Background and career
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.
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.
In 1981, Pittman's sophomore year, Pittsburg State went 10–2 and lost the NAIA Division I Championship. Head coach Ron Randleman parlayed this success into the head coaching job at Sam Houston State University. His successor at Pittsburg State was defensive coordinator Bruce Polen, who had recruited Pittman in high school. Pittman accompanied Polen on several recruiting trips while still a student; in 2020 Polen would reflect on Pittman's natural affinity for recruiting:
Sam had just great people skills. The first time you meet him, you think you've been his friend for a long time. That's one of the reasons I believe he's probably the No. 1 college recruiter in the country.
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.
In 1991, Pittman was hired as the offensive line coach at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas. The following year he was named head coach, replacing Glenn Percy. Pittman compiled an 11–9–1 record over two seasons. Pittman was credited with reviving a "struggling" program. 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." Sadler was fired after the 1995 season, and Pittman moved over to the University of Cincinnati, joining Rick Minter's staff as tight ends coach. Other coaches on that staff included future NFL head coaches Rex Ryan (defensive coordinator) and John Harbaugh (assistant head coach). 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. When Pittman informed Bielema that he planned to take the Georgia job, Bielema brought several Arkansas offensive linemen to Pittman's house to attempt to convince him to remain at Arkansas. Bielema claimed that Pittman had refused to meet personally with his players to inform them he would be leaving, a claim that Pittman denied. At Georgia, Pittman garnered a reputation as "one of the best recruiters and offensive line coaches in the SEC." 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. Off the field, he became known for a catchphrase, "Yesssirrrr!", that he would use in social-media videos posted after Georgia secured commitments from significant recruits, beginning with quarterback Justin Fields in 2017.
