FAYETTEVILLE -- Travis Swanson, the former All-SEC center at the University of Arkansas, played just one season for offensive line coach Sam Pittman with the Razorbacks. But as soon as Swanson heard about the firing of Chad Morris on Nov. 10 after the Razorbacks' 45-19 home loss to Western Kentucky, he got on the phone with Pittman.
"He just started laughing when he picked up the phone," Swanson recalled. "He said, 'I know why you're calling, and I want it.' I was like, 'All right. I don't know what I can do, but I'll try.' "
"It" was the head coaching gig at Arkansas, where Pittman went to camps as a high schooler from Grove, Okla.