Georgia’s top assistant leaves program for head coaching position at SEC school
Georgia’s top assistant coach is leaving his position and heading to another SEC program.
Sam Pittman, Georgia’s offensive line coach and assistant head coach, is now head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Pittman coached with the Razorbacks from 2013-15 in the same position he held at Georgia. In an effort to retain him after last season, the Bulldogs promoted him to assistant head coach.
News of Pittman’s possible departure swirled throughout Sunday following No. 5 Georgia’s loss to No. 1 LSU in the SEC Championship.
Georgia learned its bowl game fate Sunday, a return to the Allstate Sugar Bowl to play Baylor. Smart deflected the question regarding Pittman in his coaches’ teleconference.
“It’s always a nature of the beast,” Smart said. “You always see rumors flying around. You don’t ever know what’s true and what’s not. We’re focused on Baylor and getting ready for it.”
Arkansas confirmed the hire Sunday evening via a tweet.
Pittman was a well-liked figure during his time in Arkansas and working under former head coach Bret Beliema. The Razorbacks’ offensive line became formidable, then Pittman left for Georgia and his former players were in disbelief. According to reports, Arkansas received positive input by those players while making Pittman a candidate.
Arkansas fired Chad Morris in October after two seasons in the position, and had a number of candidates on their list. Once Eli Drinkwitz went to Missouri, Lane Kiffin to Ole Miss, Mike Norvell to Florida State and other moves occurred on the carousel, Pittman’s name emerged to return.
Pittman hasn’t been a major college head coach in his career that started in 1987. He has been an offensive line coach since 1994, and last held a head-coaching position at Hutchinson Community College.
Pittman is responsible for building one of Georgia’s most-prestigious offensive lines in program history. He racked up a long list of five-star prospects, has sent a number of players to the NFL and has junior offensive tackle Andrew Thomas primed to go as a potential top-five draft pick in 2020.
Pittman had five linemen committed for Georgia’s 2020 recruiting class, and it was seemingly completed ahead of Early Signing Day on Dec. 18. A number of current players and prospects, however, credit Pittman as a “father figure” and a key reason as to why they ended up in Athens. His recruiting qualities along with developing players make this the most-significant coaching loss during Smart’s four-year tenure.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 6:10 PM.