Sam Pittman looking to add players during the portal opening

FAYETTEVILLE — The transfer portal opens on Wednesday for 10 days and Sam Pittman is obviously looking for some help.

On Tuesday, Pittman talked about the opening and how many recruits he may add.

“Well I think right off the top of my head, you’d say — there’s two factors,” Pittman said. “No. 1 is how much money do you have to sign however many guys. That’s always a factor. I think most of our… 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. Now, you know and I know 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. And then that number will change. But if we kept the entire roster, I’d say about five.”

In recent interviews, Pittman has identified defensive tackles and secondary as where he would like to add. New General Manager Remy Cofield is actively involved in this portal opening.

“Well, we have somebody in there when they go in and then we have we’re hearing somebody’s going to go in, or you see on whatever it be — X or Instagram or whatever — or you hear from a coach or, more importantly, probably an agent and they’ll call and say, ‘So and so,’” Pittman said. “So we look at them. Like today, I looked at eight to see where we’re ranking them. Then, obviously, Remy will do the same thing, but where we’re ranking them in needs and then affordability.

“Part of your ranking scale would have to be where you’re at financially because, Otis, as we talked about, we’re going to need about five. We’re figuring about five, and then how far does the cost stretch. But we do that all the time. And again, I just went over some more guys and ranked them and re-ranked who we had on the board. But, like offensive linemen, I’m not looking at offensive linemen because I think we’re fine there. Quarterbacks, I’m not looking at quarterbacks. It can change as you well know, if somebody comes in and decides to go into the portal. As of right now, that’s where we’re at and it’s just a process through Hub, me, the position coach and Remy.”

Pittman was asked if he’s afraid he could lose some players off the first- or second-team unit in this portal?

“No, but, you know, you really don’t know what goes on behind the scenes,” Pittman said. “In other words, you don’t know if somebody’s been in contact… Obviously, they can’t go to another SEC school, but as we’re finding out more and more, each college, each league is getting more and more money, depending on… 

“Right now, you can still do it the donor way, you know, with the collective until the ruling changes. So, no, but I don’t know exactly what’s going on behind closed doors. We talk as a staff about it all the time. There are a couple of guys, but the ones that we’re hearing about are not, you know, high on the depth chart. Disgruntled maybe because of where they’re at on the depth chart.”

As noted earlier, don’t expect the Hogs to be very active on offense in this portal period.

“Yeah, 100%,” Pittman said. “I’m not saying that we would not take an offensive guy out of the portal. I’m not saying that. The plan is not to, but I’m not saying that. We may… depends on who goes out, too. If we have a scholarship at a wide receiver or something like that, would we take one? Absolutely. But right now, we’re at 85 scholarships and so you have to certainly before you can replace a scholarship somebodies got to go in the portal.”

Pittman, like a lot of coaches, would prefer to simplify the portal happenings and go to one instead of the current two.

“I don’t know,” Pittman said. “I can’t say that because I said I don’t know one time I got all beat up on it. I do know –– that was a joke, my lord. A lot of hours, a lot of help, a lot of film, watching, a lot of phone calls. You know, we have needs. First of all, you have to figure out where your needs are, and then you have to go find them. And that’s that goes from the coach to me to Remy to whomever. There’s a lot going on. Do I wish that we would have one portal? Yes, I do.

“I think it’s very difficult after you’ve gone through a spring to find out what your team’s- because that’s why you have spring ball. What’s your team going to look like after spring ball? And then the portal opens for 10 days after that, I’m not for sure, well, the portal opens whenever you’re, you know, the 16th, so whenever you decide to have your spring over. I just think it’s very, very difficult, because not only do we the state need to know who’s on our football team and what kind of football we have, the players themselves need to know who’s on the team and who’s going to stay with the team. So it’s very difficult. The hours are strong right now, but that’s why they pay you, and that’s why they call you the head coach. So I’m excited about all that, but I’d be lying if I told you I’m excited about the portal open tomorrow. I don’t think any coach in America is.”

Pittman stated what he has heard as far as any momentum going to a one-portal window.

“Numbers being thrown out there which I don’t know if it’s going to pass or not pass or whatever,” Pittman said. “One number was Jan. 2-Jan.12 and to me that’s a great time, but what if you are in the playoffs just like basketball and here comes this… It’s not that the kids will go in the portal, it’s the ability to say if I don’t get this, this, this, I may not play in the semifinal game. Then you’ve got problems. I don’t know when the idea would be, but the one portal window that I heard thrown around was Jan 2-12 and that would be great.

“Great. You could have Christmas without I hope that phone doesn’t ring. You can be with your family, whether it be in a bowl game or not, and not worry about who’s getting in the portal. Man, it would make life a lot better. I don’t know what the [answer] is. Feb. 1-Feb. 12, is that the best time? Well. you can’t do that because they can’t get into spring ball. Jan. 2 -Jan. 12 is what I’ve heard. To me, one portal, that’s the best option right now.”

Pittman and the Razorbacks picked up their 12th commitment for the Class of 2026 on Monday night. Pittman was asked if he feels they are ahead of the pace in high school recruiting?

“We are,” Pittman said. “Number-wise, we are ahead of pace. I think what happens with that, Trey, then June can be a little more selective. Then we have to be a little bit more selective as we’re bringing guys in. But yeah, I think our guys have went out and done a good job there. It depends on what you want to do. Do you want to spend all your money to get a top five class in the country and then not be able to pay the guys on the team? For us we’ll take care of the team first, and then come back to the young guys and pay them and pay them respectively, but have them earn that money to get it back. So, we’re a little bit, I don’t know … We’re probably about 50/50 with other teams in how they’re running their freshmen, but at the same time that’s your cornerstone. If they’ll stay with you, that’s the cornerstone. And I’ve been really pleased with our recruiting department and our coaches because we are ahead of schedule where we normally have been over the last two or three years.”