Is the transfer portal chaos about to hit Arkansas like a truck again? You can almost hear the stress in Sam Pittman’s voice now. He came to Fayetteville with a vision and plan in 2019. But what he probably didn’t plan for is the wild world of college football transfer portal. And it’s got him in crosshairs again!
Spring portal is opening up, set to run through April 25. The Razorbacks are expected to be pretty active. Well both in and out. Sam Pittman met with the media before their 13th spring practice and he kept things real. The man’s trying to keep the house standing while the wind howls through every door and window.
In a clip shared by Pig Trail Nation on X on April 15, Sam Pittman was asked if he was worried about losing key pieces. His response? “You really don’t know what goes behind the scenes… but as we’re finding out more and more, each college, each league is getting more and more money to pit it on. Right now you can still do it the donor way with the collective way until the ruling changes. But I don’t exactly know what goes on behind closed doors but we talk about it as a staff all the time.” And here’s where alarms blare — “And yeah, there’s a couple of guys but the ones we’re hearing about are not high on the depth chart, disgruntled maybe because where they are at in the depth chart.” So yeah, it’s not the stars… yet. But the cloud is always hanging there.
“The ones we’re hearing about are not high on the depth chart, disgruntled maybe because where they are at on the depth chart.” #WPS
Sam Pittman asked about the spring portal today and if he’s worried about key pieces leaving, more at the link belowhttps://t.co/C3WaSa8OyJ pic.twitter.com/K4UmjcPu3K
— Pig Trail Nation (@PigTrailNation) April 15, 2025
The weird thing is that Arkansas does get players and talented ones too. But keeping them? It’s a puzzle. No wonder Sam Pittman has big plans for the defensive depth. But again, like he mentioned, money is going to be a huge factor. “I think tight off the top of my head, you’d say there’s two factors,” he said. “Number one is how much money do you have to sign however many guys. That’s always a factor… Because of depth and things, we’d like to sign some guys on defense. So that number would probably be five, if the money stretches.”
With guys like Cam Ball and Ken Talley coming back from injury there’s cautious optimism. Especially after young talents like Ian Geffrard, Danny Saili, and Quincy Rhodes started flashing this spring. But make no mistake. It’s an unpredictable portal phase. “There will be some portal, guys that go into the portal, not only that are in there that we’re trying to get, but there will be some guys go into the portal,” Pittman added. “And that number will change. But if we kept the entire roster, I’d say about five.” With only three practices left, including Saturday’s Red and White Spring game, Sam Pittman’s clock is ticking.
Sam Pittman is stuck in the SEC purgatory
Arkansas isn’t a bottom feeder but they’re not knocking on the CFP door either. Sam Pittman and co finished 7-6 last season, better than the 4-8 season prior. But it’s not exactly a parade worthy revival. Fox analyst RJ Young laid it out bluntly when they lost 25 players in just two days. It’s nothing less than an identity crisis losing key players like Luke Hasz and Isaiah Sategna . “Everybody usually loses players every year, but it feels like these always hit Arkansas just a little bit harder,” he said.
And as if the roster headaches’ not enough, Arkansas’ 2025 schedule is a brutal one. They’re traveling to Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas this season. So you see, there’s no break for Sam Pittman. It’s no longer just about coaching. It’s about surviving the transfer portal storm, stretching NIL dollars like rubber bands, and somehow finding enough glue to keep this roster from falling apart.
The question is — Can Arkansas hold on to what they’ve built or will the exodus roll on?
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