Who will win the 2024 SEC football championship?
Here’s a look at the USA Today Network’s predicted order of finish for the SEC.
SMG
FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman finds himself as the calm captain of an Arkansas football flight persevering through turbulence all around him.
Before Pittman ever took the stage at the 2024 SEC Media Days Thursday, a number of SEC Network personalities expressed their concerns for the Razorbacks. The ‘SEC This Morning’ show directly asked Pittman if he’s feeling the pressure, and Dari Nowkhah said the head coach is entering a ‘pivotal’ fifth season. Roman Harper wanted Pittman to ‘calm the waters’, while Benjamin Watson wondered if he could give the fans any reason to believe in the program.
Negativity surrounds Arkansas, but Pittman feels that a brief look into his past can provide optimism that a surprise season is on the horizon.
More: Arkansas football’s three most important games in 2024 season
More: USA TODAY Network Preseason All-SEC football team, coach and player of the year
“We went from 4-20 to 9-4,” Pittman said on ‘Sec This Morning’. “We can sure as hell go from 4-8 to 9-4.”
The struggles of last year felt like a shock because the program was trending in the right direction. KJ Jefferson and Rocket Sanders returned off back-to-back winning seasons with bowl victories. The 2023 team couldn’t match that level of play, dropping to 4-8 and raising questions if Pittman has hit his ceiling.
Perhaps, but he certainly hasn’t hit the floor at Arkansas. Fans have quickly forgotten that the Hogs went 2-10 under Chad Morris in 2018 and 2019. That’s the 4-20 mark Pittman referenced, bringing up that record again during his official press conference.
Two years after the 4-20 stretch, Pittman gave Arkansas arguably its signature moment in more than a decade when the Hogs beat Texas 40-21 during a 9-4 season in 2021.
That game may have raised the expectations to a place that just wasn’t sustainable. Pittman is trying to remind those watching SEC Media Days he’s already elevated the Arkansas football team out from the abyss once. He believes he can do it again.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to address the areas we need improvement,” Pittman said. “We know our fans deserve a team that competes a the highest level. We’re committed to making that happen.”
Pittman went on to speak more specifically about what needs to change. Arkansas must be better along the offensive line and find a way to win close games. Pittman lamented the five one-score losses his team suffered in 2023. If two of those games go his way, last season has a much different feel to it.
But hypotheticals won’t save Pittman in 2024. The bumpy flight has everyone questioning whether Pittman is the man to land the plane. Over the next 12 games, Pittman’s passengers will have their answer.
Source link : https://www.swtimes.com/story/sports/college/sec/2024/07/18/why-sam-pittman-believes-he-can-rebuild-arkansas-football-again/74379842007/
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-18 11:31:15
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.