FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas held a public celebration inside the Walker Pavilion Monday to to welcome Coach Sam Pittman home, and introduce him as the new head football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Pittman returned to The Hill after four seasons on staff at Georgia, including this last season when he served as the Associate Head Coach and offensive line coach for the Bulldogs.
During his introduction, Pittman got emotional several times and got choked up saying "as you can tell this means a lot."
Pittman is replacing Chad Morris, who went 0-14 in the SEC and only won four games total in two years.
WATCH LIVE PRESS CONFERENCE:
Pittman reiterated that recruiting has "to be honest, has to be sincere, and you have to do it a lot." He told the audience that he thought he knew a lot about recruiting, but his time at Georgia changed his perception. He called it "recruiting on steroids."
The 34th coach for the Razorbacks said he wants to focus on bringing fundamentals back to the team.
"Only way I know how to fix this is to go to work," he said at the press conference.
Hunter Yurachek said that under Pittman, the Razorbacks will be "a tough, tough football team."
According to documents shared by Arkansas and Saturday Down South, Pittman has been signed to a five-year contract that runs through Dec. 31, 2024. The new Razorback head coach will make $3 million a year during that time.
The Razorback coach will also receive a $250,000 bonus for winning six games in a season, a $500,000 bonus for winning seven games in a season and a $750,000 bonus for winning eight games in a season. Those figures are not to be combined, meaning winning seven games will result in a total bonus of $500,000 for Pittman.
Arkansas also plans to give Pittman an automatic one-year extension if he leads the Razorbacks to a bowl game during his five-year deal, according to Saturday Down South.
He can add an additional second one-year extension by leading the Razorbacks to another bowl game during the five-year period.