Arkansas coach Sam Pittman met with the media Monday afternoon ahead of leaving for the Texas Bowl and said more seniors coming back.
Pool glad to have ‘one of closest friends’ in Morgan coming back
Razorbacks linebacker Bumper Pool talked with the media Monday about how glad he was to get the news Grant Morgan was returning.
Cunningham ‘felt it was in my best interest’ to return to Hogs for another year
Razorbacks offensive lineman Myron Cunningham talked with the media Monday about the process on his decision to come back.
Morgan’s return biggest one for Razorbacks, says Pig Trail Nation’s Orange
Alyssa Orange of Pig Trail Nation feels Grant Morgan deciding to come back for another year the biggest of the older guys returning.
Smith says Texas Bowl matchup with TCU is ‘a huge deal’ for Razorbacks
Running back Trelon Smith has played in NRG Stadium before in a high school playoff game and the bowl game is important to season.
Kern adds name to list of seniors coming back for another season
Add tight end Blake Kern to the growing list of seniors coming back for another year with the program Sam Pittman is starting to build at Arkansas.
Kern, apparently not a big social media guy, let his decision become known when tight ends coach Jon Cooper sent out a tweet Monday morning.
Big Kern! Coming back for another year to represent Lamar, and the state of Arkansas! Proud of what you’ve done, can’t wait to see what you can accomplish! Let’s get to work! #WPS ? pic.twitter.com/z2SBnwbPnN
— Jon Cooper (@Jcoop50) December 28, 2020
Kern will be 24 years old when next season kicks off and the Lamar native started as a walk-on and had his most playing time and success this past season.
Kern started five of 10 games and played more than twice as many snaps as Hudson Henry this past season after playing mostly as a blocker in 2019 and sparingly before that.
He made his first career reception in the opener this season against Georgia and ended the regular season with 20 catches for 201 yards. That total includes touchdowns against Tennessee and Missouri.
Kern’s return to the Razorbacks in 2021 will provide some much needed depth at a position that is pretty young and thin.
Who will play quarterback biggest story line heading into next season
Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy thinks the battle for the starting quarterback job for the Hogs will be big, plus returning players helping.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – THE BOYS ARE BACK
Tye & Tommy on seniors coming back, Heisman finalists, Tom Murphy and more!
Warren next in parade of players announcing another senior year
De’Vion Warren’s announcement Monday morning that he’s coming back to Arkansas was expected and it was the fourth day in a row for a player to say he’s back.
Blessed to play one more year with my teammates and coaches! Best is yet to come 1️⃣0️⃣ @RazorbackFB @coachjstepp pic.twitter.com/jKSBoFEbfc
— devion (@devionwarren) December 28, 2020
The recruiting pitch to the returning players is obviously things will be better with more of them taking advantage of the NCAA’s eligibility relief granted in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Warren had started to become more involved in the offense of Kendal Briles that needs speed, speed, speed and Warren, a native of Ouachita Parish in Monroe, La., has that in bunches.
We had seen it mostly on special teams for three years, though.
After hauling in one pass for 28 yards in the opener against Georgia, Warren stepped up when Treylon Burks went down with an injury.
He caught four passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in the win at Mississippi State and then had five receptions for 95 yards and a pair of scores in the near upset win at Auburn. That earned him a spot in the starting lineup even after Burks returned.
A torn ACL on a kickoff return against Florida ended Warren’s season. In seven games, he caught 15 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns, while also adding 35 yards on four carries.
Now he’s giving wide receivers coach Justin Stepp a deeply talented and experienced room and Briles has multiple options with playmakers to do his thing.
The Hogs are starting preparations for the Texas Bowl on Thursday night in Houston against TCU, but more announcements could be coming from other players after Grant Morgan, Myron Cunningham and Ty Clary announced over the weekend they are returning.
Hogs will have 18 players wearing graduate patches in bowl game
A total of 18 Arkansas football players are eligible to wear the SEC Graduation Patch in the Mercari Texas Bowl, signifying that they have earned their college degrees.
They are part of over 130 Southeastern Conference student-athletes eligible to wear the patch in postseason bowl games.
The SEC introduced the patch in 2016 season for student-athletes in all sports who have already earned their degree, but have not exhausted their eligibility.
The SEC logo patch on their uniforms is replaced with a special patch with the word “Graduate” underneath the conference logo. The patch is similar in design for all conference schools, but it is school-specific in color.
Razorbacks eligible to wear the patch in the Mercari Texas Bowl:
• Ty Clary
• Shane Clenin
• Myron Cunningham
• Deon Edwards
• Feleipe Franks
• Dorian Gerald
• Elias Hale
• T.J. Hammonds
• Hayden Henry
• Xavier Kelly
• Blake Kern
• Jack Lindsey
• Jonathan Marshall
• Grant Morgan
• Tyson Morris
• A.J. Reed
• Micahh Smith
• Dalton Wagner
The Razorbacks will play their first bowl game since 2016 on Thursday, Dec. 31, against TCU in the Mercari Texas Bowl in Houston. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and air on ESPN.
You can also listen to the game online HERE at HitThatLine.com or on the radio with ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Clary announces he’s coming back and Pittman probably not finished
Arkansas’ offensive line will return intact for 2021 with Ty Clary’s announcement Sunday evening he’ll be back and Sam Pittman’s recruiting starting to pay off.
Make no mistake about it, Pittman is recruiting the seniors he wants to come back just as hard as he’s chasing high school players and it’s starting to show results.
Honored for the chance to play one more year for this State, my brothers, and my Coaches! Unfinished Business! @CoachSamPittman @coachbraddavis pic.twitter.com/HF9XUYNBZD
— Ty Clary (@ty_clary) December 28, 2020
The message from players announcing they’re coming back for another senior year makes it clear the Razorbacks have bought into what Pittman is building.
Clary’s return means the offensive line will come back with all the players they had this past season, barring any injuries, of course. Myron Cunningham announced his return Saturday.
There will likely be more. The coaches already know who’s coming back and who’s not. The announcements are coming via Twitter and they are well-planned with graphics done by the graphics people in the athletic department.
It’s another indication of how Pittman has locked down the information flow out of the football program similar to what you see out of the better programs. There aren’t a lot of leaks that end up being made public until Pittman wants it out there.
All we know now is there won’t be any more announcements from offensive linemen because they are ALL coming back and this will be a very experienced unit.
The guess is that if they didn’t know, it’s been pointed out to them how many players Pittman puts into the NFL.
And they haven’t had a lot of quality coaching in the Hogs’ offensive line the last few years. The equivalent of an NFL graduate assistant and another guy who was simply in over his head sort of obscured the talent level.
Make no mistake about it, Brad Davis is the offensive line coach, but Pittman is around and after decades of developing into one of the top line coaches in college football, the boss keeps an eye on that position group.
Clary started as a blueshirt 2-star recruit out of Fayetteville High in 2017 that Bret Bielema took at the end of the cycle.
He ended up starting in 2017 at right guard and center, then all of 2018 (giving up just three sacks) and was the only offensive line starter in 2019 that didn’t give up a sack.
That’s more remarkable than you probably think. Over a two-year period where everybody but the cheerleaders hit the Hogs’ quarterbacks in games, Clary did not give up a single sack.
He missed time early in 2020 but ended up starting at right guard and graded the highest of anybody on the line.
Pittman wanted that back and now he’s got every contributor back on the position group that rewards experience and cohesiveness more than any other on the field.
There will likely be more announcements this week as the Hogs get ready for a Texas Bowl matchup with TCU on Thursday night in Houston.
Announcements from defensive lineman Jonathan Marshall, quarterback Feleipe Franks and wide receiver De’Vion Warren will probably be coming this week … one way or the other.
Pittman is proving to be as good at recruiting the players he inherited to stay on board for another year after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to everybody, including seniors, due to the covid-19 pandemic.
For bigger results quicker, the older guys may be more important than the high school players.
