Razorbacks' Pittman had warrior mentality during season of discomfort

Hogs' special teams coordinator Scott Fountain reflects on Pittman's leadership and resilience in physical adversity

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman walking around the outdoor field without a cane or a limp in the third fall practice in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-Hogs On SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas special teams coordinator Scott Fountain and head coach Sam Pittman have been linked to each other since 2017 at Georgia.

The pair played key roles in launching the Bulldogs’ return to national prominence, and at Arkansas, Fountain remains the only assistant still in place from Pittman’s original staff

From their first days battling in Arkansas' recruiting pipelines to navigating the murky waters of NIL, Fountain has stayed fiercely loyal. That loyalty has withstood every test, even during a 2024 season, as he watched Pittman quietly endure worsening hip pain week after week.

The sixth-year coach would dismiss his hip issue as an "old football injury" early on, but an old cranky hip can play with a man's mindset. Still, Pittman managed to finish out the regular season at 6-6 with a limp that became hard to ignore around the state.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman points to his players and Arkansas fans with his cane after Arkansas defeated Texas Tech 36-26 in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn. | Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"You call him a warrior, really," Fountain said Sunday. "Last year, I mean, it was very painful. I think it kind of come on right before the season, he wasn't expecting it, and he dealt with it all year. "

When coaches usually have a standard press conference to debrief at the end of a regular season, Pittman didn't do it. No one in the football facility debriefed for him either.

For the first time in a while, folks wanted to hear from Pittman himself and it took a while. But even after undergoing hip surgery in December, Pittman refused to rest.

Just 24 hours post-op, he was back in the building. There was work to be done, meetings to perform and signatures to steal on National Signing Day.

"Probably the most impressive thing for me was, after the last game, he goes in, I believe on that Monday, and has surgery, and then he comes into the building the next day, and he's meeting with kids," Fountain said. "The way he likes to do it in December, as soon as our last game's over, is meet with all the kids, talk about NIL and all that stuff.

"He came in that next day, and he got after it now, and he did it for the next three days, that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and that was impressive, because that's hard to do: sit there and you know, you're dealing with kids, and you're dealing with how you may feel about a kid, but also dealing with a hip injury, but I think he's doing a lot better.

While many coaches eventually face nagging injuries, Fountain said Pittman is wired differently. His drive to control the narrative of his program, even when in discomfort, is simply part of his DNA.

"I know a lot of coaches that's had hip injuries, and they all have dealt with it differently," Fountain said. "I thought he handled it as well as he could in the situation he was in."

One benefit of Pittman's hip surgery is he appears to be in the best shape of his career compared to his time in the trenches at Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee. That type of lifestyle change can give him much more energy on the recruiting trail and restart a fire in the belly of a coach who's been at the FBS level for over 30 years.