Sam Pittman hired as Arkansas football coach

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — The University of Arkansas has hired former assistant coach Sam Pittman to be its next head football coach.

Pittman returns to Arkansas after four seasons as an offensive line coach at Georgia. He replaces Chad Morris, whom Arkansas fired in November after less than two seasons as coach.

Arkansas hopes Pittman, who has extensive experience coaching in the Southeastern Conference, can revitalize a program that has struggled for relevancy in college football for nearly a decade. Pittman was part of the coaching staff that led Georgia to an appearance in the national championship in 2017.

“Sam Pittman has been an integral part of successful teams that have competed at the highest levels, including for SEC and NCAA Championships,” Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek said in a news release. “As one of the nation’s premier offensive line coaches, he has built a remarkable body of work thanks to his tremendous passion for his student-athletes, including teaching the fundamentals and developing his players on and off the field. Sam instills in his players the motivation, grit and determination required to compete and win. Throughout this process, I heard from many of his former players about the tremendous influence he had on them as a player and as a man.

“Sam knows the Southeastern Conference inside and out and is one of the nation’s best recruiters. His connections throughout football will enable him to build a quality coaching staff. In his previous tenure, Sam and his wife Jamie fell in love with the state of Arkansas and with Razorback fans. They know what a special place this is and are excited for the opportunity to come back to the Home of the Razorbacks.“

A press conference is scheduled for Monday at 3:30 p.m.

Pittman was a recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach at Arkansas from 2013-2015. In his first season under head coach Bret Bielema, the Hogs led the SEC and were sixth in the nation in sacks allowed per pass attempt.

Pittman has also been an offensive line coach at Tennessee and an assistant coach at Missouri and Oklahoma. He has 25 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level, but this is his first head coaching job in Division I.

His reported salary at Georgia was $850,000, the highest in the country among offensive line coaches.

Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz and Arkansas interim coach Barry Lunney Jr. were also believed to be among the final candidates for the Arkansas job.

Arkansas fired Morris Nov. 10 after a 45-19 loss to Western Kentucky, the last in a string of beatdowns by lesser programs that defined his short tenure as head coach. The energetic coach who promised the Hogs would have "one of the most explosive offenses" in college football left Arkansas with a 4-18 record.