Sam Pittman reflects on Mike Leach's death, endorses hire of Zach Arnett

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman faced off three times against former Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach in SEC West Division play over the past three seasons. Pittman won the first two matchups — including a 2020 game that was his first victory as a Divison I head coach — before the Bulldogs finally got the better of the Razorbacks this season.

The two teams face off again this year on Oct. 21 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.. But the sidelines will look different after Leach died last December at the age of 61.

“We miss him, don’t we?” Pittman said at SEC Media Days. “We do. A lot of fun, and honest as the day is long. And he’s thought about a lot of his answers and some he didn’t.”

Pittman then told a story about going to Leach’s funeral that he said exemplified the character that the one-of-a-kind Leach was in the college football world.

“I’ll say this: Somebody asked me, ‘Well, did you know him?'” Pittman recalled. “I said, ‘Well, no.’ And they said, ‘Well, are you going to the funeral?’ And I said, ‘I am because he would be at mine.’ That’s just what kind of guy he was. Always calm all the time. A lot of respect for him and we go to the Liberty Bowl and the people at the Liberty Bowl can’t quit talk about all the things that Mike Leach said about me because they are Arkansas fans the year before. Incredible man and let’s be honest, we miss him. The game will miss him as well.”

Leach was 19-17 in his three seasons at Mississippi State and was 158-107 during his college football coaching career.

Mississippi State is now led by Zach Arnett, who was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs in all three of Leach’s seasons with the team.

Arnett won his first game as a head coach at the 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl with a 19-10 victory over Illinois. He hopes to continue building on that during this season.

Count Pittman as someone who believes in what Arnett will be building with the Bulldogs.

“But I want to say this: Mississippi State got it right,” Pittman said. “When that happened, they hired Coach Arnett. He’s the right hire for them. He’s a good coach. We talk a lot about the other part of it, but I think Zach Arnett is going to do a heck of a job with Mississippi State.”