Pittman’s Stop In Trenton Yielded District Title

Former Trenton Coach Now Heads Arkansas Razorbacks

By Seth Herrold
R-T Sports Editor
Sam Pittman worked feverishly in his driveway in Trenton. It was 1990 and the Bulldogs were set to face Chillicothe on Friday night – a foe Trenton hadn’t bested in 24 years.
Pittman wanted to do something special for his team ahead of the big match-up, so he and Murray Dennis had gathered up the black pants from the middle school team. Each pair featured white stripes down the sides and Pittman and Dennis removed each white stripe to give the Bulldogs solid black pants to wear for the game. Trenton warmed up in their traditional uniforms at the time, black jerseys with gold pants. But the black pants were padded up and waiting at Burleigh Grimes Field, next to C.F. Russell Stadium. After warmups, Trenton left the field and when the Bulldogs returned for the game, they were clad in solid black uniforms from top to bottom.
The look had its intended effect as Trenton snapped the streak with a 32-20 victory over their rivals from the south.
“It probably wouldn’t have been a big deal if we had lost,” Pittman said of the pants change. “But we won, so that made that day in the driveway getting those stripes off worth it.”
Pittman was born and raised in Oklahoma. He played collegiate football at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, where he was a standout defensive end. During his senior season in 1983 he was named an NAIA All-American.
Following graduation he served as a graduate assistant for the school until moving to Princeton. Princeton had lost a coach to a tragic accident and Pittman came in midway through the year. He helped Bill Goodin with the basketball teams and Jim King with the track and field squads in the spring. The following fall he guided the Tigers to a 6-4 season on the gridiron.
While working at Princeton, Pittman’s wife, Jamie, worked in Trenton. The following year Trenton’s head football coaching position was open. Trenton first offered the job to would-be legendary Richmond Spartans’ coach Rob Bowers. When he turned it down, the door was open for Pittman, who got a pay raise to move down the road.
More than the money, Pittman moved for the opportunity to work with running back Brian Grimes. On the opening kick off of the 1989 season, however, Grimes broke his clavicle. Trenton went 0-4 without Grimes. But the Bulldogs bounced back, winning four of their last six games once he returned.
The following season, Trenton was the team Pittman envisioned when he took over. The victory over Chillicothe in 1990 was a highlight in a season that saw Trenton go 8-3 overall, capturing a district championship. Trenton, behind 322 rushing yards and four touchdowns from Grimes, garnered its first victory over Chillicothe since 1966.
“Grimes and the offensive line just went crazy that night,” Pittman said recalling that October night in 1990. “They roped off the field and people were standing four and five, or six deep on the track for that game. It was a great night, such a great year, really.”
Trenton wrapped up the district title the following week with a victory over Boonville. Trenton’s season would end in the state playoffs with a loss to eventual Class 3A state runner-up Oak Grove.
“We went on a run there at the end of the year,” Pittman said. “It started with Macon. They were 7-0 at the time and we went on the road and beat them. Then we beat Chillicothe the next week and then beat Boonville to win the district.”
Grimes and the offensive line’s performance against Chillicothe weren’t all that much different from what was basically a weekly occurence for the Bulldogs. The all-state back averaged 267.5 yards per game that season. His final total of 2,943 yards still ranks number one in Trenton High School history for most rushing yards in a single season. Grimes scored 35 touchdowns that season, also a single season record at Trenton.
At the time, only two players had ever broken 3,000 rushing yards in a single season. Grimes’ total ranked him third in state history. His mark still stands 14th in state history today. His average of 267.5 yards per game that season is still the fifth highest total for a single season in state history.
“We were at a school pep rally and Chris Sharp had a piece of paper in his hand,” Pittman said. “He said Grimes was 1,063 yards away from breaking the (state) record. We only had three games left but the kids believed he could do it. I believed he could do it. He was just a great runner. He was fast and he was big. He was just a wonderful kid and I just kind of ended up following him.”
Grimes’ feats earned him a scholarship offer at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, but the Blue Dragons were interested in more than just Grimes. The school extended an offer to Pittman as well to come on board as the team’s offensive line coach.
Coaching at the collegiate level wasn’t something Pittman had ever pondered up until he had the opportunity to follow Grimes to Hutchinson. He initially turned down the offer, believing he and his wife would have to live in the dorms. When it was relayed to him that was not the case, Pittman was on the move.
“I never had any interest in coaching in college,” Pittman said. “I just wanted to be a good coach. I loved coaching in high school. The Hutch thing just kind of happened.”
Pittman coached the offensive line at Hutchinson in 1991 before becoming the head coach of the program in 1992. Grimes thrived with his high school head coach on the staff, rushing for 2,482 yards and 22 touchdowns in his two seasons with the program. To this day, Grimes ranks second on the all-time rushing list at Hutchinson. His 22 touchdowns are sixth most in program history. He was an All-Jayhawk Conference first team selection in 1992 and was signed by Northern Illinois University.
Pittman served as the head coach at Hutchinson through the 1993 season before following Grimes once again, going to Northern Illinois to serve as the offensive line coach there in 1994 and 1995.
Following his stint at Northern Illinois, Pittman bounced around. He had quick stops at Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Western Michigan and saw both sides of the Border War, coaching the offensive lines at Missouri in 2000 and Kansas in 2001.
After the whirlwind, finding himself coaching under ill-fated coaches like Larry Smith and Terry Allen, both of whom were fired just one season after Pittman joined their respective staffs, Pittman returned to Northern Illinois to reset his career. But something happened in his second stint at Northern Illinois.
“We won,” said Pittman who coached the offensive line at NIU in 2003-2006. “We were 10-2 (in 2003) and beat Alabama, Maryland and Iowa State.”
The Huskies climbed all the way to 12th in the national rankings that season. Pittman’s offensive line paved the way for four successful seasons at Northern Illinois and it landed him an offer to coach the offensive line at North Carolina, which he did from 2007-2011. He moved up to the Southeastern Conference in 2012, coaching the offensive line at Tennessee and the O-lines at Arkansas, from 2013-2015, and Georgia from 2016-2019.
When the Arkansas head coaching position opened after the 2019 season, the school called its former line coach about the position.
Pittman was named the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks on Dec. 8, 2019. It is his first head coaching gig since he left Hutchinson for Northern Illinois in 1993.
Despite the move to one of the most visible positions in the most prominent conferences in all of college football, Pittman still maintains the down-to-earth demeanor he was known for in Trenton.
“I’m still the same guy I was all those years ago in Trenton,” Pittman said. “I loved it there. The people were so kind to me and Jamie. I really enjoyed those two years we had in Trenton.”