How involved Pittman is with game planning, play calling
FAYETTEVILLE — A common struggle for first-year head coaches is relinquishing play-calling duties to coordinators.
Most new coaches got their positions after success stints on one side of the ball or the other, but Arkansas likely won’t have that issue with Sam Pittman.
A career assistant, Pittman has spent more than two and a half decades as an offensive line coach and purposefully hired a pair of veteran coordinators - a trio if you include Scott Fountain with special teams - to lead his offense and defense.
For the most part, he’s going to let Kendal Briles and Barry Odom do their own thing, but Pittman said he has been involved with game planning throughout the week leading up to Saturday’s opener against No. 4 Georgia.
Most of his suggestions have been formational or broad ideas rather than specific plans of attack.
“I watch as much tape as they do on the opponent and I have my notes, and I’ll go down there and talk to them about it,” Pittman said. “In no way, shape or form do they have to put that in, but I’ll talk to them about what I see on both sides of the ball.”
Odom - who had four years of experience as an FBS defensive coordinator before serving as Missouri’s head coach the last four seasons - will call the defense from the booth.
Conversely, Briles - who has been an FBS offensive coordinator at four different schools the last five years - will join Pittman on the field. Instead, tight ends coach Jon Cooper will be the Razorbacks’ eyes in the sky.
Even though he plans to provide feedback based on how things are going, Pittman said he’ll also have a mostly hands-off approach during games.
“On game day, it’ll be situational,” Pittman said. “It’ll be, ‘Hey Barry, what do you think here? What are you going to do here? Kendal, you have two downs.’ Things of that nature. … I’m not going to tell them a play to run on either side of the ball.”
Kickoff against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.
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