Check out what Sam Pittman, Barry Odom and several players had to say about the Hogs' new assistant coaches this spring...
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Despite publicly stating his intention of keeping his entire staff together, Sam Pittman ended up needing to replace two assistant coaches this offseason.
Defensive line coach Jermial Ashley was fired and defensive backs coach Sam Carter left to take a similar position at Ole Miss, leading Pittman to hire Deke Adams and Dominique Bowman in their place.
The Razorbacks got their first taste of both coaches this spring, as they used all 15 practices allowed by the NCAA for spring ball.
“They’ve come in and I believe if you ask both position groups about them, you’d get rave reviews,” Pittman said. “And I think you would feel it and not just, ‘Well, they’re just saying what they think we want to hear.’ I think you could see it and feel it. Anytime you get the kids feeling about you that way, they’re going to play well and play hard.”
The decision to move on from Ashley after just one season is widely believe to be tied to his struggles on the recruiting trail. Not only did the Razorbacks fail to sign a high school or junior college defensive tackle in the 2022 class, they also whiffed on their top two targets in the portal — one of which played for Ashley at Tulsa.
The loss of Carter also had recruiting implications, as he was considered one of the top recruiters on staff. Plus it’s no secret that Pittman holds that aspect of coaching in high regard, so it’s no surprise that was at the forefront of his hiring process.
“Let’s face the facts — on this staff, you’ve got to recruit,” Pittman said. “If you’re not an elite recruiter, that’s not a good thing. Both of them have done an outstanding job recruiting and being personable with the guys.”
Adams is a veteran coach with stops in the SEC at South Carolina (2013-15), Mississippi State (2019) and Ole Miss (2020). That experience made him a recognizable name for defensive coordinator Barry Odom, but he had mostly followed his career from afar.
When it came time to hire a new defensive line coach, it was actually an off-the-field staffer who suggested Adams because of their time together at North Carolina, East Carolina and Florida International.
“We’ve got a guy in our program in the personnel department named Brian Overton that had worked with Deke recently,” Odom said. “He had just mentioned him — he didn’t push him at all — just goes why don’t you check this guy out. Made a lot of calls, spent a number of hours with a lot of different people and thought that Deke was the right guy, right time for our program.”
Based on what players have said in interviews with the media, it hasn’t taken long for Adams’ presence to be felt on the field.
Odom said he’s been impressed with how well the defensive line has processed what they’ve learned from Adams and it’s resulted in what appeared to be an improved pass rush in spring practice, despite the Razorbacks losing pretty much their entire starting unit and not adding anyone new to the two-deep yet.
“From all the different coaches we had, we learned different techniques and stuff like that,” defensive end Zach Williams said. “Coach Deke Adams, he brings something new to the table, and I feel like he really knows what he's talking about, like with different aspects of how to rush not just, like you need to switch your stuff up.
“You just need three different moves to rush and he teaches us that, so I feel like he's brought us together more as a team like as a defensive line. And he's just helping us with our pass rushing and stuff like that, so I feel like that's the reason we got a lot better.”
The “different coaches we had” referenced by Williams include six defensive line coaches since 2018 — John Scott Jr. (2017-18), Steve Caldwell (2018-19), Kenny Ingram (2019), Derrick LeBlanc (2020), Ashley (2021) and now Adams (2022).
With so much turnover, that’s why it actually means something when defensive tackle Taurean Carter makes a comment about how it’s like nothing they’ve ever experienced.
“I like how he’s teaching me technique wise because that’s where I slack at,” Carter said. “I’m more of a natural guy playing. And he’s teaching me to be disciplined and the little things and the technique part of the game that I’ve never had before. And him implementing it into my game I feel like it’s very much giving me improvement on the field.”
Odom had much more of a connection to the other offseason hire by the Razorbacks. He and Bowman have known each other for about a decade, dating back to Odom’s tenure at Memphis. At the time, Bowman was the defensive coordinator at Cordova High in the Memphis area.
“I was the secondary coach (and) we worked together on putting drills together and then going on the field and coaching,” Odom said. “Dominique blew it out. He was unbelievable and blew it off the charts the way he taught. That was probably 2012 or 2013, and I followed his career from there.”
Following his career meant doing so incognito for a stretch, via social media and hearing him speak at coaching clinics, but Odom actually reached out to him a couple of years ago, so his focus quickly zeroed in on Bowman when the position came open this offseason.
With previous stops at the Division II (Arkansas-Monticello) and FCS (UT-Martin and Austin Peay) levels, he had just finished up his first FBS season as the cornerbacks coach at Marshall when Arkansas hired him to the same position.
His impact has already been seen on the recruiting trail, as the Razorbacks have continued to get visits from top-notch defensive backs, but he seemed to be meshing well with the current team, too.
“He’s a player’s coach,” cornerback Khari Johnson said. “I really enjoy Coach Bowman. He’s always got something witty to say, and he’s always trying to push us to be our best player. He’s never getting too down on us, so it’s exciting to learn from him. I always find new ways to improve my craft around him.”
While neither assistant has coached in a real game yet, Pittman sounds pleased with his hires just a few months in.
“I think both of them are adding something to our program,” Pittman said. “Talking to the kids, I think they believe that as well. I think we are better at those two positions. I think a lot of it is strength and conditioning, but it’s also tougher coaching.”
HawgBeat - Adams, Bowman draw positive reviews in 1st spring ball at Arkansas
Check out what Sam Pittman, Barry Odom and several players had to say about Arkansas' two new assistant coaches.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Despite publicly stating his intention of keeping his entire staff together, Sam Pittman ended up needing to replace two assistant coaches this offseason.
Defensive line coach Jermial Ashley was fired and defensive backs coach Sam Carter left to take a similar position at Ole Miss, leading Pittman to hire Deke Adams and Dominique Bowman in their place.
The Razorbacks got their first taste of both coaches this spring, as they used all 15 practices allowed by the NCAA for spring ball.
“They’ve come in and I believe if you ask both position groups about them, you’d get rave reviews,” Pittman said. “And I think you would feel it and not just, ‘Well, they’re just saying what they think we want to hear.’ I think you could see it and feel it. Anytime you get the kids feeling about you that way, they’re going to play well and play hard.”
The decision to move on from Ashley after just one season is widely believe to be tied to his struggles on the recruiting trail. Not only did the Razorbacks fail to sign a high school or junior college defensive tackle in the 2022 class, they also whiffed on their top two targets in the portal — one of which played for Ashley at Tulsa.
The loss of Carter also had recruiting implications, as he was considered one of the top recruiters on staff. Plus it’s no secret that Pittman holds that aspect of coaching in high regard, so it’s no surprise that was at the forefront of his hiring process.
“Let’s face the facts — on this staff, you’ve got to recruit,” Pittman said. “If you’re not an elite recruiter, that’s not a good thing. Both of them have done an outstanding job recruiting and being personable with the guys.”
Adams is a veteran coach with stops in the SEC at South Carolina (2013-15), Mississippi State (2019) and Ole Miss (2020). That experience made him a recognizable name for defensive coordinator Barry Odom, but he had mostly followed his career from afar.
When it came time to hire a new defensive line coach, it was actually an off-the-field staffer who suggested Adams because of their time together at North Carolina, East Carolina and Florida International.
“We’ve got a guy in our program in the personnel department named Brian Overton that had worked with Deke recently,” Odom said. “He had just mentioned him — he didn’t push him at all — just goes why don’t you check this guy out. Made a lot of calls, spent a number of hours with a lot of different people and thought that Deke was the right guy, right time for our program.”
Based on what players have said in interviews with the media, it hasn’t taken long for Adams’ presence to be felt on the field.
Odom said he’s been impressed with how well the defensive line has processed what they’ve learned from Adams and it’s resulted in what appeared to be an improved pass rush in spring practice, despite the Razorbacks losing pretty much their entire starting unit and not adding anyone new to the two-deep yet.
“From all the different coaches we had, we learned different techniques and stuff like that,” defensive end Zach Williams said. “Coach Deke Adams, he brings something new to the table, and I feel like he really knows what he's talking about, like with different aspects of how to rush not just, like you need to switch your stuff up.
“You just need three different moves to rush and he teaches us that, so I feel like he's brought us together more as a team like as a defensive line. And he's just helping us with our pass rushing and stuff like that, so I feel like that's the reason we got a lot better.”
The “different coaches we had” referenced by Williams include six defensive line coaches since 2018 — John Scott Jr. (2017-18), Steve Caldwell (2018-19), Kenny Ingram (2019), Derrick LeBlanc (2020), Ashley (2021) and now Adams (2022).
With so much turnover, that’s why it actually means something when defensive tackle Taurean Carter makes a comment about how it’s like nothing they’ve ever experienced.
“I like how he’s teaching me technique wise because that’s where I slack at,” Carter said. “I’m more of a natural guy playing. And he’s teaching me to be disciplined and the little things and the technique part of the game that I’ve never had before. And him implementing it into my game I feel like it’s very much giving me improvement on the field.”
Odom had much more of a connection to the other offseason hire by the Razorbacks. He and Bowman have known each other for about a decade, dating back to Odom’s tenure at Memphis. At the time, Bowman was the defensive coordinator at Cordova High in the Memphis area.
“I was the secondary coach (and) we worked together on putting drills together and then going on the field and coaching,” Odom said. “Dominique blew it out. He was unbelievable and blew it off the charts the way he taught. That was probably 2012 or 2013, and I followed his career from there.”
Following his career meant doing so incognito for a stretch, via social media and hearing him speak at coaching clinics, but Odom actually reached out to him a couple of years ago, so his focus quickly zeroed in on Bowman when the position came open this offseason.
With previous stops at the Division II (Arkansas-Monticello) and FCS (UT-Martin and Austin Peay) levels, he had just finished up his first FBS season as the cornerbacks coach at Marshall when Arkansas hired him to the same position.
His impact has already been seen on the recruiting trail, as the Razorbacks have continued to get visits from top-notch defensive backs, but he seemed to be meshing well with the current team, too.
“He’s a player’s coach,” cornerback Khari Johnson said. “I really enjoy Coach Bowman. He’s always got something witty to say, and he’s always trying to push us to be our best player. He’s never getting too down on us, so it’s exciting to learn from him. I always find new ways to improve my craft around him.”
While neither assistant has coached in a real game yet, Pittman sounds pleased with his hires just a few months in.
“I think both of them are adding something to our program,” Pittman said. “Talking to the kids, I think they believe that as well. I think we are better at those two positions. I think a lot of it is strength and conditioning, but it’s also tougher coaching.”
