Everybody grows up wanting to live the American Dream. 40 acres and a mule, owning a home and raising a family, you know the gist.
Arkansas football fans, too, have their own dream for what their program should look like and what it can achieve.
Most folks have pretty similar expectations, craving success but also acknowledging that the Hogs aren’t the most prestigious program around. For the vast majority, consistently winning seven or eight games per season and occasionally popping off and winning nine or ten would have Razorback Nation saying, “Sign me up.”
Grumblings of discontent are echoing around the fanbase right now after the Hogs dropped to 6-6 in another dreary loss to Missouri on Saturday. But most signs still point to embattled Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman returning for a sixth season in 2025.
Improving the team’s record from 4-8 to 6-6 felt like what some would call a “success,” but you can’t blame folks who want a little more. Arkansas dropped its week two clash at Oklahoma State, who was ranked 15th at the time but ended up finishing the season 3-9. That’s right, the Razorbacks were OSU’s only Power Four win of the season. Pittman’s squad also dropped very winnable games against Texas A&M and Mizzou, which made the .500 finish feel disappointing. Especially since the win over national title contender Tennessee proved Arkansas is talented enough to accomplish so much more.
For those who feel like Arkansas should have had higher expectations even coming off a losing season, it turns out there’s a perfect example within the SEC of a program in an extremely similar spot to Arkansas that can serve as a blueprint for the Razorbacks moving forward.
Look no further than Shane Beamer and South Carolina football – a sort of “sister program” to Arkansas given they joined the SEC together in 1992.
Shane Beamer Rights the Ship
The two schools were in the news together recently over rumors that Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek was being considered for the South Carolina AD job. Yurachek brushed that speculation off pretty quickly, but that’s far from the only parallel between the two programs.
A year ago, South Carolina was in the same boat as Arkansas. After back-to-back winning seasons, both teams fell off a cliff and finished 5-7 and 4-8, respectively. That put Beamer and Pittman on relatively hot seats, setting up make-or-break years for both of them.
Recruiting is brutally competitive in the SEC, and it’s even worse when your team isn’t winning. Not only is it hard to convince kids to come to a losing program, but you’ve also got to deal with rival coaches using negative recruiting tactics against you because, after all, “Why would you want to play for those losers over there?”
Pittman felt the brunt of that, finishing with a 2024 class that ranked 28th nationally and second-worst in the SEC behind only Vanderbilt. He still brought in some notable four-star prospects, but a number of decommitments in the closing stretch really took a toll on the class’ prestige.
Beamer, meanwhile, was able to salvage his class despite the negative energy around the program. South Carolina’s 2024 group ranked 18th nationally and 12th in the SEC, and included five-star edge rusher Dylan Stewart and five other top-200 prospects. Stewart has arguably been the best freshman in the country this season.
The two programs’ 2025 classes rank in the same spots in the SEC pecking order: 12th and 15th.
The Gamecocks, like Arkansas, had to manage the departure of a starting quarterback in Spencer Rattler and a number of key players entering the portal, including leading receiver Juice Wells transferring to Ole Miss. Similarly, the Hogs lost arguably their best defender to the Rebels in Chris Paul Jr.
But Beamer was able to reload in the portal with 22 incoming transfers – including poaching Arkansas starting running back Rocket Sanders. He also handed the keys at quarterback off to redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers, a former four-star, in-state prospect. It’s also noteworthy that Sellers has been developed by offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, an Arkansas alum who previously served as Pittman’s tight ends coach and was a Hogs OC candidate last offseason.
The results have been tremendous.
After a scare against Old Dominion in the season opener, South Carolina handled business against mediocre conference opposition in Oklahoma and Kentucky. The Gamecocks also pulled off ranked wins against Vanderbilt and Missouri. They likely should have won against No. 16 LSU, as well, if not for some controversial officiating decisions in the fourth quarter.
Beamer’s squad dropped games against Ole Miss and Alabama, too, but used a second-half surge to rout No. 10 Texas A&M at home by a score of 44-20, which kicked off a string of three straight top 25 wins.
This past week came the crown jewel of them all – knocking off their arch rival Clemson in Death Valley, courtesy of a pair of rushing touchdowns from Sellers.
The Cocks ended the season rattling off six consecutive wins, and now find themselves with an outside shot at the College Football Playoff. At the very least, they’ll be heading to a nice bowl game with a chance at a 10th win.
Let’s look more closely at how they pulled this off, and what lessons Arkansas can take from South Carolina’s dream season.
South Carolina’s Success is Everything Arkansas Fans Crave
In many ways, the Gamecocks’ achievements this season have been everything the Razorbacks have been missing or desperately wanting in recent years.
Beating their in-state rival they haven’t been able to get a handle on in a while? Check. An in-state stud leading the team? Check. Finishing the season stronger than you started it? You bet. An electric atmosphere that fans love taking part in? They’ve got that, too. It also doesn’t help that Sanders, a former Razorback himself, is leading the team in rushing with 881 yards.
It’s not like South Carolina has some insurmountable advantage over the Hogs. Arkansas actually has a higher all-time winning percentage at .577, compared to the Gamecocks’ .510. They may not be working with a crazy “Louis Vuitton” caliber NIL fund, either, though Stewart does appear to be on the verge of inking a deal that would blow any current Razorback’s pay scale out of the water.Yet the Gamecocks have turned things around through a combination of punching above their weight in recruiting, making solid additions through the portal and developing existing talent. Beamer, to his credit, has captured the hearts of many with his infectious energy and charisma – reminiscent of a football version of Eric Musselman.
Frankly, he’s even going beyond, singing to his wife in ways Eric never publicly serenaded Danyelle:
Beamer’s success comes despite the fact that, just like Pittman, he had never served as an offensive or defensive coordinator before taking his current position.
It’s hardly something Arkansas can’t do, after all. The Hogs have nine and 10-win seasons in both distant and recent history, so it’s not out of the question. NIL and the transfer portal add another layer to that puzzle, but those two elements have opened more doors for middle-of-the-pack programs than they’ve closed. Just look at the rankings this season. Teams like Ole Miss, Indiana and SMU have populated the top 12 for most of the season despite not being very prestigious programs.
Of course, this is more of a top-down issue than just the head coach – it will require some administrative overhauls to help Arkansas catch up to the field on the NIL front, though the hope is that revenue sharing will help in that regard.
Prior to this season, Pittman and Beamer actually had identical 20-18 records at their respective programs since 2021. Yet Arkansas will likely finish this season in Birmingham or Memphis while South Carolina heads to a much more prestigious bowl game – or perhaps even the College Football Playoff.
So yes, 6-6 is better than 4-8. But looking at what the Gamecocks are cooking over on the east coast, you can’t blame Arkansas fans for craving more than what they’re getting right now.
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On3 breaks down South Carolina’s CFP chances:
Trey Biddy discusses the state of the Hogs on a snowy Walk & Talk:
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