ATHENS — Former Georgia assistant coach Sam Pittman spent several minutes on Dooley Field after Saturday’s game exchanging pleasantries and hugging UGA players and coaches he worked with just two years ago.
Pittman left the Bulldogs after the 2019 season to become Arkansas’ head coach. Kirby Smart made Pittman one of his first hires when he brought him on as offensive line coach in 2016. In turn, Pittman quickly turned Georgia into a factory for producing NFL offensive linemen.
The Razorbacks’ turnaround under Pittman’s guidance has been one of the best stories in college football this year. They came to Sanford Stadium ranked No. 8. However, facing Georgia each of the last two seasons has proven to the Arkansas faithful just how far there still is to go. With Saturday’s 37-0 loss, the Razorbacks lost the two games by an aggregate score of 74-10.
Needless to say, Pittman was impressed with what he saw from his former team on Saturday.
“They have, to this point, by far the best football team we’ve played,” said Pittman, whose 4-1 team (1-1 SEC) team fell from eighth to 13th in the Associated Press poll on Sunday. “They’re big, they’re physical. Kirby had his team ready and I didn’t, that’s the bottom line. A lot of mistakes in the game, but the bottom line is we’re just not where we need to be physically yet, because they dominated us on both sides of the ball.”
The irony is the Bulldogs are as big and physical as they are because of the good work Pittman did while working for them. He is credited for the dramatic improvement Georgia made in offensive line recruitment under Smart. Among the future NFL players he helped recruit to Georgia were Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson, Solomon Kindley, Trey Hill and Ben Cleveland. He was also instrumental in getting most of Georgia’s current O-line starters to Athens, including Jamaree Salyer, Warren McClendon, Justin Shaffer and Warren Ericson.
He was even involved in the recruitment of redshirt freshman center Sedrick Van Pran of New Orleans before leaving for Arkansas. Pittman’s departure briefly put Van Pran’s commitment to Georgia on hold.
Fortunately for Pittman, he and Arkansas are done with the Bulldogs for a while. The Razorbacks roll off Georgia’s schedule after this season and the Bulldogs will pick up Mississippi State from the SEC West next year.
In the meantime, Arkansas hopes to get back on the winning track. It won’t be easy. Next up, the Razorbacks are back on the road to face Ole Miss in Oxford.
“We’re not going to have a problem regrouping,” Pittman said. “We won four games in a row, beat a 15-ranked team, beat a 7-ranked football team. We’ve got a good football team. Georgia is just a hell of a lot better than us today, a hell of a lot better than us.”
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