Sam Pittman
Sam Pittman went 32–34 as a head coach, 2020–2025, at Arkansas. Share
- Record
- 32–34 career
- Seasons
- 6
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Nov 28, 1961
- Alma mater
- Pittsburg State 1986
- Best season
- 2021 9–4, No. 21
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arkansas | 3–7 | T–6th | Texas (not played) | ||
| 2021 | Arkansas | 9–4 | T–3rd | Outback Bowl W | 21 | |
| 2022 | Arkansas | 7–6 | 5th | Liberty Bowl W | ||
| 2023 | Arkansas | 4–8 | T–6th | |||
| 2024 | Arkansas | 7–6 | T–11th | Liberty Bowl W | ||
| 2025 | Arkansas coached five of 12 games | 2–3 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Grant Morgan2021 Burlsworth Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 31 | 6–25 | 19% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 2–11 | 15% |
| Against rivals | 24 | 7–17 | 29% |
| Conference games | 43 | 14–29 | 33% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 3–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 26 | 7–19 | 27% |
| At home | 33 | 18–15 | 55% |
| On the road | 23 | 7–16 | 30% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 7–3 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 27 | 19–8 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 39 | 13–26 | 33% |
His own 66 games on file, 2020–2025, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lane Kiffin 2020–2025 | 2–4 | Ole Miss | 6 | |
| Eli Drinkwitz 2020–2024 | 1–4 | Missouri | 5 | |
| Jimbo Fisher 2020–2023 | 1–3 | Texas A&M | 4 | |
| Nick Saban 2020–2023 | 0–4 | Alabama | 4 | |
| Mike Leach 2020–2022 | 2–1 | Mississippi State | 3 | |
| Hugh Freeze 2022–2024 | 1–2 | Liberty, Auburn | 3 | |
| Brian Kelly 2022–2024 | 0–3 | LSU | 3 |
Sam Pittman’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Ole Missseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Auburnseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| LSUseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Missouriseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Texas A&Mseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Alabamaseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Arkansas–Pine Bluffseries | 2 | 2–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Arkansas for the 2020 season from Georgia, where he was offensive line coach. He had a prior connection to the school.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | Pittsburg State | Graduate assistant | |
| 1986 | Beggs HS (OK) high school | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1987–88 | Princeton HS (MO) high school | Head coach | |
| 1989–90 | Trenton HS (MO) high school | Head coach | |
| 1991 | Hutchinson | Offensive line coach | |
| 1992–93 | Hutchinson | Head coach | |
| 1994–95 | Northern Illinois | Offensive line coach | |
| 1996 | Cincinnati | Offensive tackles and tight ends coach | |
| 1997–98 | Oklahoma | Offensive line coach | |
| 1999 | Western Michigan | Assistant head coach | |
| 2000 | Missouri | Offensive line coach | |
| 2001 | Kansas | Offensive line coach | |
| 2003 | Northern Illinois | Offensive line coach | |
| 2004–06 | Northern Illinois | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 2007–10 | North Carolina | Offensive line coach | |
| 2011 | North Carolina | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 2012 | Tennessee | Offensive line coach | |
| 2013–15 | Arkansas | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 2016–18 | Georgia | Offensive line coach | |
| 2019 | Georgia | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 2020–25 | Arkansas | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Dennis FranchionePittsburg State
- Charlie SadlerNorthern Illinois
- Rick MinterCincinnati
- John BlakeOklahoma
- Gary DarnellWestern Michigan
- Larry SmithMissouri
- Terry AllenKansas
- Tom HayesKansas
- Joe NovakNorthern Illinois
- Butch DavisNorth Carolina
- Everett WithersNorth Carolina
- Jim ChaneyTennessee
- and 3 more
Assistants who became head coaches
- Barry OdomMissouri, UNLV, Purdue
- Brad DavisLSU
- Dowell LoggainsApp State
- Dan EnosCentral Michigan
- Bobby PetrinoLouisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky, Atlanta Falcons, Missouri State
Worked under (15)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Franchione | Pittsburg State | 1985 | Graduate assistant | |
| Charlie Sadler | Northern Illinois | 1994–95 | Offensive line coach | |
| Rick Minter | Cincinnati | 1996 | Offensive tackles and tight ends coach | |
| John Blake | Oklahoma | 1997–98 | Offensive line coach | |
| Gary Darnell | Western Michigan | 1999 | Assistant head coach | |
| Larry Smith | Missouri | 2000 | Offensive line coach | |
| Terry Allen | Kansas | 2001 | Offensive line coach | |
| Tom Hayes | Kansas | 2001 | Offensive line coach | |
| Joe Novak | Northern Illinois | 2003–06 | 2003: offensive line coach; 2004–06: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Butch Davis | North Carolina | 2007–10 | Offensive line coach | |
| Everett Withers | North Carolina | 2011 | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Jim Chaney | Tennessee | 2012 | Offensive line coach | |
| Derek Dooley | Tennessee | 2012 | Offensive line coach | |
| Bret Bielema | Arkansas | 2013–15 | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Kirby Smart | Georgia | 2016–19 | 2016–18: offensive line coach; 2019: assistant head coach and offensive line coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Odom | Arkansas, 2020–22: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Missouri, UNLV, Purdue | |
| Brad Davis | Arkansas, 2020: offensive line coach | LSU | |
| Dowell Loggains | Arkansas, 2021–22: tight ends coach | App State | |
| Dan Enos | Arkansas, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Central Michigan | |
| Bobby Petrino | Arkansas, 2024–25: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Louisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky, Atlanta Falcons, Missouri State |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Kendal Briles | Arkansas, 2020–22: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mark Cala | Arkansas, 2020–22: analyst | |
| Michael Scherer | Arkansas, 2020: defensive analyst; 2021–22: linebackers coach | |
| Kenny Guiton | Arkansas, 2021–23: wide receivers coach; 2023: interim offensive coordinator | |
| Marcus Woodson | Arkansas, 2023–25: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Travis Williams | Arkansas, 2023–25: defensive coordinator | |
| Kolby Smith | Arkansas, 2024–25: running backs coach | |
| Chris Wilson | Arkansas, 2025: interim defensive coordinator and assistant defensive line coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Pittman’s teams went for it on 19% of fourth downs and on 33% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 44% of plays and took 24.8 seconds a play, 2020–2024.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 10 g | 11 of 82 13% | 27% | 47% | 22.0 | +0.04 | |
| 2021 12 g | 18 of 95 19% | 33% | 39% | 25.6 | +0.13 | |
| 2022 13 g | 20 of 98 20% | 33% | 40% | 23.4 | +0.11 | |
| 2023 12 g | 16 of 99 16% | 30% | 47% | 27.0 | 0.00 | |
| 2024 13 g | 23 of 86 27% | 45% | 50% | 25.6 | +0.13 | |
| All 60 g | 88 of 460 19% | 33% | 44% | 24.8 | +0.08 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.