Georgia lost a good one when Sam Pittman, the former offensive line and associate head football coach of the Dawgs, left for the Arkansas head coaching job in December.
The move was respectable, as Pittman was making a decision for his family as well as his career. Jumping from position coach to head coach of an SEC school if a life-changing move.
Pittman assembled one of the toughest offensive lines in Georgia’s history. The Dawgs had three offensive linemen go in the first 111 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Two of them went in the first round: Andrew Thomas fourth to the New York Giants and Isaiah Wilson 29th to the Tennessee Titans. Solomon Kindley was also selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth-round.
Georgia had never had two offensive linemen selected in the first round of the same draft, and Thomas became the highest-drafted Bulldog offensive lineman in school history.
These three, and the rest of the potential NFL offensive linemen the Dawgs still have are all Pittman’s recruits.
Pittman’s new team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, are ranked as the #66 returning team in college football, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. This puts them as the projected second worst team in the SEC, just ahead of Vanderbilt.
When Pittman took the Arkansas job, it had a 2020 class that was ranked 109th nationally by both ESPN and 247Sports. That ranking has now jumped to 30th in the country, showing vast improvement already from the Razorback’s hire.
Pittman has four 4-star commits in the 2020 class, along with three 4-star transfers including former Florida Gators’ quarterback Feleipe Franks.
His 2021 class features five 3-stars and is currently ranked 51st nationally, 10th in the SEC.
Arkansas has the 2nd toughest schedule in all of college football next year, according to 247Sports. The Hogs will face off against Nevada, Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss and Missouri.
Pittman will need all the recruits he can get with the plate he’s being served in the 2020 season.