Power ranking the SEC in 2025 preseason: #14 - Arkansas
Somehow, Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino made it through last season without the latter supplanting the former at the head coaching position, despite the Arkansas fans' eternal love for the Hogs' OC. That said, the future is still pretty murky up in Fayetteville without a doubt.
Taylen Green is back for another year in Bobby P's offense, but as the year went on in 2024, teams began to figure him out more and more. Petrino has a knack, much like Lane Kiffin, for generating huge plays against subpar competition, but whenever Arkansas played a team that wasn't bottom-of-the-barrel competition, Green struggled.
Ja'Quinden Jackson and Isaac TeSlaa, the Hogs' two most potent weapons last year, are both out the door at this point, and Arkansas will have to figure out a way to manufacture offense without them. AJ Green and Braylen Russell will likely get the majority of the carries, but it's a tougher call at the receiver spot.
The defense played well in spots last season, but they also got shredded in a couple of instances— Ole Miss put up 63, UAB managed 27, LSU racked up 34, and so on— but they lost three of their top-five tacklers as well as Landon Jackson, a stud defensive lineman. They picked up Justus Boone from Florida along the DL, but he was just a guy for the Gators last year.
While last season's prediction— that Arkansas would be headed by Petrino rather than Pittman by season's end— didn't come true, it well could come to pass this year. There are a lot of things to worry about in Fayetteville.