Kendal Briles and Barry Odom decided to remain at Arkansas this offseason, despite having potentially had the opportunity to leave for jobs elsewhere.

That’s a big boost for Sam Pittman’s program to have both coordinators returning for the 2022 season.

So, what led to those decisions? Briles said QB KJ Jefferson’s return and Pittman’s faith in him played big parts in his decision (via 247Sports):

“Having KJ back. It would have been really, really hard to look at KJ and tell him I wasn’t going to be here, just because I love the kid and respect him so much and want him to be able to achieve his goals,” Briles said. “Being here for the players and the state and raising a family here, there’s not a better place to do that. So, I absolutely love it here and hope I can stay for a long time.

“I’ve felt loyal to Coach Pittman giving me the opportunity to be here. Obviously, you’ve got to look at everything from a career standpoint and what you think is best. I feel like I made the right move staying here and being with the guys and the coaches and the coaching staff being able to keep all that intact is pretty unique. A lot of times you don’t get that.”

As for Odom, he says he’s not worried about future opportunities, as they’ll be there as long as Arkansas’s defense keeps performing well:

“If your players play really well, you’re going to have opportunities every year, and that’s not going to change,” Odom said. “My thought process on having an opportunity to come back with this group another year was, you know above everything the most important thing, number one the culture that Sam Pittman has every day in our working environment you can’t beat it.

“I’ve not worked at many places, but you can’t tell me it’s better somewhere else. I think we’ve got a great administrative support. The fan base is the best I’ve ever seen. It’s unbelievable. I believe with the team that we have and the way we’ve been able to recruit… My family is really happy here. I’m excited and happy to be here. I think we can achieve great success here.”

Pittman seems to have some happy coordinators. We’ll see if that helps the Hogs improve on last year’s impressive 9-win season once the 2022 campaign kicks off in September.