Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino stole a majority of the headlines for Arkansas on Thursday at SEC Media Days, but head coach Sam Pittman alluded to another first-year offensive assistant as a key offseason addition.
New offensive line coach Eric Mateos returned to Arkansas after serving the same role at Baylor for the last three seasons. Mateos was a graduate assistant under Pittman for the Razorbacks from 2013-15, when Pittman was offensive line coach in Fayetteville.
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Now it's Pittman's turn to be the graduate assistant, as the Head Hog helped out Mateos' position group all spring for on-field individual drill work.
"I just called him and I said, ‘I'm gonna be your GA,'" Pittman said March 8." Basically I'm his GA during any individual and when they're in indy, and then I'm his GA during one-on-one pass pros and things of that nature. So, I got about 30 minutes of responsibility in individual drills with O-line each day."
VIDEO: Sam Pittman, Arkansas players speak at SEC Media Days
Immediately upon arrival, Mateos hit the ground running in recruiting. He brought in three key transfers who are expected to start — left tackle Fernando "Junior" Carmona Jr. from San Jose State, Michigan State transfer Keyshawn Blackstock at right tackle and Tennessee transfer Addison Nichols in the middle at center.
"Junior Carmona, Blackstock and Nichols, those three guys, a little bit like (quarterback) Taylen Green in that his leadership is incredible but they are too," Pittman said Thursday. "When you have guys that don't just want to play on the o-line but want to lead. Look, bro, we got to go. We got to go. We got to go, we got to do this, extra here.
"When you have those guys in there, which we have, leading like that, I think that you can get a lot better. Eric Mateos is different because he doesn't only, hey, you need to talk to him. It's not necessarily about the play that he messed up. It's about hey what's going on at home."
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Pittman said there can be different routes to problems that are not only on the field, but off the field.
"May not just be between the ears," Pittman said. "It may be life, home, girlfriend. That's why I found Eric is great at that. The kids know he loves them and thinks about them and cares about them. I hope that was a trait I had when I coached the offensive line. I don't know if I did or not. But I hope I had the trait that Eric has. He can make kids play better and harder by the way he talks to them and treats them."
Under former offensive line coach Cody Kennedy last season, Arkansas allowed the fifth most sacks per game (3.92) in the nation. In 2022 at Baylor, Mateos' offensive line blocked for 34 rushing touchdowns (seventh in school history) and 182.4 rushing yards per game. Former Bears' quarterback Blake Shapen — now at Mississippi State, along with Kennedy — was sacked only 22 times in 13 games during the 2022 season.
It's not going to be hard to improve on the product the Arkansas offensive line put out in 2023, but with Mateos taking the reins as position group coach, things are on the uptick.
Just a year removed from being the worst position group on the team, the offensive line might be the most well-connected squad the Razorbacks have entering fall camp this season.
"The o-line is one of the most together o-lines I've ever seen," wide receiver Andrew Armstrong said Thursday. "They come in together on the weekend, seven days a week, in the training room together, in the pool together, doing rehab together. They're not even hurt.
"They're just in there doing rehab to make themselves better and making themselves better is going to make the team better, make the offense better, and also make the defense better because that defense has to go up against the o-line. I feel like the o-line has took a dramatic step."
Defensive end Landon Jackson was Arkansas' only preseason All-SEC selection by the media Friday, but returning guard Joshua Braun was a Second Team All-SEC performer last year. Don't be too quick to count out guys like fellow guard Patrick Kutas, along with Carmona, who battled Jackson all spring.
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"In my opinion, I do feel like that’s some of those transfers coming in and kind of setting that tone," Jackson said March 7. "I was going against Fernando today and I was telling them on the ride over here, he’s probably one of the best offensive linemen I’ve went up against in my college career and I really think he’s going to make me a better player, and I feel like I’ll make him even a better player."
Arkansas' season will kickoff Thursday, Aug. 29, against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The game will get started at 6:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on ESPNU.
