Sam Pittman's first staff as Arkansas' head coach is in place, and all 10 assistants have contracts in place as well.
Pittman signed a 5-year deal at $3 million per year, while coordinators Barry Odom and Kendal Briles signed 3-year contracts and the eight remaining assistants (plus strength coach Jamil Walker) inked 2-year deals. All contracts will expire on Feb. 28 of the given year.
Aside from the head man himself, linebackers coach Rion Rhodes earned the largest raise in terms of a percentage increase from his 2019 salary as Hutchinson Community College's head coach and in total dollars. (Cornerbacks coach Sam Carter, a quality control at Missouri in 2019, did not have a publicly-available salary.) Running backs coach Jimmy Smith also more than doubled his Georgia State salary, and tight ends coach Jon Cooper netted a $130,000 raise from what he earned at UCF.
The only coach to experience a significant pay cut is defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who was Missouri's head coach in 2019.
Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles will take a $20,000 pay cut, and wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, the lone holdover from the Morris staff, will carry over his $400,000 salary.
Offensive line coach Brad Davis (Mizzou), defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc (Kentucky) and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Scott Fountain (Georgia) all received raises after serving in similar roles at SEC rivals.
All salary information comes via the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Walker will earn $310,000, a $20,000 increase from what Arkansas paid Trumain Carroll in 2019.
In total, Arkansas will pay $8.335 million to Pittman, his 10 on-the-field assistants plus his strength coach, an $880,000 decrease from the $9.215 million the Hogs paid Morris and his staff. However, when removing the $1 million difference between the head coaches, Arkansas will pay slightly more to employ Pittman's senior-level staff ($5.335 million) than Morris's ($5.215 million).
The $8.025 million paid to Pittman and his 10 on-the-field assistants is less than what Missouri will pay new head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.