Arkansas joins chase for versatile OL Brycen Sanders

When Sam Pittman offered on Wednesday, Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor School junior offensive lineman Brycen Sanders took it seriously.

Arkansas was one of the teams to reach out to the 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive line prospect at midnight on Wednesday. The offer came later in the day, as Sanders didn’t stay up to catch the buzz of his cell phone.

Pittman’s background coaching the offensive line position is something that intrigues Sanders now that Arkansas has offered him a scholarship.

“It was an honor to be offered by a coach like him,” Sanders said. “Arkansas fans are very passionate about their team. They’re going in the right direction. When I talked to them, they talked about how they’re a big offensive line team with coach Pittman being an offensive line-minded guy.”

Sanders plans on making a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., at some point, but he’s not scheduled something officially yet.

Which teams are recruiting Brycen Sanders hardest?

There is a hefty list still making big pushes for Brycen Sanders. His list includes Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

Most of those schools reached out on Sept. 1. They were joined Ohio State and Michigan, who have not offered him yet.

Sanders doesn’t have any games planned for this weekend or next but plans to be in Athens for Georgia’s game against South Carolina on Sept. 18. He will be in Lexington when Kentucky hosts Georgia on Oct. 16.

Sanders is also planning to attend the Iron Bowl at Auburn in November.

He envisions a cutdown coming at the end of the football season and early next year. He is sifting through multiple variations of pitches at the moment.

The Tennessee schools – Vanderbilt and Tennessee – are pitching the home angle.

“Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the main thing has been keeping me home and trying to build up those programs,” Sanders said. “Those two programs both have first-year head coaches, so they’re just looking to build up the programs. The same goes for Auburn.”

Kentucky offensive line coach Eric Wolford’s “Big Blue Wall” concept is an intriguing pitch to Sanders.

“Coach (Eric) Wolford is a great offensive line coach,” Sanders said. “He talks about the ‘Great Blue Wall’ a lot. Kentucky focuses on the offensive line. They’ve talked about NIL and how I could benefit from that.”

Georgia’s winning pedigree makes them a school to watch throughout Sanders’ recruitment.

“Georgia is always at the top, always competing for the national championship and the SEC championship,” Sanders said.

Sanders is a friend of Nashville Hillsboro’s Jacob Hood, who committed to Georgia last week. The pair worked out together much of the last offseason as they have mutual trainers.

Sanders will evaluate his recruitment more thoroughly and look into each program’s depth charts and incoming classes when his season comes to an end.

“After my season, once I get more in-depth with these schools, I’ll definitely look into how many guys they’re taking in 2022 and 2023 and how many they already have there just to see how quick I can play there,” Brycen Sanders said.