Sam Pittman entering the bathroom at the Football Coaches Association conference in January 2012 when Jim Chaney arrested him.
Pittman a task and Chaney had a chance to argue.
Pittman had worked five seasons as a North Carolina offensive line coach prior to moving in after hiring Larry Fedora as head coach.
Chaney in the middle of his first season as Tennessee offensive coordinator, and the flights needed an offensive line coach after Harry Hiestand left for Notre Dame. Tennessee and Chaney temporarily hired Pittman.
“I had a glorious year that year, me in Tennessee,” Pittman said Monday at his press conference.
Although Pittman and Chaney worked together for a season at UT – coach Derek Dooley and his team were fired after the 2012 season – they then worked together in Arkansas and Georgia.
The two friends will face off when Tennessee (2-3) faces Arkansas (2-3) on Saturday (7:30 p. m. ET, SEC Network) in Fayetteville.
Pittman, in his first season as head coach of the Razorbacks, has two more wins in the SEC than his predecessor Chad Morris in two seasons. Chaney is in his season as UT’s offensive coordinator on his excursion to Knoxville.
Saturday’s meeting is deeper than Pittman and Chaney’s. Defensive flight coordinator Derrick Ansley and midfield coach Jay Graham were also at Dooley in 2012.
At the SEC, it is not unusual for coaches on the opposite sideline to have worked in combination at some point in their careers. Coaches bounce from one SEC school to another, meeting with former colleagues as they prepare to take on former counterparts.
But even noticed the lens of the small SEC global, Chaney and Pittman have a long history.
Arkansas Chaney to be their offensive coordinator before the 2013 season, and brought Pittman on the offensive line. When Kirby Smart Chaney before the 2016 season to be Georgia’s offensive coordinator, Chaney back chose Pittman as coach of the offensive line.
“Jim is wise enough that, when you’re a coordinator, you look to locate that offensive line coach you can connect with and click on,” said Charlie Coiner, who trained UT special groups and closed wings in 2012 and worked with Chaney and Pittman, “and when you replace jobs, you need them approved with you. Well, they did. This (speaks well) to Sam, the fact that Jim made sure Sam accompanied him wherever he went.
Pittman and Chaney knew others before working together. They met on the recruiting track while they were assistants at other schools. They both had St. Louis on their recruiting territory.
“We combined and passed out and went on to eat,” Pittman said.
Both are from small towns – Chaney is from Holden, Missouri and Pittman from Grove, Oklahoma – and they were good at it.
“We had a lot of unusual interest,” Pittman said. ” I have a great reputation for him as a coach and as a man. We went out and laughed a lot and got to know each other better.
They communicate about it a week ago, Pittman noted that the discussion is adjourned this week.
Chaney and Pittman, 58, may have been school classmates.
Each signed with Division II Central Missouri, but Pittman decided to stay closer to the house and played for the state of Pittsburg, Kansas, which was then an NAIA school.
Pittman is the only head coach of the SEC who has not been in the past head coach or coordinator of the FBS, which surprised his hiring.
Coiner worked one stint with Pittman at UNC before their combined stint at UT. He described Pittman as an effective instructor who displays calm and patient taste when communicating with players.
While it’s too early to assess whether Pittman will become a successful head coach, Coiner knows: Pittman is an expert on the offensive line, players like to compete for him and is a professional recruiter.
“The players, almost one person, in either position enjoyed it, enjoyed betting for him,” Coiner said. “He’s the same kind of person, really, whether you’re going to have a beer or be in a teacher’s room with him. It’s a bit balanced, elegant and easy, it’s not like all football coaches are, if you haven’t seen it. “
Blake Toppmeyer covers football from the University of Tennessee. Send an email to the blake. toppmeyer@knoxnews. com and stay with him on Twitter at btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, a virtual subscription will give you access to all of this. Current subscribers can click here to enroll in The Blake Subscribers Text Group that provides Football Flight updates and analytics.