Georgia football fans had their hearts ripped out during the SEC Championship Game, but apparently, 2019 is the season that just keeps on taking.
Georgia football fans are suffering yet another loss after the bludgeoning at the hands of LSU. This time it was offensive line coach Sam Pittman who is headed to Arkansas to be their next head coach.
There has been a lot of speculation about Sam Pittman going to Arkansas to be their next head coach. Well, Hunter Yurachek made it official today. Announcing the hiring of Coach Pittman as Arkansas’s next head coach on Twitter.
According to GeorgiaDogs.com, Sam Pittman joined Kirby Smart‘s coaching staff in 2016 as Georgia’s offensive line coach. This season he was promoted to Associate Head Coach/Offensive Line. The promotion was due to teams trying to poach Coach Pittman from the Bulldogs last year.
Excited to OFFICIALLY announce Sam Pittman as our new Head Football Coach. Great days ahead for the Hogs with Sam and Jamie as a part of the Razorback family again! #OneRazorback pic.twitter.com/763JrRrpaR
— Hunter Yurachek (@HunterYurachek) December 9, 2019
Coach Pittman had been an intricate part of Georgia’s recruiting machine and helped build The Wall of Georgia. He was the main reason so many highly recruited offensive linemen came to Georgia. Here is a list of some of the guys Pittman was able to recruit to Athens and their recruiting ranking according to the 247Sports Composite.
- Jamaree Salyer five-star 0.9956
- Isaiah Wilson five-star 0.9904
- Clay Webb five-star 0.9877
- Cade Mays five-star 0.9869
- Andrew Thomas four-star 0.9791
- Trey Hill four-star 0.9692
- Ben Cleveland four-star 0.9565
- Xavier Truss four-star 0.9158
- Warren McClendon four-star 0.9131
- Warren Ericson four-star 0.9070
Pittman also has a few verbal commits to Georgia this year.
- Broderick Jones five-star 0.9912
- Tate Ratledge four-star 0.9819
- Sedrick Van Pran four-star 0.9495
- Chad Lindberg four-star 0.9292
- Joshua Braun four-star 0.9039
All five of those guys could be reopening their recruiting soon, or at least taking a look at Arkansas to see if they want to be coached by the man who recruited them. Who could really blame him if they did? Coach Pittman has coached many players into the NFL, eight of which have been drafted including two in the first round. Players who play for Pittman end up getting paid.
Georgia is going to sorely miss Pittman’s ability to recruit the top offensive linemen in the nation. Kirby Smart wants to run the ball and that always starts in the trenches. As good as Georgia’s running backs are they wouldn’t be able to get a single yard without their blockers doing their job.
Not to mention whoever Georgia’s quarterback is going to be probably would appreciate not being on his back constantly, so Georgia is going to need these talented offensive linemen coming to Athens. The only question is how. Who replaces Pittman in Athens?
There are a few former Georgia offensive linemen on Georgia’s coaching staff in Jonas Jennings and Fernando Velasco. However, Georgia could look to a guy like Matt Luke, who was recently fired as head coach of Ole Miss and has 16 years of experience coaching offensive lines.
Only time will tell what Georgia will do to replace Sam Pittman, but one thing is for sure, Georgia will miss him, very badly.