Football

Pittman Announced as Semifinalist for George Munger Award

Oliver Grigg
Oliver Grigg December 16, 2021
George Munger Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas’ Sam Pittman is a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award.

Pittman, who has engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in all of college football, is one of 15 candidates for the award chosen by the Maxwell Football Club National Selection Committee.

Under the second-year head coach, the Razorbacks have won eight games this season – the most regular-season wins for the program since 2011 – after winning eight games total in the three seasons prior to Pittman’s tenure at the helm. The Hogs started the year with an unblemished 4-0 mark and rose to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, the team’s highest ranking since 2011, as Pittman became one of only 14 SEC coaches in history to take over a team with a losing record and lead it to the top 10 in the AP Poll in their first two seasons.

This season, Pittman’s squad won four non-conference games, going undefeated outside of league play for the first time since 2016, and posted a 4-4 mark in Southeastern Conference action – the program’s most league wins since 2015. For the first time in history, Arkansas captured all three of the program’s trophy games, beating No. 7 Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic, winning at LSU in the Battle for the Golden Boot and topping Missouri in the Battle Line Rivalry.

Pittman led the Hogs, who are one of an SEC-record 13 bowl eligible programs, to a third-place finish in the SEC West, the team’s best finish since 2015. He is the fifth Arkansas head coach in history to lead the Razorbacks to a bowl game berth in each of their first two seasons, joining Houston Nutt (1998 & 1999), Ken Hatfield (1984 & 1985), Lou Holtz (1977 & 1978) and John Barnhill (1946 & 1947).

The Boss Hog was also previously named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 2 Coach of the Year. He is a candidate for the 2021 Werner Ladder AFCA FBS National Coach of the Year, which will be announced on Sunday, Jan. 9.

Semifinalist voting for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award will begin on Friday, Dec. 17, and close on Wednesday, Dec. 29. The finalist round will include the top five coaches as selected in the semifinalist round.

Finalist voting will open Dec. 30 and run until Jan. 11. The winner will be announced Jan. 13 with the formal presentation of the Munger Award taking place at the 85th Maxwell Awards Gala, which will be held on Friday, March 18, at Harrah’s Atlantic City Resort.

Powered by