Athletic director Hunter Yurachek
• What a crowd. We gather as a Razorback family to welcome a Razorbacks coach back to Arkansas. Yurachek thanked Barry Lunney Jr. for serving the football program during a very challenging stretch. He poured his heart into the student-athletes. There have been a couple of "Let's keep Lunney" shouts from the crowd.
• "Great days are ahead for our football program, I promise you that."
• This has not been an easy time for my family or my wife. We came through it virtually unscathed.
• The Arkansas football program is one of great tradition and can have success in the SEC. It was important we took our time to truly identify a man who wanted to be here and understood the expectations we have. We had to find a coach with the utmost integrity on and off the field. It was important to find a coach who had experience in the SEC, winning battles in recruiting, in the trenches on the field. From the first time I spoke with coach Pittman, he wanted to be at Arkansas. He understands the tradition and pride of our program. He wants to restore that pride. He is not intimidated by the mountain this program has to climb. "I'm not going to fail," Pittman said. "I'm not going to let down the University of Arkansas. I promise you we will build a winning program."
• It was easy to feel the passion he has for this state, program and for our student-athletes. The impact he and his wife had on the program here in their last stop here, they have touched so many lives across this state. It is an exciting time for this program.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman
• I want to thank Hunter Yurachek, Jon Fagg and Steve Cox. I met some of these guys yesterday. It was yesterday wasn't it? Great people who are in charge of this school and people who love this university. I wanted this job. I want to thank Georgia. Kirby Smart was good to me. I had some really good players and kids there. I want to thank Kirby for being so good to my wife and I. My wife was the first six-star recruit back in the late 1980s. My recruiting skills started way back then.
• We want our program to reflect the great state of Arkansas. I'm not a big slogan guy, but we're going to work hard, we're going to be blue collar about it, and we're going to be tough. (Pretty good applause) We're going to earn what we're getting and we're going to go after them.
• There's only one Razorback. Isn't it the greatest mascot of all-time? (More applause) I'm going to work hard. In recruiting, we have to recruit our own players. That's the first thing we need to do. We have to recruit future players, we have to recruit our future coaches, and we have to recruit alumni and past players. We need them all back to be Arkansas strong once again.
• I've had 500-plus coaches hit up my phone wanting to come to Arkansas. It would be very hard for me to believe that if the coaching world wants to come here, how come we can't get the players in out state and across the nation? I believe we can. Honestly, I believe we will.
• This means a lot to me. (Pittman is choking up. He momentarily stepped away from the podium and the crowd roars) I did some pretty good interviews today, and they were good. I'm humbled to be your coach. We'll do our best for you. We're going to work our butt off for this university. We're going to get it done.
• I think that getting these big people, getting size, talent, all of those things, everybody has to have it. I thought I knew how to recruit until I went to Georgia. It was recruiting on steroids there. I really learned a lot from Kirby Smart there about passion in recruiting. I've done well there in my life, but he helped me prepare for this job.
• I want to run a program that's loyal, disciplined, tough, that scores more points than the other team. The thing about our players is they hired an O-line coach. All we want to do is score more than they do. We're not three yards and a cloud of dust unless that's what we have to do to win. We're going to be aggressive and tough. Fundamentals, that's the biggest thing that's gone from the NFL game. We're going to stress that and the toughness of the game. Then, after that, we're going to worry about the next thing. But we can win a lot of games just going that far.
• When I came here in summer of 1979, I was a one-star athlete out at camp. Lou Holtz was the coach, and I fell in love with the place. My uncle had been out in his car listening to games on the radio. I just fell in love with Arkansas. Most of the people in Oklahoma are OU or OSU fans, but I love Arkansas. When my wife and I came back seven years ago, that was one of our dreams. Coming back now is whatever is better than a dream.
Media-only press conference
HY: This search has come to an extremely successful conclusion. I did not have a real timetable for this search. It's time for our football program to no longer be at the bottom of the SEC. I think we've found the man for that job. He is a relentless recruiter. He knows how to recruit in the SEC. You really have to get in the trenches.
HY: We really have to improve in the trenches. We needed a coach who knew and understood how to do that, and Sam Pittman knows how to develop a tough, tough football team.
HY: I wanted somebody who wanted to be here. Not someone who just wanted a job. I wanted someone who wanted to be here. I offered him the job and he and his wife both broke down in tears. I can't tell you how reassuring that is, to turn the football program over to someone like him.
SP: I am honored to be here and be the head coach at Arkansas. I want to thank Hunter gain. The only way I know how to fix something is to go to work, and I believe that you can recruit - recruit the team you have now, recruit the people that are going to come in and be part of the next team, recruit coaches to come in. Since I've gotten the job I've had over 400-500 texts, and of those, a lot of people in America think about Arkansas the way I do. You might be shocked, you might not, to see some of the coaches who want to be part of the Razorbacks right now. I've always felt that way about Arkansas, even when I was a kid.
SP: You guys were good to me when I was here last time. You let me take my shoes off when I wanted to. I'm going to go to work. I'm going to hire a good football staff, but to say I'm proud to be the coach here would be an understatement.
SP on offensive philosophy: If you look at the RPO game with the ability for your QB to run and throw, nowadays, if you get big-big in this league, you better have the real deal. I'm not telling you the philosophy has gone to spread. We want to be versatile. I love the RPO game, I love the QB read game, and one tailback and three wideouts. When I was here the first time, we played bully ball, and it worked for us at times. Sometimes it didn't. I think there's a time to bully people, but you better have to guys if you want to bully people.
SP: At Georgia we would play teams Arkansas would play as well. Arkansas has some good skill players and we've got overall talent. I think we're just going to have to get a little bit bigger. The Texas A&M game, I thought we looked pretty good. We need to get that team out there a little more often and continue adding to our team. I did see our team play. I don't know a whole lot about our team personnel-wise.
SP: I didn't know Hunter, but if I'd had his phone number I would have just called him. I didn't know him. I knew a lot of people here, so I tried to get people to him. My agent out of Little Rock, she tried to get to Hunter and the process just happened through Sunday. It's that simple. We had an interview, talked and convinced him.
SP: Work ethic, communication with our players is big. You can't be good at anything if you don't believe you are. We have to hire a staff that believes in the players in the program. It's then about hard work, toughness, but one thing we have to do is get our players to believe we can go win as a group. The only way if that happens is if we show them we believe in them.
SP on recruiting: I talked to Hunter about some of the staff things. I think we can get in homes as soon as tonight. The other thing about that is the staff, I'm going to have a few before the end of the week. It's more important to me that we get some of these kids who are committed to us. We've got a good list of coaches, but right now I've been pretty busy. We were busy before Arkansas gave me the job. We were getting ready for the SEC title game at UGA.
SP: I have not talked to Trumain Carroll, so I don't want to comment on that. Barry and I are really good friends, and I have a high respect for him as a man. You might ask him about his feelings on staying on staff.
SP: It's kind of amazing to me that all of us O-line coaches kind of hang together. A bunch of those texts were guys in the Big 12 and SEC saying, 'Finally, one of us broke into the SEC.' I'll be honest, there's something inside of me that just wants to be the best and driven at what I do. I was comfortable being an O-line coach because I wanted to be a good one, but I was a head coach a long time ago in high school and junior college. I enjoyed it. When this came open, I felt like I was ready for the job, so that's why I pursued it. I just didn't feel like I was ready to be a head coach earlier in my career, but I do now.
SP: I told the players that they didn't choose me, but I sure as hell chose them. I know a lot of people, more than just in our room, think we can get this thing turned. It's going to be a tough, disciplined team and finish strong at the end of the year in academics. I told them I was thankful to be their head coach. I don't know if I'm a player's coach. I don't know what that means. I just told them I was grateful to be with them.
SP: I went from the doghouse to the penthouse. My wife is from Pittsburg, Kansas. She did not talk to me for a year when we were in Athens. She did not want to leave Arkansas. When the opportunity came to come back, she's ecstatic and I'm the same way. It's hard to explain the passion you have for a program. Nobody wants to cry, but if that's how you feel about it, more power to it. That's how I feel, and that's how she feels. It's the people. The people of the state. You ever been any place like it in your life? Who don't want to be a part of it?
SP on the challenge ahead: If I didn't think we could put a good product on the field, I wouldn't have come to Arkansas. It's going to be a challenge. Kirby and them have a challenge at Georgia, too. We've got a ways to go, but we're going to work at it.
SP: I started playing football in the fifth grade. I was built like a fullback back then. I got hit real hard, then I went to O-line. I had one of the best high school coaches in the country at Grove, Okla. He told me I could take my mind and my body much further than I thought I could.
SP on coaching staff: Very comfortable with the salary pool for assistants. ... We're going to have some of the staff as early as today/tomorrow. It would be nice to have some more people in here. I'd like to get to 4-6 guys on staff by the end of the week, but some of them are still coaching, so we have to figure it out a little bit. We have to have enough to go recruiting and keep the guys we have.
SP: You never would have imagined all of this happening back in 1979. In my heart, I'm ready to be the coach at Arkansas. I feel good about it. I need some guys around me, and I have a great athletic director.
SP: I like an aggressive defense. If you stand still in this league, you're going to be in trouble. To be honest with you, trends come and go. Right now, the new thing, which I like, is a heavy front. You're going to have corners and safeties. I want to be aggressive. I do want to move, but the two-gap systems of things are almost a thing of the past.
SP on recruiting again: I was on the phone this morning with coaches. I would think I'll lose a little bit of that closeness with recruits, but that's all right. I'll hire great assistant coaches who will get to know these kids.
SP: Practices will be physical and fast. We'll walk through some situations. It's hard if you're not tough every day to continue to be tough. We have to instill toughness and fight in this program. Not saying it wasn't there, but we're going to be a sic'em football team. We're going to pride ourselves on our toughness.
SP: Every head coach who is a head coach now wasn't at some point. Maybe they came out of college and their first job was as a head coach. At some point, someone has to trust you and trust in you. I've had coordinator jobs offered to me, but I didn't take them. I stayed where I was. I have the chance now to be the head coach and I think it's just the product that's going to be out there. If it's a good product, I'm doing a good job. If not, then I'm not. It's been a great thing for me to learn the things I have over the years.
SP: I think you're going to see an exciting football team and one that plays hard. We represent the state of Arkansas, and I think you're going to see one that represents Arkansas. Our staff is going to fight to get that accomplished, then you're going to see those people in the stadium. We know we have to earn it.
HY on the last 8-9 days: The last 2-3 weeks, I've spent a number of hours on the phone talking to people and those in the NFL ranks trying to determine what our pool should look like. I had a list of about 35-40 about two weeks ago, then I worked it down to 12-15. I wanted to get in front of those people. Coaching searches are difficult. Sam Pittman, I can tell you, was the only candidate who received an offer.
HY: I always realized I needed a coach who wanted to be at Arkansas. From the time we had a change in leadership here, people spoke to me about Sam Pittman.
HY: There was more of an interest in this state and across the nation in this search than with the basketball search. The scrutiny, it's a different animal with football. It was off the charts compared to the basketball search.
HY: The salary pool for assistants is about $5 million.
HY on Pittman: When I offered coach Musselman the job, he had the opposite reaction of Pittman. Musselman jumped up and shouted. Pittman cried. ... At some point in time you have to get that chance as a head coach. He's been in the SEC as an associate head coach and he was Kirby Smart's right-hand man.
HY: I knew Sam Pittman's hire would be popular, but I did not know how popular it would be. He and his wife had a huge impact on people across this state. I'm excited to see the impact he and her have one people in this state and this football program. He is known across the country. He's a relentless recruiter. He builds relationships with players and their family. He understands it is cut throat. He'll bring in some coaches who have recruited in this league, and maybe some who haven't. We've got to improve in the trenches. He develops offensive linemen, and that is important. He checked many boxes.
HY: Barry Lunney Jr., in what he did for 3-4 weeks as our interim, earned the right to be interviewed for the head coaching job. Coach Pittman checked more boxes for this job. He and Lunney met this morning, but that is something you may need to ask him in terms of his future here.