Georgia offensive line coach and associate head coach Sam Pittman will be the next head coach at the University of Arkansas, according to strong sources. Pittman has all but signed the deal.

Pittman, 58, is one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the nation at $900,000 a year. Sources say he first reached out three weeks ago about the position, and after a long search, he became the answer for the Razorbacks. He was the offensive line coach at Arkansas under former head coach Bret Bielema from 20013-15 and has always expressed a love for Fayetteville behind the scenes. During that time, Arkansas brought in some of the biggest offensive line recruits in program history, beating out blue blood programs from several states away for players like Denver Kirkland, Frank Ragnow, Dan Skipper and several others. Since 2013, eight Sam Pittman players have been drafted into the NFL, including two first-rounders. Alabama came after Pittman when he was at Arkansas, but he chose to stick with the Hogs, but he moved on when Kirby Smart came calling at UGA. He currently ranks No. 3 in the nation in top recruiters for 2020 and was No. 4 in 2018, 16 in 2017.

In terms of sacks allowed, Arkansas was extremely impressive during his time in Fayetteville. His first year while playing a couple of true freshmen and retooling things up front, the Razorback offensive line ranked first in the SEC in sacks allowed with 8.0 all season. In 2014, they gave up 14.0 to lead the SEC again. In 2015 while really opening up the passing game, they were first again with 14.0 sacks allowed. In 2016 when Pittman left Arkansas for Georgia, the Hogs dipped all the way down to No. 13 in the SEC out of 14 schools and surrendered a whopping 35.0 sacks -- literally one fewer than they had the previous three seasons combined under Pittman. Several point to Pittman leaving Arkansas as the downward turn of the Bielema era. Bielema was fired two seasons later after the Hogs dipped to 7-6 and 4-8 the next two seasons.

It is no secret Arkansas has struggled to find the right fit in the wake of how the program is perceived nationally after back-to-back 2-10 seasons under former coach Chad Morris. When a change is made like this, the coach tends to be quite different from a personality standpoint than the man he replaces. This couldn't be more true of Pittman, who comes off as honest and genuine while also being cool and collected. The players loved him at Arkansas, as noted by this open letter to Hunter Yurachek back on Nov. 12.

Pittman played at Pittsburg State and was a first-team NAIA All-American. He is originally from El Reno (Ola.) and graduated from Grove High School in Oklahoma. His parents still reside in Missouri, so he has a lot of ties to the region. He has been a high school head coach, a junior college offensive line coach (Hutchinson) and has coached everywhere from Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia in addition to Cincinnati, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.

Keep an eye on Barry Odom, the recently fired head coach at Missouri as a defensive coordinator candidate. On the offensive line, Eric Mateos was a graduate assistnat for Pittman at Arkansas and has risen through the ranks since and is now the OL coach at BYU. Brad Davis of Missouri is another O-line coach to keep an eye on as he also served as a GA under Pittman in the past.