Pittman gets strong recruiter in new co-DC Marcus Woodson
Arkansas officially announced the hire of Marcus Woodson as co-defensive coordinator on Wednesday, and it proved once again that Sam Pittman is heavily prioritizing recruiting.
Woodson spent the past three seasons as the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator with the Seminoles. Prior to his time with Florida State, Woodson spent two years as the defensive backs coach at Auburn, where he worked with new Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, who was hired on Dec. 19.
Williams, who came over from Central Florida, where he served as the defensive coordinator, is known for being a strong recruiter. That was a big sell for Pittman.
"We need a recruiter at that position, as well," Pittman said on Dec. 19. "I think a good man, one that understands that recruiting is work, and I just heard so many great things about him from guys I knew that had called me. When I got in front of him, I can remember calling Hunter Yurachek and saying 'I found him.' There was no doubt in my mind."
Prior to announcing the hire of Williams, Pittman said he was targeting someone who could recruit as the new defensive coordinator.
"We need a guy that can recruit," Pittman said on Dec. 16. "I think that’s a big part. I’ll never forget when I went to Georgia, Kirby (Smart) said, ‘You’ve got to change your room. You have to.’ Especially with the portal going on right now, you’ve got to have somebody that can recruit."
Woodson signed seven four-star defensive backs from the high school ranks during his time in Tallahassee, Florida. Two of those four-star prospects, 2022 DB Sam McCall and 2021 DB Hunter Washington, left Florida State after one year in the program.
The recruiting footprint of Woodson is strong in the states of Florida, Texas and Georgia, as he was the primary recruiter on 12 players who were four-star prospects or higher during his time at Florida State and Auburn, according to 247Sports. Of those players, two were from Texas, three were from Georgia and five were from Florida.
"We have made a conscious effort into Georgia," Pittman said on Dec. 21. "I will tell you this, getting Travis Williams we’re going to make a little bit more of an effort into Florida as well since he was at UCF and knows a little bit more about that region than a lot of our coaches do. We will never leave Georgia, because it’s been good to us, but we may expand a little bit more into Florida."
With the addition of Woodson, recruiting in Florida should come a little bit easier.
As far as the coaching part of the job, Williams will likely focus on linebackers and Woodson will likely focus on defensive backs.
Former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who is now the head coach at UNLV, coached safeties for the past three seasons. Linebackers coach Michael Scherer will reportedly follow Odom to be the DC at UNLV, but that has not been made official yet.
Those movements leave the Hogs with Williams and Woodson as co-defensive coordinators, and linebackers and defensive backs coaches, respectively. Cornerbacks coach Dominique Bowman and defensive line coach Deke Adams are still currently on the staff.