I think this is proof Arkansas settled big time after striking out on Norvell.

This looks identical to the Bielema hire, only Pittman hasn't been a head coach. He's already almost 60 as well. Oof.

hogfan14 said:

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Curious to see what style of offense he goes with. Guess it depends on who he hires as OC.

It's definitely an unorthodox hire and the majority of college football fans will laugh at it because they don't know who he is but he was one of the first names mentioned when we fired Morris, at least by former players. Our players loved him when he was here and if he never left for Georgia I think Bielema eventually works out at Arkansas. Best recruiter and OL coach in college football IMO. Definitely need to give him a lot of money for assistants since he has a lot of SEC connections. We obviously struck out on some guys but seeing what Coach O is doing with LSU and Dabo with Clemson probably thought we could do something similar I guess. All we need is someone to stabilize the program, not win the SEC or anything.

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I can appreciate your optimism hog, but this is much much different than the situations of Swinney starting out at Clemson, and Orgeron at LSU.

It's a bold move. Either the AD just hit level "legend", or he'll also be looking for a job in a couple of years.

aggiehawg said:

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He shook his head and said, "You are as cold as homemade ice cream."

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"Nothing's as cold as homemade ice cream, after the baked Alaska flambe' is gone."
- Conway and Loretta

Quote:

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Clemson was 3-3 when Bowden resigned. Swinney went 4-3 so it wasn't really different. It worked out.

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Dabo beat a good BC team on the road. He also beat SC, as he probaby should have. The 2 losses he had before becoming full-HC were respectable against good teams. Loss #3 came in the bowl, after being made. HAD he won 1 less does he get made? My gut says no. He was hired b/c he could recruit and the players liked him. The AD figured that if nothing else, Dabo would be cheap and pull a few good recruiting classes. IF they had to fire him after a year, no big deal.

Tamu_mgm said:

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I think this is proof Arkansas settled big time after striking out on Norvell.

This looks identical to the Bielema hire, only Pittman hasn't been a head coach. He's already almost 60 as well. Oof.

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Losing Pittman was when it all started to go downhill for Bielema. The OL has been one of the worst in college football ever since. Pittman couldn't stand working for Bielema. One time he had a visit set up with a highly rated OL and Bielema apparently "forgot" about the visit and was on a vacation in the Bahamas with Jen when the recruit was visiting and the recruit was put off that he couldn't meet the head coach during the visit and ended up signing somewhere else. Pittman was pissed and I think that was the last straw for him. Alabama actually tried to hire him before Georgia did but we gave him a raise and were able to keep him.

From most accounts Pittman doesn't want to go back to the pro style offense, will most likely try a power run RPO.

Hiring a position coach with no HC experience whatsoever to run your SEC West program sure seems like just giving up and lying down. I dunno if you're at that point maybe just keep the interim guy and try again next year.

This hire has a very Mike Sherman-esque feel to me.

ActualTalkingThermos said:

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Hiring a position coach with no HC experience whatsoever to run your SEC West program sure seems like just giving up and lying down. I dunno if you're at that point maybe just keep the interim guy and try again next year.

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Maybe it was because he "gets Arkansas."

Only one way to be sure, and Arky had their most recent moderate success with Bielema. They're in a tough position between us, LSU ascending to the top, and Auburn doing well now. They've got to move past the Mississippi schools fast or risk being stuck at the bottom with no momentum.

Hope he's one helluva recruiter. And has roughly 50 scholarships available...

This might actually be a genius move if they can save a couple million dollars in salary per year. Don't forget that athletes will be able to profit off their likeness in the future. Maybe they call up the local Fayetteville Ford dealership and ask them to hire that new 5 star QB out of that Texas as a spokesman instead of contributing to the coach's salary fund. A million dollars funneled directly to athletes is incredibly more efficient at improving a team than hiring a slightly better coach.

If we learned anything from Sumlin, it's that the athletes are more important than the coaches.

The next time I hear Arkansas and "genius" spoken out loud will be the first time.

If you listen closely, you can hear the meltdown in Fayetteville.

unmade bed said:

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Reminds me of our Mike Sherman hire....but even less exciting.

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Why, did he mention Eggies?

eATMup-Reveille said:

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unmade bed said:

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Reminds me of our Mike Sherman hire....but even less exciting.

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Why, did he mention Eggies?

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I don't know, but that Coco on TexAgs radio pronounces it as a combination of Eggies/Oggies.
O Canada.

First let's hire Chad Morris, a middle pack glorified HS coach.

Next? Let's hire a dude that literally is worse!

Sweet! Woo pig!

Serious question. Is their AD an Ag wreaking havoc? Because if so, good work!

Pittman will have team playing with motivation and not quitting on him like Morris. At least for year one.

Sam Pittman will do well at Arkansas. Heck of a recruiter and evaluator of talent. Georgia was lucky to get him when he left Arkie the first time. Give him a couple of years and Arkie will be a tough out.

I actually think he's a good hire for Arky.
Not flashy, but is very likeable and can recruit.
If he gets good coordinators, he'll do well.

I wish they would have kept Morris!

The guy who built the best Aggie team in a quarter century?

Hiring a 58 year old for his first HC job?
Bielema failure at Arky spoke volumes. His record at Wisconsin was very good. Multiple conf titles and won 80% of his games. He probably wasn't the best culture fit for Arky and I'm still not sure why he left Wisky to go there.

I like the name Sam ****tsman more

rootube said:

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Damn Arkansas. This feels like a terrible hire.

There are two approaches to hiring a coach:
1) Hire a young up and coming coach
2) Hire an experienced coach

Congratulations on missing both marks on probably the most important hire in the history of the program.

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They tried #1 with Chad Morris and that failed epically. Then firing him midway through his second season burned them for a chance at #2. Not sure they really had much of a choice. Maybe he'll turn out great and my guess is they're getting him for cheap. They can't get any worse, right?

NyAggie said:

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So they hired an oline coach as their head coach?

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Nothing wrong with this. Matt Cambell was an OL coach. So was Les Miles. So was Kirk Ferentz.

That really isn't an issue. The issue is hiring someone from the staff of the coach that was the worst fit in the last half century for your program and all but destroyed it. Morris didn't help, of course, but Billima tore hogville apart.

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Sam Pittman will do well at Arkansas. Heck of a recruiter and evaluator of talent. Georgia was lucky to get him when he left Arkie the first time. Give him a couple of years and Arkie will be a tough out.

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Could very well be, but hiring a guy who has never been a head coach at this level is always a crapshoot

For a program of the statute that Arkansas thinks it is, this is certainly a reach/desperation hire and I'm sure nowhere near their first choice, though i Susie Tompkins that with the state their program is in not too many guys are interested

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Hiring a 58 year old for his first HC job?
Bielema failure at Arky spoke volumes. His record at Wisconsin was very good. Multiple conf titles and won 80% of his games. He probably wasn't the best culture fit for Arky and I'm still not sure why he left Wisky to go there.

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It's a dream scenario for Pittman; make millions and if you get fired in a few years, you've just set yourself up for a nice long, cushy retirement

There's a town in PA called Centralia that has been burning since 1962. It's almost as big a disaster as this hire.

JaySugar said:

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I actually think he's a good hire for Arky.
Not flashy, but is very likeable and can recruit.
If he gets good coordinators, he'll do well.

I wish they would have kept Morris!

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You mean kinda like Matt Luke at Ole Miss?

That literally describes him:
- players and recruits love Matt Luke, not a flashy guy or hire at the time considering the circumstances
- Would still have Ole Miss in the top 30 in recruiting
- Had good to solid coordinators this year in Rodriguez and Macyntire

Yet still got canned

If Pittman somehow works out for them, it will be very shocking IMO. A lot of guys can recruit well, heck Chad recruited well in 2018 & 2019 considering it's Arkansas, and look what it got him.

at first I thought this was a financial hire, but Pittman got more out of the Hogs than I expected.

5-year contract at $3 MM per.

he's gotta show something...otherwise Arkansas could have 4 head coaches on its payroll by 2022

Pittman gets a tough opening schedule for 2020:

Nevada
at Notre Dame
at Miss State
A&M
FCS opponent
Alabama
LSU

crossover opponent is Tennessee

the game for Pittman and Hog fans to circle is the second game of 2021...

when the longhorns come to Fayetteville --- that will be a big one for the Pittman era

NyAggie said:

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Quote:

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Hiring a 58 year old for his first HC job?
Bielema failure at Arky spoke volumes. His record at Wisconsin was very good. Multiple conf titles and won 80% of his games. He probably wasn't the best culture fit for Arky and I'm still not sure why he left Wisky to go there.

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It's a dream scenario for Pittman; make millions and if you get fired in a few years, you've just set yourself up for a nice long, cushy retirement

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Well.......not exactly

You see, not only did Arky just fire a coach after 1.5 seasons, in the same weekend they announced a dispute over Bielema buyout and he's suing them.

So basically, they fire you quick if you are not performing and arguably dont pay buyouts (apparently there is a dispute over whether Bielema was working hard enough to get another job paying what he made at Arky so they could get off the hook for his salary).

W said:

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at first I thought this was a financial hire, but Pittman got more out of the Hogs than I expected.

5-year contract at $3 MM per.

he's gotta show something...otherwise Arkansas could have 4 head coaches on its payroll by 2022

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That's still bargain basement prices by today's standards

I saw one former Hog on twitter spinning the paltry financial commitment from Arky as "Pittman bidding on himself"

What a way to spin missing on everyone you actually wanted to hire then throwing bargain basement dollars at a morbidly obese 60 year old career o line coach

We'll see how well he recruits to 2-10 cellar dwelling arky

Maybe they will luck out like LSU did with Ed O