FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman has made a point in recent weeks to stress how much he wants to keep his current staff intact.

Pittman has been fortunate enough since arriving at Arkansas to keep his three coordinators and if he has his way it will remain that way. Pittman said keeping his staff together would be a good Christmas present.

“And right now, I’m not losing any of our coaches, and that’s a present,” Pittman said. “I don’t want to. I want them all to stay here. Obviously, people are coming after our coaches. We had success. But my Christmas wish list would be keep who we have intact, and hopefully we can do that. And I’m talking about support staff, recruiting staff is part of that, and certainly assistant coaches.”

Following last season, five assistants left for various reasons. Pittman brought in Cody Kennedy (offensive line), Dowell Loggains (tight ends), Kenny Guiton (wide receivers), Jermial Ashley (defensive line) and Michael Scherer (linebackers).

Jimmy Smith returned to coach running backs and Sam Carter the cornerbacks and secondary. Those two and the three coordinators have been with Pittman he came to Arkansas. The coordinators are Kendal Briles on offense, Barry Odom the defense and Scott Fountain with the special teams.

The Razorbacks will practice again this morning. Arkansas is set to take on Penn State New Year’s Day in the Outback Bowl.