Sam Pittman details relationship with Kirby Smart, how he got to Georgia

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman recalled how he was hired by Kirby Smart and his relationship with the Georgia head coach.

Pittman was the offensive line coach for the Razorbacks from 2013-2015, and when Arkansas hosted Alabama in 2014, then Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart made it known that he was going to hire Pittman.

“He just came over and said when he gets a job he’s going to make it hard for me not to go with him,” Pittman said. “I told him ‘you better go back and look at the tape before you say all that stuff.’ And he laughed. I’m not one of them … calling guys, and writing them notes, that ain’t my style. So I just waited and we went over and played them and he said some nice things then and then whenever he got the job he had his agent reach out to me.”

After three season as the offensive line and associate head coach for Arkansas under then-head coach Brett Bielema, Sam Pittman was hired as offensive line coach at Georgia when Smart was hired by the Bulldogs to lead the program.

His move to Georgia reunited Pittman with offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who he previously worked with at Tennessee and Arkansas. In his time at Georgia, Pittman helped the Bulldogs to three consecutive SEC East Division titles and earned reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country. He added the title of associate head coach in 2019.

In four seasons with the Bulldogs, Sam Pittman is credited with the recruitments of the likes of Jamaree Salyer, Isaiah Wilson, Cade Mays, Clay Webb, Andrew Thomas and Ben Cleveland, among others.

After the 2019 season, Pittman landed his first head coaching position, returning to Arkansas after Chad Morris was fired after a campaign by Pittman’s former players who lobbied for him to get the job.

In his first year with the Razorbacks, Arkansas went 3-7, but snapped a twenty-game SEC losing streak with a week two win over Mississippi State.

In his second season, Sam Pittman is leading, what could be the hottest team in the country, as the Razorbacks march into Athens undefeated. Arkansas opened the season with wins over Rice, Texas, Georgia Southern and Texas A&M, quickly rising into the top ten.

Now sitting at No. 8 in the country, Pittman’s Razorbacks look to upset the No. 2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.