Kennedy lands new deal; Pittman keeping staff intact

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As usual, you can tell who’s important in college athletics by following the money.

While Arkansas coach Sam Pittman’s new deal is getting a lot of buzz it’s not nearly as important as some of the moves for assistants.

Don’t worry about Pittman’s deal. It’s sounding more and more like a retirement package as much as a salary and how good it actually is will be determined by wins and losses.

The key is paying assistant coaches, who actually do most of the recruiting and actual coaching. Pittman is a CEO-type coach. He coaches the assistant coaches more than any particular players.

Pittman talked Saturday about how they are using keeping the staff pretty much intact for three years now and how that plays a direct role in their increased success getting the attention of big-name recruits.

All of that is why the reports of offensive line coach Sonny Kennedy’s new deal Tuesday was rather interesting.

It sets a record for the Razorbacks for someone who is not a coordinator.

Kennedy’s annual compensation has jumped from $400,000 a year to $700,000 annually. That includes $200,000 a year for “other” compensation and your guess is as good as mine on that.

Just a year ago, he was promoted from tight ends coach to the offensive line position group. Now he’s nearly doubled his pay, which is not a negative in any way.

With Pittman spending most of his decades coaching that position group before getting his first head coaching position, it’s not surprising he places a high value on that.

This is an indicator the pool of money for assistants has jumped up rather dramatically in the arms race that college football has become, especially in the SEC West.

Kennedy is obviously someone they don’t want to lose and don’t think for a second his ability to land recruits is not a big part of that.