Pittman on Bringing in GM, How Much Power He's Willing to Give Up

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman knows he needs help when it comes to how much the transfer portal process has added to his plate, but he's not willing to let the incoming GM take total control.

On the "Coaches & The Mouth" podcast, he not only outlined how his staff has had to change to handle thousands of players hitting the portal in a single day, but where the line will be drawn between a GM advising him and his feeling of responsibility in having final say as a head coach.

"When we hire this new guy, I think I'll have another set of eyes on things," Pittman said. "And then once I, once I trust him, it's sort of like a GM, if you get that trust, then you kind of go, 'Okay, where do we want to go?'

"I'm just too damn old to give it up to somebody. Look, there's nothing better than when we beat Ole Miss my first [season, I'm] walking and it's COVID, and people in the stands are crying. I want that for people. So if I'm going to make the decision, I'm the head coach, I ought to make the decision. So I'm never going to give that part of it up."

Currently the Razorbacks have a staff group responsible for the offensive portal, another for the defensive portal and a third focused on high school recruiting with one staffer at the top coordinating it all who answers to Pittman. Their job is to narrow things down so Pittman can get an eye on who warrants interest before bringing someone in, which can be tough considering thousands enter the portal on Day 1.

"You're trying to rank them now [and] you got this group of folks that have them ranked for you, but I'm not going to, I'm not there yet," Pittman said. "I'm not just going to say, 'Okay, I'll take your ranking.' No, hell no. I'm the head coach. My job's on the line. More importantly, the success of the team is on the line."

Instead, his staff cuts it down to 400 players to watch, then 300, and eventually the goal is to get to roughly 150 to present to Pittman so he can determine who he has seen play and watch tape on those he hasn't.

"Once they get it cut down, I'm not going to take a guy out of the portal if I haven't seen him play," Pittman said. "And I'm most of the time not going to take a high school kid that did not play in college. I've got to see him play. I'm not trying to develop a portal kid. I'm trying to play him. And so you just think of that, and then you're, you've got four portal guys on campus, and you're watching the 100 guys on tape trying to get ready for tomorrow."

The idea of convincing Pittman to add more help over the years hasn't been an issue. The portal combined with NIL has made life too volatile and stressful to not want extra hands on deck, although he would appreciate a little help from those who handle the scheduling of the portal windows also.

"You got to hire more people," Pittman said. "I know one thing, if you don't have help in it, it will wear you completely out now, because there's so much stress on the job. And then you add on too, well, in December, we may lose 15 guys, and then in April. Imagine in you're having Christmas day. You're at a bowl or whatever, and you're trying to have Christmas with your family. You get a call, and you just lost your quarterback, and your tight end. Merry freaking Christmas. How about somebody realizing, let's see, can we close the portal down before Christmas?"

While he's not willing to give up the ultimate decision-making to whomever takes the new GM role, there are tasks he's happy to let go. That means getting physicals done so Arkansas knows the true health of the player they are considering before investing, and also doing background checks.

"You better call and talk to somebody about [the recruit], Pittman said. "Well, who you gonna call? The high school coach? Probably you ain't calling the school he just went in a portal. No, you know what I mean. And now some do. I have a few guys call me about our guys, but you're not, that answer is not probably going to be that good."

The other area the new GM might handle is deciding where the Razorbacks need to fall in the recruiting visit order based on what can be gathered about the player. It's a potential make or break decision when it comes to landing a prized prospect.

"You figure it out, you want him first or you want him last?" Pittman said. "Well, if you get him first, he better sign because if he gets off campus, what'd you give him? You gave him the number. He knows the number. So when he travels and goes to Michigan, they'll say 'What's the number?' Well, he's gonna some will tell you exactly what the number is. Some will say the number plus, you know, and if he gets off of that campus, somebody else gonna have to pay you more than that, if that makes sense.

"So if you're the first, you better get him. If you're the last, you understand, at least reasonably, what the number is, you know, because, let's face the facts, most of them aren't getting a portal unless it's about a number."

While nothing official has been announced, it stands to reason the program would want someone in place before the April 16-25 transfer portal window, if for no other reason, to be able to see the current process in action. It should also be noted that Pittman hinted at April being the target month for the new role back in December, although he didn't indicate it was essentially urgent.