replacement ready, now Barry Odom is Texas target.

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Sam Pittman won three games his first season at Arkansas (probably could have won three other games for a variety of reasons) and that was done with a coaching staff that apparently some folks want to raid.

First, wide receivers coach Justin Stepp is apparently going to South Carolina. That probably involves a chance to return home more than anything else … those things happen.

Now there are reports Razorbacks defensive coordinator Barry Odom is a target for Steve Sarkisian at Texas.

In a whirlwind of activity over the weekend, the Longhorns fired Tom Herman and hired Sarkisian, Alabama’s offensive coordinator, in just a few hours. That means they probably had the second deal done before they pulled the trigger on paying off nearly $30 million of buyouts to unload a coaching staff.

As an aside, if you think that is a big number at the University of Texas, you really don’t know much about how things work at Austin. They have boosters that can write the check by themselves and never blink.

Odom is one name mentioned for the job after Will Muschamp said he wasn’t interested. He was previously the defensive coordinator under Mack Brown, so he might not be interested in doing that again after being a head coach at two schools in the SEC.

Why would Odom be interested in listening (as multiple reports indicate he would) is simply because, well, it’s Texas. Hog fans hate to hear that, but it is a blue-blood program in the world of college football square in the middle of one of the largest hot beds of top-level talent in the country every year. Most years it would be THE biggest.

Citing sources close to Odom, Horns247.com said it will not be easy for the Longhorns to land him. They reported his family enjoys living in Northwest Arkansas and his sons are playing football here.

Colorado State wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton is being reported as the replacement for Stepp and there are also reports offensive coordinator Kendal Briles may be drawing interest, but that has not been confirmed.

Odom reportedly was drawing interest from Ed Orgeron at LSU for the defensive coordinator position there after they paid Bo Pellini about $5 million to leave after one season, but the Texas talk has dimmed that dramatically.

At Arkansas, Odom is making $1.3 million a year after getting a $100,000 pay raise after turning down a defensive coordinator role at another SEC school before he ever coached a game here.

In a year that’s seen revenues drop dramatically, how much deeper the Hogs can dig to get Odom a raise is anybody’s guess.

But the interest is there, which means those outside of Arkansas have taken notice of what he accomplished in just one season.

Now it’s up to Pittman’s recruiting skills to keep not just players on the roster, but his top-level assistant coaches as well.

He hasn’t really had key players enter the transfer portal that’s seeing some fairly big names at big-time programs come in. Oklahoma wide receiver Charleston Rambo, who has started 24 games over the last two seasons, put his name in to leave Monday.

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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
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole Miss11:00 AM
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Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechTBD
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Sat, Nov 30@ MissouriTBD
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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.