Coates enters transfer portal
FAYETTEVILLE - Posting on Twitter Friday, “I have officially entered the transfer portal,” Arkansas defensive end letterman Julius Coates is leaving the Razorbacks.
Junior college transfer
Burks plays receiver.
“You get the ball in his hands and say ‘Hey, go big boy, go make a play,” Guiton said.
Pittman said Guiton “has already won the players over.”
“I love the guy,” Pittman said. “Just a very charismatic, exciting guy to be around. I think he’s an Arkansas fit and I know he’s a great recruiter and we need some more recruiters in the state of Texas.”
Kennedy, who had just joined the Southern Mississippi staff when Pittman wooed him to Arkansas, was the Georgia 2018 offensive graduate assistant during Pittman’s 2016-2019 tenure coaching Georgia’s offensive line for Kirby Smart.
“Cody and I coached together at Georgia, and coached for a good Coates opened the 2020 season as a Razorbacks starter, though he missed Arkansas’ late-season games.
Coates, 6-6, 289, in seven games posted 18 tackles, including 11 solo, three for loss, two sacks, a pair of quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. friend of mine in Willie
Fritz at Tulane,” Pittman said. “They set school records in rushing. I had coached tight ends in my career one time in 1996 at Cincinnati. I thought it was a great learning experience for me, to learn more about the game other than just the front and the box. I talked Cody into coming here and doing that for us. Outstanding person, outstanding recruiter. We’re awfully happy to have him as our new tight ends coach.”
Kennedy said Pittman is on his personal “Mount Rushmore” of coaches most influencing him and enthuses his yearning to coach tight ends.
“It’s the Swiss Army knife of the positions,” Kennedy said. “The more the tight end can contribute, the more high pace and high functioning the offense can be. If you have tight ends that can stretch the field vertically and impact the passing game, that puts a lot of linebackers in conflict on coverage. If they’re able to come into the run game and into the box and create blocks off the backside or leading on blocks in the perimeter, that can obviously change the run game. So, they’re able to impact the game in a lot of different ways.”
Scherer, the youngest of the new coaches finishing his linebacking career under Missouri Coach Odom in 2016 after playing for defensive coordinator Odom, was an Odom Mizzou grad assistant then served Pittman and Odom in quality control in 2020. He was a full-time assistant the Florida game week when Pittman was quarantined by COVID-19 and Odom was acting head coach.
“Michael knows Barry’s system inside and out,” Pittman said. “The kids that we have on our team raved about him and his coaching ability.”
Scherer will recruit Missouri, another key Arkansas recruiting area.
Ashley, coaching the University of Tulsa defensive line the last six years, is the lone assistant of the four with no prior association to either Pittman, Odom or Briles.
“I did not know Jermial, but I watched tape after tape after tape, trying to find our new D-line coach,” Pittman said. “I love the way his kids played. Heard some outstanding things about him when I called and asked different folks about him. So, I’m very, very pleased to have him. Obviously he’ll have Oklahoma connections and Dallas connections for us in recruiting.”
Ashley researched Arkansas as Arkansas researched him.
“First and foremost the opportunity with Coach Odom and Coach Pittman,” Ashley said of coming to Arkansas. “The people that I knew that really had a relationship with those guys spoke very highly of them and had nothing but great things to say about them.”
None, other than Ashley, said some “spot recruiting” for Tulsa have recruited in Arkansas before but all will have a piece of recruiting the instate pie, in addition to their out-of-state assignments, Pittman said.