If Silver Dollar City ever needed to tap into college football for a roller coaster theme, it wouldn’t need to look far for inspiration. No program has packed more ups and downs into these last few weeks than Arkansas football.
After sailing through a brief honeymoon period with two blowout wins to start the season, the Razorbacks then crashed into barrier reefs at Mississippi and Memphis. When No. 22 Notre Dame came to town and laid down a 56-13 demolition of the Razorbacks, enough was enough, and head coach Sam Pittman got the hook less than 24 hours later.
Arkansas’ defensive woes were on full display, as the Fighting Irish cut through them like a hot knife through butter, to the tune of 641 total yards. Entering a merciful bye week, the Hogs rank a disastrous 113th nationally in scoring defense and 119th in total defense.
It’s little wonder why interim head coach Bobby Petrino swiftly fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and co-DC Marcus Woodson first thing Monday morning. Assistant d-line coach Chris Wilson was promoted to interim coordinator, and reinforcements may be on the way on that side of the ball.
Through five weeks of the season, the disparity between Arkansas’ offensive and defensive units has been stark.
Petrino’s platoon hasn’t been perfect, by any means. Quarterback Taylen Green has thrown five interceptions in five games, and the Hogs fumbled the ball on their final drive against both the Rebels and Tigers. Arkansas scored only seven points in the second half against Mississippi and three against Memphis.
Still, the offense has made a much better mark than the defense. The Razorbacks rank 10th in the country in yards per game and 29th in points per game.
As the temperature of Pittman’s seat rose throughout the month, so did the tensions throughout the entire program and fanbase. Fans were laying into coaches and players, and parents were taking to Facebook to yell at media personnel, all presaged his downfall.
With tempers running high, it seems like the disparities between Arkansas’ offense and defense went much deeper than the box score. That’s according to former Razorback quarterback Landon Leach, who played four years under Houston Nutt in the 2000s.
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Leach said he’s looking forward to seeing if the team can improve under Petrino’s leadership after the embarrassing start to the season.
“You heard him say we’re going back to the basics, and I think that those are the things that we’re missing with this team,” Leach said on 103.7 The Buzz’s DriveTimeSports on Tuesday. “It’s like these guys don’t understand football.”
From blowing basic coverage concepts to bad tackling technique and effort, it certainly didn’t look like it. After allowing 42 points in the first half, Leach said he was told the team reached its breaking point midgame.
“Definitely the team had let go of the rope. I heard some things were pretty heated in the locker room,” he added. “Offense and defense going back and forth at each other, some players going at some coaches. I knew that was probably the end [for Pittman]. He had completely lost the team when that happened.”
It’s easy to write that off as tempers flaring in the middle of a beatdown, which is honestly a good sign of life from the team. As a fan, you want the players to be pissed off when they’re losing like that. (Maybe not to the point of going at each other’s throats, however.)
But this apparent butting of heads didn’t come out of nowhere. Indeed, multiple sources told Best of Arkansas Sports that Petrino and Williams got into a dust-up, initially involving a defensive back seemingly getting too physical with a receiver, during an August practice. The infighting between the offense and defense essentially remained unresolved from that point forward.
Even ignoring the abysmal stats, it now makes even more sense why one of Petrino’s first orders of business as interim head coach was to clean house on the defensive staff, starting with Williams. It also explains a notable detail from Petrino’s “first” press conference as the (temporary) Head Hog:
“We all have to take this arrow in the forehead. We didn’t win Saturday. We didn’t perform like we needed to offensively; we didn’t do it defensively,” Petrino said Monday. “One of the issues we’ve had is the separation of offense and defense. We need to be able to come together as one unit.”
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That message of unity was especially important with multiple Arkansas defenders expressing their displeasure with the dismissals of Williams, Woodson and Adams.
“The number one thing is you have to get used to change. Your whole life there’s going to be change,” Petrino said of his message to the team. “Our attitude and positivity in how we handle that will determine how quickly we improve.”
At 64 years old, Petrino might not bring the same fire to the Head Hog role as he did 13 years ago, but the grizzled veteran made sure to lay down the law when he addressed the full team for the first time on Monday.
“It was more of a ‘he talks, we listen’ dynamic,” safety Caleb Wooden said on 103.7 The Buzz’s The Zone on Wednesday. “The practice style is definitely different, it’s more of an NFL approach. We’re lifting more, too. Instead of twice a week it’s three times a week.”
An interim head coaching gig is one of the hardest jobs in all of sports. Convincing guys to buy in when the season seems lost is an immense challenge – especially with the potentially greener grass of the transfer portal surely on the minds of many.
A 30-day transfer window opened for Arkansas players the day after Pittman was fired. Petrino said he hasn’t had any players approach him wanting to transfer – yet – though there are 20 players still eligible to redshirt if they elect to sit out.
Arkansas still has trips to Tennessee, LSU and Texas on its plate, alongside hosting of Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State and Missouri. Add in a flurry of decommitments and the widespread doubt in the team’s ability to win against that loaded schedule, and the deck is truly stacked against Petrino’s Hogs.
The last thing a team facing such an uphill climb needs is more locker room squabbling. Petrino slamming his fist down on the staff reset button, alongside Wooden’s comments, indicate Arkansas may just be on the way back to establishing a winning culture in times of tumult.
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Landon Leach talks Pittman, Petrino and Arkansas at the 32:30 mark:
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