Sam Pittman reminded us all on Wednesday, as he opened the day’s bill at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, why he’s such a good fit for the state of Arkansas. Unlike a few previous football coaches we could name, but won’t. (Why spoil a complimentary editorial?)
Coach Pittman clearly is not in his comfort zone at those types of media events. He’s not a showman, a frustrated comedian (though he can be funny), or an opportunist using something called Media Days as a means to raise his profile.
Sam Pittman is a coach. Who gets the job done.
Blue collar, sincere and authentic, his low-key demeanor has won over national media and even opposing fans. He won over Razorback fans a decade ago when coaching the offensive line for Bret Bielema.
It was during that first stint on the Hill that Coach Pittman revealed to reporters his love for Arkansas and desire to retire here. Though the move to Georgia was necessary because of percolating internal issues on Mr. Bielema’s staff, the experience he gained and contacts made as Kirby Smart’s associate head coach have proven valuable in Fayetteville.
Since hired in December 2019 to pull the program out of a crater, the coach has repeated numerous times that Arkansas is his last stop. He and his wife Jamie bought their dream lake house on Hamilton, and this past year had a large Razorback sculpture mounted on the lakefront.
Coach Pittman joked at SEC Media Days that boatloads of Razorback fans pull up and call the Hogs in front of the sculpture. (And despite the sign, some will debark and get their photo taken with it, much to Pittman’s playful chagrin.)
And now his third Razorback team, which will begin fall camp the first week of August, is shouldering some pretty big expectations following a 9-win, New-Year’s-Day-bowl season.
No, he responded to a reporter’s question, neither he nor Arkansas have “arrived.” The head Hog has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround in a short time, and he’s proud of the work done by his staff and players, but no one on the Hill is satisfied.
The program continues to work behind the scenes to “make Arkansas proud,” as the coach likes to say. And he seems to mean it, to understand the depths at which Arkansans — from Elkins to Eudora, from Wickes to Wilson — identify with the Razorbacks, the one thing in this material world that seems to bring together rich and poor, Republican and Democrat.
The current head coach of the Razorbacks understands that on more than a superficial level. One reporter in Atlanta informed Pittman his Arkansas teams are 16-6 against the spread, and asked what he thought of that.
Coach Pittman’s response? “Go Hogs.”