Sam Pittman

Sam Pittman (born November 28, 1961) is an American college football coach who most recently served as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas from 2020 to 2025. Pittman spent almost his entire career, going back to the mid-1990s, as an offensive line coach at various college football programs. He also became known as one of the country's top recruiters of offensive linemen.

Playing career Pittman was born in El Reno, Oklahoma. His father, Don, moved the family to Grove, Oklahoma because Grove High School had better recruiting prospects. Pittman, a multi-sport athlete in high school, attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. He played defensive end at Pittsburg State from 1980 to 1983 and in his senior year was named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American. Pittsburg State inducted him into their Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Coaching career High school Former Trenton High School football coach Sam Pittman, center, poses with students Chad Plowman, left, and Brian Grimes, right, during the 1990–1991 school year.

Following his graduation from Pittsburg State, Pittman spent two years there as a student assistant coach before becoming offensive coordinator at Beggs High School in Beggs, Oklahoma, for the 1986 season. Following that stint Pittman served as head coach for Princeton Junior-Senior High School in Princeton, Missouri, from 1987 to 1988, and Trenton High School in Trenton, Missouri, from 1989 to 1990. Northern Illinois hired Pittman as its offensive line coach in February 1994. Then-head coach Charlie Sadler described Pittman as "one of the top up-and-coming offensive line coaches in the country."

Pittman left Cincinnati after the 1996 season to become the offensive line coach at the University of Oklahoma under second-year coach John Blake. Rex Ryan followed Pittman to Oklahoma after Blake reshuffled his coaching staff at the end of the 1997 season. Oklahoma fired Blake after the 1998 season and Pittman moved over to Western Michigan University to join Gary Darnell's staff, again as offensive line coach. At the end of 1999 Pittman and offensive coordinator Bill Cubit departed Western Michigan to take up the same positions at the University of Missouri under Larry Smith. Missouri fired Smith at the end of the 2000 season; Pittman moved over to the University of Kansas under Terry Allen. Allen had reshuffled his coaching staff following a disappointing 4–7 season in 2000; in 2001 team went 3–8 and Allen was fired.

Pittman returned to the coaching ranks in 2003 as the offensive line coach at Northern Illinois, the same job he had held in 1994–1995. The head coach was Joe Novak, who had replaced the fired Sadler after the 1995 season. Northern Illinois promoted Pittman to assistant head coach for the 2004 season. Pittman departed Northern Illinois after the 2006 season to join new University of North Carolina head coach Butch Davis' staff as offensive line coach. Pittman was considered a potential head coach at Northern Illinois after Jerry Kill, Novak's successor, departed for the University of Minnesota after the 2010 season. Davis was dismissed before the 2011 because of an academic scandal; Pittman was considered for the interim head coach job which eventually went to Everett Withers.

After the 2011 season, Pittman took the offensive line coach job at the University of Tennessee under Derek Dooley. This was not the first time Pittman was added to a coaching staff just reshuffled because of poor performance. Tennessee fired Dooley at the end of season, and Pittman joined new University of Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema's staff as assistant head coach/offensive line coach, where he spent the 2013 through 2015 seasons. During his time at Arkansas, Pittman fielded some of the best offensive lines in college football, including the biggest line in all of football in 2015, to include the NFL. His lines paved the way for two different running backs, Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, to rush for over 1,000 yards during his three years as the O-Line position coach.

Pittman departed Arkansas after the 2015 season to become offensive line coach at the University of Georgia under new head coach Kirby Smart and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, with whom Pittman had previously worked at Tennessee and Arkansas. Georgia paid a $250,000 buyout to hire Pittman. Bielema claimed that Pittman had refused to meet personally with his players to inform them he would be leaving, a claim that Pittman denied. In his second season, Georgia won the SEC Championship Game and reached the College Football Playoff National Championship. That was the first of three consecutive Southeastern Conference East Division titles for Georgia from 2017 to 2019. Pittman's 2018 line was named a finalist for the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football. Pittman was promoted to associate head coach in 2019, with a salary of $900,000 per year making him the highest-paid offensive line coach in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Pittman's hiring was announced on Twitter by athletic director Hunter Yurachek, including a video of Pittman and Yurachek bellowing Pittman's trademark ""Yesssirrrr!" Arkansas received an invite to the Texas Bowl to play TCU, however the game was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19 issues in the Horned Frogs' program.

In his second season as head coach for Arkansas in 2021, Pittman led the Razorbacks to an 9–4 record, finishing 4–4 in SEC play; good enough to tie for third place in the West Division. It was only the second time in 10 years that Arkansas had won as many as eight games in a season. The season included a victory over the Texas Longhorns, breaking a nine game losing streak to the Texas A&M Aggies, and breaking five game losing streaks to the LSU Tigers and Missouri Tigers. 2021 marked the first time in school history that Arkansas won all three trophy rivalry games in the same season, winning the Southwest Classic trophy, the Golden Boot Trophy, and the Battle Line Rivalry Trophy over A&M, LSU, and Missouri, respectively. After a five year bowl drought, the Razorbacks were selected to play in the 2022 Outback Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions, which they won 24–10, giving Arkansas their first bowl victory since 2015, and their first New Year's Day bowl victory since 2000. It was also Arkansas' first bowl victory over a Big Ten team. QB KJ Jefferson was named the bowl game MVP. Pittman was named the AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year.

In his third year as head coach in 2022, the Razorbacks started the season ranked No. 19 in the AP poll, despite losing wide receiver Treylon Burks in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. They rose to No. 16 after a 31–24 win over No. 23 Cincinnati, then rose to No. 10 after a 44–30 win over South Carolina. Then, they faced No. 5 (FCS) Missouri State, which was led by former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino. In a game in which they did not lead until the 4th quarter, they won 38–27 and remained No. 10 in the next poll. After a 23–21 loss to No. 23 Texas A&M that ended on a missed field goal, they dropped to No. 20, then dropped out completely after a 49–26 loss to No. 2 Alabama, which marked their 16th consecutive loss to the Crimson Tide. The next week, they suffered a 40–17 loss to No. 23 Mississippi State in a game where starting quarterback KJ Jefferson was out with a concussion. They ended their losing streak the next week with a 52–35 win over BYU. After a bye week, they defeated Auburn 41–27 in the last game before the Tigers fired head coach Bryan Harsin just two days later. However, they lost 21–19 to Liberty the next week in a game where Jefferson was not 100% healthy, and that ended on a missed two-point conversion and a failed onside kick. Then, they faced No. 7 LSU in a game where Jefferson was out with a shoulder and clavicle injury and two other players were suspended after being arrested for disorderly conduct. In a close game, the Razorbacks lost 13–10 after backup quarterback Cade Fortin fumbled the ball at the end of the game. They followed this with a 42–27 upset win over No. 14 Ole Miss that saw Jefferson return and play well, but lost the last game of the season to Missouri 29–27. The Razorbacks lost four games (A&M, Liberty, LSU, Missouri) by a total of 9 points and finished the regular season with a disappointing 6–6 record. Arkansas would beat Kansas 55–53 in triple overtime in the 2022 Liberty Bowl to improve their overall record to 7–6. Jefferson was named the Liberty Bowl MVP.

After the 2022 season, Pittman fired strength and conditioning coach Jamil Walker, while defensive backs coach Dominique Bowman and Arkansas mutually parted ways, with Bowman ending up as the DB coach at Temple. Pittman also lost other assistant coaches after the season, to include offensive coordinator Kendal Briles to the same position at TCU, defensive coordinator Barry Odom who became the new head coach at UNLV, tight ends coach Dowell Loggains became the OC at South Carolina, and linebackers coach Michael Scherer followed Odom to UNLV to be the DC. Pittman welcomed new coaches Dan Enos as OC, Travis Williams as DC and LB coach, Marcus Woodson as co-DC and safeties coach, Morgan Turner as TE coach, Deron Wilson as DB coach, and Ben Sowders as the new strength and conditioning coach. Arkansas began the season 2–0 with victories over Western Carolina and Kent State, but then proceeded to lose six straight games, culminating in an embarrassing 7–3 home loss to Mississippi State. OC Dan Enos was fired the following day, and WR coach Kenny Guiton stepped in as the interim OC for the remainder of the schedule. The highlight of the season was when Arkansas earned their first ever victory in Gainesville, Florida on November 4, beating the Florida Gators 39–36 in OT; but the team finished 4–8 and missed a Bowl game.

Five days after the 2023 season ended, on November 29, 2023, Pittman hired former Razorback head coach Bobby Petrino as Offensive Coordinator. OL coach Cody Kennedy left for the same job at Mississippi State, and on December 4, 2023, Pittman hired Baylor OL coach Eric Mateos to fill that position. On December 26, 2023 Guiton left Arkansas to be the WR coach at Wisconsin, and Pittman hired Missouri State co-OC Ronnie Fouch as his new WR coach on January 7, 2024. On March 10, 2024, running backs coach Jimmy Smith left for the same position at TCU. Pittman hired Miami Dolphins assistant coach Kolby Smith as his new RB coach on March 12, 2024, mostly on the recommendation of Petrino, who Smith played for at Louisville as a RB from 2003 to 2006. After the season, QB KJ Jefferson entered the transfer portal and ended up at Central Florida to play for Gus Malzahn.

The 2024 season featured new QB Taylen Green, a transfer from Boise State, and began with a 70–0 blowout of in-state school UA-Pine Bluff. But the following week Arkansas blew a lead at Oklahoma State and lost, 39–31 in overtime. The Razorbacks then won three of their next four games, to include a victory at Auburn and a huge home win over #4 Tennessee. After gaining a measure of revenge on Mississippi State in Starkville, Arkansas lost three of their last four, with the lone victory coming over Louisiana Tech which got the team to bowl eligibility with their sixth win. Arkansas finished the season with a 28–21 loss on a snowy day at #21 Missouri. Wide receiver Andrew Armstrong became only the fifth player in team history with over 1,000 yards receiving in a season (78-1140-1). Arkansas accepted an invitation to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2024 Liberty Bowl, making this the Razorbacks seventh appearance in the bowl, a game record. Both teams had several starters and backups forego playing in the bowl or enter the transfer portal, leaving the teams scrambling to fill starting roles. On December 27 in Memphis, Arkansas jumped out to an early lead, held off a Texas Tech rally, and won the schools fourth Liberty Bowl, 39–26. In an odd twist, both teams scored a safety in the game. Taylen Green was named the bowl game MVP, and Arkansas finished the season 7–6.

Former Razorback QB KJ Jefferson only saw action in 5 games for UCF in 2024. After the season, secondary coach Deron Wilson left to take the DC job at Georgia State, and Pittman hired Seattle Seahawks defensive assistant coach Nick Perry as Wilson's replacement. Green elected to return to Arkansas for his senior season in 2025.

In 2025, after easily winning their first two games over Alabama A&M and Arkansas State, the Razorbacks suffered two early-season losses at #13 Ole Miss and at Memphis. On September 28, 2025, the day after a 56–13 blowout home loss to #22 Notre Dame, Pittman was fired five games into his sixth season as head coach of Arkansas. Pittman compiled a 14–29 conference record, 32–34 overall record, and 3 bowl wins as head coach of the program. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was named as the interim head coach at that time. Soon after, Petrino fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams, co-DC Marcus Woodson, and DL coach Deke Adams. Arkansas would not win another game, losing six times by 6 points or less, finishing 2-10. Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield, whose team beat Pittman and Arkansas earlier in the season, was named as the new Razorback head coach on November 30.

Personal life Pittman is married to his wife, Jamie. Pittman is close friends with his former colleague Rex Ryan. Ryan (who according to Pittman is "not handy") once flew Pittman out to his home to help build a children's fort that Ryan had designed:

Head coaching record Junior college

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