The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Sam Pittman

Followed Chad Morris. Sam Pittman held Arkansas at National Program II for 6 seasons.

32–34

2020–now · 1 stint

Arkansas

← all coaches

In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Arkansas, 6 seasons (active)

−0.1

National Program II → National Program II.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

Arkansas13.8pt#66 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

1–8 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Eli Drinkwitz.

Rivalry record

1–8

11.1% · 2 rivals

One-score games

5–14

26.3% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–2

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Missouri1–420%

LSU0–40%

The toughest matchupNemesis

vs. Eli Drinkwitz1–4

5 meetings, 2020–2024

’20 L · blew a 14-pt lead’21 W · wire to wire’22 L · blew a 4-pt lead’23 L’24 L · blew a 7-pt lead

Performance by opponent class

Dynasty

0–2 0.0%

Blue Blood

0–7 0.0%

Power Program

11–13 45.8%

National Program

5–4 55.6%

Regional Program

6–0 100.0%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact

+0.15

#93 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

-0.10

#222 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2020–now

Arkansascaretaker

National Program II → National Program II

Sam Pittman held Arkansas at National Program II for 6 seasons.

16th-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

+10.0 pts

#62 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

-14.2 pts

#161 of 208 · less than most

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Chad Morris (2018–2019).

Season	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Record & result
Record	3–7	9–4	7–6	4–8	7–6	0–7
Postseason	—	W bowl	W bowl	—	W bowl	—
Recruiting rank	#30	#24	#28	#22	#31	#32
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	41.8	34.8	37.0	40.6	45.7	48.6
Coordinators
OC	Kendal Briles	Kendal Briles	Kendal Briles	Dan Enos	Bobby Petrino	Bobby Petrino / Kolby Smith
DC	Barry Odom	Barry Odom	Barry Odom	Marcus Woodson / Travis Williams	Marcus Woodson / Travis Williams	Marcus Woodson / Travis Williams
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	70	80	71	27	88	81
Defense	36	78	17	64	57	16
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	44.2	34.9	39.2	40.3	46.6	45.7
Red-zone pass%	43.8	32.5	31.2	41.5	25.9	40.2
4th-down go%opp. territory	26.1	32.6	41.7	23.5	39.6	18.5

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.2★ avg rating

Portal departures

143

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-59

#60 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)

6′3″, 245 lbs

across 68 of 84 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+10.9 lbs

#3 of 255 · more than most

Avg. class year

#45 of 255 · more than most

Top states: TX (16), FL (12), GA (9), AR (5), SC (3)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

61.0

position-weighted

Talent lost

63.4

position-weighted

Net

-2.4

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Jacolby Criswell (QB) from North Carolina

Biggest loss: Malik Hornsby (QB) to the portal

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

DC: Barry Odom → co-Marcus Woodson / Travis Williams · 2023the system held

2-season window either side.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

234 lbs

6′4″ avg · #16 of 767 · more than most

Running back

215 lbs

6′0″ avg · #137 of 791 · more than most

Wide receiver

199 lbs

6′2″ avg · #148 of 791 · more than most

Tight end

247 lbs

6′4″ avg · #281 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

309 lbs

6′5″ avg · #380 of 779 · a typical amount

D-line

285 lbs

6′4″ avg · #351 of 753 · a typical amount

Linebacker

231 lbs

6′2″ avg · #280 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

193 lbs

6′0″ avg · #205 of 771 · a typical amount

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Postseason detail2021: Beat Penn State 24–10 Outback Bowl2022: Beat Kansas 55–53 AutoZone Liberty Bowl2024: Beat Texas Tech 39–26 AutoZone Liberty Bowl

16 NFL Draft picks: McTelvin Agim (2020), Kamren Curl (2020), Jonathan Marshall (2021), Treylon Burks (2022), John Ridgeway (2022), Montaric Brown (2022), Drew Sanders (2023), Ricky Stromberg (2023) + 8 more

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Drew Sanders (2022)

AI Narratives — “Arkansas' Rough Season Continues” and 5 more on the team page.

32–34