Pittman proves his worth with another elite offensive line class
It seems like whenever Georgia lands a prospect offensive line coach Sam Pittman is recruiting, you can turn to his Twitter page to find a funny reaction.
On multiple occasions, Pittman has shaken a couple of red and black pom poms before belting out the phrase, "Yes sir," while blending the two words for it to sound like, "Yezzur." Pittman posted two videos on Wednesday, the first day of the inaugural national early signing period.
The first came shortly after Pace Academy offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer committed. Pittman had a blazer with a black Georgia jersey with No. 69 -- Salyer's high school number -- underneath it. He shook the pom poms, tossed them to side and let out a "yezzur."
When Knoxville (Tennessee) Catholic offensive lineman Cade Mays committed, a video depicting the exact same popped up on his Twitter account. Except this time, the jersey was Mays' No. 68. Head coach Kirby Smart was asked about Pittman's goofy social media presence, which drew a smile to his face.
Considering the Bulldogs landed five coveted offensive linemen, Smart said Pittman can do whatever he wants on Twitter.
"He can 'yezzur' all he wants and I will be saying 'yezzur,' too," Smart said. "He does a great job of getting those kids to buy into the fact that he’s going to lead them. He’s going to be tough on them, he’s going to be honest with them. You can’t promise every guy playing time. Those kids that are coming in understand that they have to come in and work for it. What drew each of them to Georgia was Sam Pittman and the fact that he does it different."
Smart proceeded to say that Pittman has an "old school" approach to recruiting. He still sends handwritten letters to recruits through the mail. While he posts those videos on Twitter, he didn't initially know much about how that or Instagram works. He had to ask players how those forms of communication operate.
Center Lamont Gaillard said Pittman's persona keeps the position group in a fun-loving mood.
"He keeps our minds right in the (meeting) room and on the field," Gaillard said. "Even if we're in the room, we're focused but we're laughing and joking with him. But we still get the job. He's a great coach."
Pittman has helped land two elite offensive line classes in a row. In this one, Georgia also signed Trey Hill, Warren Ericson and Owen Condon. A year ago, the Bulldogs landed five offensive linemen in Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson, Justin Shaffer, Neteori Johnson and D'Marcus Hayes.
Smart revealed that Pittman was partly motivated to do as well on those two classes after his first one, from a numbers perspective, didn't hit big. When Georgia's coaching staff changed shortly after the 2015 regular season, the Bulldogs ended that recruiting cycle with three offensive line commitments in Ben Cleveland, Solomon Kindley and Chris Barnes.
Needing depth for the long haul, Pittman sought to change Georgia's fortune in offensive line recruiting.
“I think Coach Pittman is one of the best recruiters in the country," Smart said. "He proved that by putting what was a really good offensive line group together last year and followed it up with another very complete, diverse group for this year.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Pittman proves his worth with another elite offensive line class."