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Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman Says Razorbacks Are 'Ecstatic' About Adding Oklahoma, Texas

Growing up in Oklahoma, Pittman said he has "a lot" of memories of the Sooners and said "I'm excited" about bringing in OU as well as the Longhorns in 2024.

John E. Hoover

Denny Simmons / The Tennessean-USA TODAY NETWORK
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Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has a little different perspective on adding Oklahoma and Texas to the conference than most of his SEC colleagues.

Pittman is from Oklahoma. He grew up in El Reno and went to high school in Grove. He’s followed the Sooners since he was a little boy.

Now, of course, he’ll be coaching the Razorbacks against the Sooners and the Longhorns when they join the SEC in 2024.

“I think, obviously, the state of Arkansas is ecstatic about having an opportunity to play Texas and for that matter Oklahoma,” Pittman said Wednesday during his turn at SEC Media Days in Nashville. “Proximity is so good. It's so good for us and it's not going to be costly on fans because they can drive back and forth to Norman and to Austin.

“I think relatively everybody's really excited about that. Obviously, we’re bringing two powerful, storied programs into the SEC. So we know they’re going to be really great opponents. But I think everybody’s excited. I’m excited.”

Pittman said he grew up an OU fan “until I moved out to eastern Oklahoma and became a Hog fan.”

He said adding Texas back is special because of Arkansas’ “old Southwest Conference rivalry” with the Longhorns.

Pittman said he has “a bunch of” OU football memories, among them Brian Bosworth, Billy Sims, Barry Switzer and “of course, (Bob) Stoops.

“We couldn’t really afford to go to the game or anything like that,” he said, “but a lot of great memories.

“Powerful program. Great program.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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