Next 47 Days Will Say Lot How College Football Views Hogs

Pittman doing all he can to keep big time NIL programs from viewing his team as their developmental program

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Dec 3, 2022 11:35 AM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Late Friday night, former Arkansas assistant Jeff Traylor put his UTSA Roadrunners in position to finish 12-2 for a second consecutive season after knocking off North Texas in the Conference USA championship game.

However, according to former Razorback coach Houston Nutt, instead of spending the night celebrating, Traylor needs to immediately begin recruiting his own star quarterback, Frank Harris.

"You know what the biggest job Coach Traylor is gonna have as soon as that game is over?" Nutt asked the "Morning Mayhem" crew on 1037 The Buzz in Little Rock earlier this week. "He's got to make sure he's with his quarterback. Keep your eye on this one.

"Frank Harris, he's probably not ready for the pros, but guess what, there will be some school come poach this guy, because Frank Harris, if you watch him, he can be a big time player for somebody and help another program go to another level. [Traylor's] got to fend off all these guys to keep his guy at home. That will be his biggest job. It's just a whole different world right now.

Harris finished 32-of-37 for 341 yards and four touchdowns and is indeed a target who would warrant NIL tampering by Power Five teams. However, one team we know for sure won't be going after Harris is Arkansas.

The Hogs got the news Friday that quarterback KJ Jefferson will come back for his senior season with the Razorbacks.

However, the uneasiness felt by Arkansas fans as visions of Jefferson going to the NFL or transferring to another school danced in their heads highlights the fact Arkansas has to recruit its own players at the end of each season just like the UTSAs of the world to have a good shot at future success.

It's one thing to get players to come to Arkansas, but once the Razorbacks develop them, the coaching staff has to do all it can to keep them. The last thing Pittman wants is to put in all of that effort only to find himself running a feeder school for schools with more NIL money.

Arkansas is the SEC equivalent to Pittsburgh in the ACC. Both had all world receivers in Treylon Burks and Jordan Addison respectively two years ago – two receivers who are once in a generation players at those type schools.

While Razorback fans struggled with what's next this time last year after Burks declared for the NFL draft, Pittsburgh fans thought they might be positioned as a contender for the ACC championship with Addison back for 2022.

However, Panthers fans were in for a huge surprise with summer on the horizon.

Nutt, who was in a foursome with Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi at the Chik-fil-a charity golf tournament last May 1, was caught off guard when Narduzzi jumped out of his cart around 8:45 a.m. and waived the group on instead of teeing off.

"He is on the phone and I can tell by his facial expression something is wrong," Nutt said. "Lo and behold he is losing his Belitnikoff receiver."

When Narduzzi did finally catch up, he asked Nutt a question that caught the CBS college football analyst off guard.

"'I am losing my best player,'" Nutt said Narduzzi told him. "'I am losing a receiver to USC and here is my question Coach Nutt. Can you match a million? I don't want him to leave Pittsburgh, so can you match a million?'"

It's a scene playing out across college football that Nutt said shouldn't be part of the coaching responsibilities.

"Here we are May 1 and he's losing his best player and he's trying to negotiate," Nutt said. "He hangs up and I can't use the adjectives he used, but he's so frustrated and I am thinking 'How in the world. This isn't why you got into coaching. This isn't what you signed up for.' Now you're negotiating your player 'Hey, stay here, I'll try to go.' He couldn't raise $1.5 [million] to keep him, so now [Addison's] at USC."

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman found himself in a similar situation two years ago, although not quite as extreme. Razorbacks fans were excited about the prospect of a big season with the combination of Burks and receiver Mike Woods.

However, just after the spring scrimmage wrapped, Woods announced he was leaving to join the same Lincoln Riley who lured Addison away from Pittsburgh for his final season as head coach at Oklahoma.

It was the first indication that other schools might be viewing Arkansas as a possible feeder school, which put the Arkansas coaches on guard. Pittman recently spoke of the need to recruit his own players, and Nutt agreed.

"Coach PIttman is right," Nutt said. "Now, it's going to be more and more you're trying to keep your eggs in the basket. You've got some who think they're better than what they are when they should be running and lifting and trying to get better. Your locker room is disjointed. It's disrupted now."

There are now fives phases to recruiting season. Pittman needs to recruit the players he wants from his own team the week after Thanksgiving, recruit transfer portal players from Dec. 5-Jan. 18, recruit the players he wants again after the spring game, and then additional players he wants during the May 1-15 transfer window, along with the traditional high school recruiting periods.

It's a lot to manage and the stress can age coaches much quicker than in years past.

Starting Monday, Pittman will get a good feel for where his program stands.

Will Arkansas become the kind of program that only gets better during the portal windows, or will this coaching staff be like Traylor, guarding a handful of top players from big time NIL schools that only view the Hogs as a developmental program?

The next 47 days will say a lot.