When candidate boards first started coming out for the head job at Arkansas, Sam Pittman was listed amongst the "out of the box" ideas, but here we are, four weeks later, and Pittman is the new Head Hog.
A good number of fans are probably wary about Pittman–Arkansas will be his first head coaching post since the early 90s at the JUCO level–so, I went through my "Rolodex" to find out what some of Pittman's peers think of him and the hire.
Anonymous Power6 Coach Responses
SEC Coach: "Congrats on an awesome head coach, he’s seriously a great dude."
BIG12 Coach: "I like him. He is a stud. Ed (Orgeron), Dabo (Swinney), Barry Switzer, and Urban Meyer were never head coaches. He will do a good job."
PAC-12 Coach: "I've never met him but everything I’ve heard is he’s an unreal OL guy and great recruiter. His units are always tops in the country. Don't think it matters (that he's never been a coordinator). It’s an interesting hire for sure. Knows the SEC well. Has recruiting connections. It’s just gonna be a turnaround for anyone."
ACC Coach: "He would've had to be incredibly convincing on a great staff. I think the staff is the most important thing. Yes, the head coach matters, but who is he going to hire."
AAC Coach: "Interesting (hire). Sam is a good guy. He'll make some good hires."
BIG10: "When I look at the hiring of Pittman, I think it's clear this was not obviously Arkansas's first choice. The candidate pool was awfully thin this year, and if you missed out on Kiffin or Norvell, it was quite a drop down in my opinion to the next group of head coaches. I look at the hire of Pittman similar Ed Orgeron. Like Orgeron, Pittman is one of the top assistant coaches in the game and a high level recruiter. If he surrounds himself with the right coordinators and staff, he could be a very good head coach. He's got a big personality that will do well in living rooms, my biggest question would be how well can he manage a program day-to-day as a first-time Division I head coach in the SEC?"
National Media Responses
Paul Finebaum: “I am going to withhold judgement because I don’t know him very well. I know everyone’s trying to draw the comparisons to (Bret) Bielema. It’s one of the more unusual hires I’ve seen, but maybe that’s what Arkansas needs. Certainly the splash hire didn’t work in Chad Morris. At this point, if you’re Arkansas, you throw stuff against a wall and hope it sticks.”
Barrett Sallee: "Sam Pittman is going to work as long as he takes the Ed O path and delegate[s] responsibilities well. Arkansas also needs to give him time and be patient. It'll be a long rebuild."
Cole Cubelic: "Sam can recruit. Players love him. He will bring an unmistakable attitude to Arkansas football. He knows the landscape & will be able to put a solid staff together. Big fan of this move."
Marcus Spears: "Ooohhh Sam Pittman about to turn them Razorbacks back into bullies at the Line of scrimmage!"
Next up, read what the Rivals regional recruiting analysts had to say about the hire and what the "Pittman effect" can do for Arkansas recruiting moving forward.
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