Pittman adds to Hogs coaching roster
Briles, Carter, Rhoades join Razorbacks staff
From the Arkansas Razorbacks
www.arkansasrazorbacks. com
FAYETTEVILLE – New Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman continues to build his coaching staff ahead of the Hogs’ 2020 season.
Pittman has named Kendal Briles as the Razorbacks’ new offensive coordinator.
Briles brings a wealth of knowledge and success to Arkansas as a play caller during his career.
The 2015 Broyles Award finalist has led offenses at each of his four coaching stops – Florida State, Houston, Florida Atlantic and Baylor. Since taking over play-calling duties prior to the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2014 season, when his Baylor offense set an NCAA bowl record with 601 passing yards against Michigan State, Briles’ offenses have averaged 39.5 points per game.
“We are very excited to have Kendal, his wife Sarah and their three children join us at Arkansas, they will be a welcomed addition to the football family we are building,” Pittman said. “Kendal brings an innovative offensive approach to our coaching staff. His offenses have been successful by both running and throwing the football in some of the nation’s most competitive conferences.
He is well known for his ability to both recruit and develop young men into outstanding football players.”
Briles called one of the most explosive offenses in the nation in 2018 at Houston, ranking in the top 10 in both total offense and points per game. The Cougars were one of just three teams to rank in the top 25 nationally in passing and rushing, averaging 295.5 yards through the air and 216.8 yards on the ground. Houston’s offense was explosive, scoring at least 30 points in each of the first 12 games of the season, including a NCAA-leading 10 games of at least 40 points. The offense put points on the board in 47 of 52 quarters and opened the year with a program-best eight straight games of 40-plus points. The Cougars had 42 scoring drives of less than two minutes and ranked fifth in the country with 92 plays of 20plus yards and 44 plays of at least 30 yards.
Briles coordinated the offense at FAU in 2017 helping the Owls to the sixth-best rushing attack in the FBS with 285.3 yards per game.
The same offense ranked eighth nationally with 40.6 points per game and ninth in total offense with 498.4 yards per game.
The Owls’ offense helped lead the program to its first Conference USA championship and an 11-3 record, including a win in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Briles spent the first nine years of his coaching career at Baylor helping the Bears to unprecedented success, including back-to-back Big 12 titles. He served in numerous roles for the Bears as the inside wide receivers coach, passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator before taking over as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for his final two seasons in Waco.
His recruiting efforts were recognized in 2013 and 2014 as the Big 12’s Recruiter of the Year.
He was a Broyles Award finalist in 2015 after leading Baylor’s offense to historic numbers, leading the NCAA with 48.1 points per game and 616.2 yards of total offense.
Over the holidays, Pittman also added a pair of defensive assistants to his Arkansas staff, naming Sam Carter as the Razorbacks’ new cornerbacks coach and Rion Rhoades as the new linebackers coach.
Carter joins the Hogs from Missouri where he served as a defensive quality control and analyst for Barry Odom, who Pittman tabbed as the program’s defensive coordinator earlier this week. Carter helped the Tigers’ defense rank as one of the best in the nation, particularly in the secondary this past season. Missouri’s pass defense ranked eighth in the FBS and second in the Southeastern Conference allowing only 179.3 yards per game. The Tigers were even tougher with the ball in the air, leading the nation by allowing opponents to complete just 50.3% of passes for 2,151 yards – seventh fewest in FBS. Mizzou had four players inside the SEC’s top 25 of passes defended, including three defensive backs in Joshuah Bledsoe, Khalil Oliver and Tyree Gillespie.
Rhoades gets his first opportunity at the FBS level after coaching the last 14 years as a head coach at the junior college level, including the last 13 as the head coach at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Rhoades’ squad this fall finished 10-2 and No. 3 in the final NJCAA Rankings after another Salt City Bowl title. The No.
3 finish is the highest the Blue Dragons have ever finished in the final poll and the fifth time a Rhoades-led Hutchinson team finished inside the Top 10 in his 13 years as head coach. He left the junior college ranks 106-55 as a head coach with a 9950 mark at Hutchinson.
As a player at Hutchinson, Rhoades made an immediate impact as a freshman with 138 tackles as a linebacker to help Pittman and the Blue Dragons to a 6-5 season and a trip to the Valley of the Sun Bowl in 1993.
Briles, Carter and Rhoades join defensive coordinator Barry Odom, offensive line coach Brad Davis and wide receivers coach Justin Stepp on Pittman’s first staff.
