Pittman claims OC hire is first priority

The objectives were apparent for University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman on Friday night, following his team’s season-ending 48-14 loss to No. 9 Missouri in the Battle Line Rivalry.

Pittman wants to hire an offensive coordinator, make roster selections, and begin mending the Razorbacks’ offensive line as soon as possible after a 4-8 season that ended with a 2-4 record at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a coordinator in here in less than a week,” Pittman said on the Razorback Sports Network. “And I told the kids that we just have a lot of work to do, and that we as coaches have a lot of work to do as well.” But there are things that can be remedied, and we need to go fix them.”

Pittman was asked early in his postgame news conference how he could “change the momentum” in the program following a 34-point home loss, and he initially displayed annoyance, responded “I don’t know,” and immediately shifted to another issue.

Later, he addressed the question.

“The first thing is you’ve got to go and find an offensive coordinator,” the coach added. “One who wishes to be here.” One that, you know, would be great if the man knew the state and the SEC and all that sort of stuff.

“I will say this: Arkansas is highly regarded by some of the people I’ve spoken with. I’m certain that we’ll find an offensive coordinator who wants to be here and help lead our program to great things.”

Outside of interim coordinator Kenny Guiton, among early candidates for the position include UNLV offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brennan Marion and Oklahoma analyst Seth Littrell, the former North Texas head coach.

Marion is a Tulsa graduate who spent a year at Texas before joining former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s first-year staff at UNLV. The Rebels entered Saturday’s game against San Jose State ranked 38th in the FBS with 425.5 yards per game.

Littrell, a running back on Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team, had a 44-44 record as head coach at North Texas, including a 44-17 win at Arkansas in 2018.

Another intriguing possibility is former Razorback Dowell Loggains, the first-year offensive coordinator at South Carolina. Loggains spent two years as tight ends coach under Pittman in 2020-21 and was ostensibly the offensive coordinator in waiting. He took the position at South Carolina last winter, a month before then-UA offensive coordinator Kendal Briles left to join the TCU staff.

Pittman was asked to provide further information on his suggestion last week the Razorbacks would have a stronger Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) position heading into the offseason.

“I can’t and I wish I could,” he said. “But I do feel much better about it. I think we’re going to be very competitive there and I’m really excited about that. … I think there’s a big chance for us to change where we’re at, at 4-8, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do it. I’m am excited about our NIL situation.”

Arkansas posted its second-lowest total offense figure since 2001 with a paltry 3,918 yards.

Pittman said the lackluster offense hinged largely on one failure.

“Of all the problems that we’ve had this year, in all honesty it all stemmed, a bunch of it, because we can’t run the football,” he said. “That would be my No. 1 thing is to sit down and visit with a man that knows how to run the football.”

Arkansas had 1,668 rushing yards, its lowest total in a 12-game season since the 2012 team managed 1,424 yards.

In Pittman’s first three seasons with Briles as offensive coordinator, the Razorbacks rushed for 1,513 yards (in 10 games), 2,961 yards and 3,077 yards and had total offense figures of 3,915, 5,742 and 6,128 yards.

Pittman was asked what style of offense he preferred after the Razorbacks struggled to incorporate Dan Enos’ pro-style schemes in the previous run-pass option attack.

“You certainly want a guy that brings something special to the university, whether that be what KB [Briles] did in the past, whether that be a combination of what Kendal did and some pro style stuff,” Pittman said. “I think we need a guy that really wants to be here and understands Arkansas. But the No. 1 thing is we need somebody who understands how to run the football, because we have to run the football in my opinion to win.”

Pittman said he has already had a discussion with interim offensive coordinator Kenny Guiton about what lies ahead in the search for a full-time coordinator. Guiton debuted with a 481-yard offensive showing in a 39-36 overtime win at Florida as the Razorbacks ran a more up-tempo offense with tweaks in an empty backfield set.

But SEC defenses honed in on that attack in the ensuing games, with Auburn holding the Hogs to 255 yards and Missouri limiting them to 234 yards.

Arkansas averaged 367.5 yards per game in four games under Guiton, including a season-high 510 in a 44-20 win over Florida International on Nov. 18, after putting up an average of 305.9 yards in the prior eight games under Enos.