Expect some 'juice' from 2023 Hogs

By Clay Henry, Hogs+ Senior Contributor

Sam Pittman probably gave his team a good scouting report after hiring Dan Enos as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach over the winter.

They worked together for one of the three seasons Enos served the same position for Bret Bielema in 2015-17. Pittman was his offensive line coach.

But apparently Pittman left out some juicy details in that scouting report: the Enos penchant for labeling something particularly exciting as “juicy.”

It took quarterback KJ Jefferson and his offensive teammates a few meetings to understand the Enos word for an exciting play or throw.

“If there was a particular play on our sheet, he might say, this is coming up and it’s pretty juicy,” Jefferson said.

That was a foreign concept at first, but KJ gets it now.

“Maybe it’s a particular point in a route, Coach Enos will point to a spot on the board and tell us, it’s going to get juicy right there,” KJ said. “He uses that a lot.”

They had never heard it used in that context. It’s all about the learning experience.

Enos laughed when he walked in for our Hog Pod interview in the Fred Smith Center when I motioned toward a nondescript play on the wall. I’d taken a marker and written “juicy” atop the formation with all the squiggly lines.

“Oh, yeah,” Enos said. “But we should probably add some (run-pass option) concepts in that play. That would make it juicier.”

Enos admits that it took a bit for his new players to understand his penchant for using “juicy” to reference a sweet part of a play. They are coming around on that and everything else.

Enos, 54, was pleased and a bit surprised when Pittman told him during the hiring process that the offense could adapt to a new language and terms—the Enos language.

“Obviously, I’ve been several places and each time you don’t really know what terminology will be used. Will you be able to bring your own or adapt to what’s been used by the previous staff?

“Sam said it’s best to just change it now. But I didn’t change everything. There are some concepts that were used here that were very similar. Some of those we left the same words. It wasn’t much different.

“But there are some concepts that were installed that are much different and we used the new terms.”

Pittman’s thinking was that the NCAA has loosened the rules for number and length of meetings throughout the winter, spring and summer. There are more walkthrough practices allowed. He thought Enos would have plenty of time to convert the staff and players to his language.

“He was right about that so I understand his willingness to adapt to what I’ve been doing,” Enos said.

Midway through spring camp, Enos is pleased with progress and the talent level of his new players.

“We have playmakers, starting at quarterback,” he said. “We are really good at running back. We have skill at other places and at wide receiver, too. The offensive line is probably what has surprised me the most. I really like that group and what (o-line coach) Cody Kennedy has done with them. I think we are going to be good there.”

Enos is excited to be back at Arkansas. He spoke of his first stint when he had talented quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Austin Allen.

“What a great family,” Enos said. “I remember when Bret called me about the job. He said I would really like the returning quarterback, Brandon Allen.”

Bielema suggested that Brandon was about to blossom. That was correct. Allen set records, including seven touchdown passes in a victory over Mississippi State and Dak Prescott in the Enos offense.

“He said there was a good young quarterback here, too, his younger brother,” Enos said. “And he added, ‘By the way, their dad works on our staff, too.’ I wondered what I was getting into.

“But it was really good. Bobby Allen raised his sons right and could talk firmly to them. It was interesting to see him meet them on the field after a practice or a game and give it to them about a mistake on a particular play. He’d say, ‘What were you thinking?’

“He was the bad cop and I could be the good cop because he’d already said what I was thinking. Both of them were really good players.

“We had the offense in 2015 with two great tight ends with Hunter Henry and Jeremy Sprinkle. They both were really talented and smart. We could do a lot of things, starting Sprinkle off in the backfield and moving him. We got some great matchups and that was a really good offense.”

Will the 2023 Hogs be like that? Enos discussed that and more in the Hog Pod interview that was just plain juicy.