Dan Enos is back as Arkansas offensive coordinator. Here's why Sam Pittman wanted him.

FAYETTEVILLE — When Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman got wind that offensive coordinator Kendal Briles was interested in leaving the Razorbacks, it didn't take him long to come up with a name to replace him. He decided to "get the band back together" and turn to his old boss: Dan Enos.

Pittman said Wednesday that he reached out to Enos, then offensive coordinator at Maryland, about the job less than 10 minutes after learning of Briles' intent to leave. Enos and Pittman overlapped in 2015 when Pittman was Arkansas' offensive line coach and Enos was the offensive coordinator.

"I’ve had respect for Dan Enos for a long, long time," Pittman said. "When I was here the first time, he was my boss and now I’m working with him in a different role. I think you hire good people that are confident in themselves, but yet confident in guys they’re working with, too."

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Since he was not retained after the 2017 coaching change that brought in Chad Morris, Enos has been something of a journeyman. He's been at five different schools: Michigan, Alabama, Miami, Cincinnati and Maryland. That brought him all the way back to Fayetteville.

In all that time criss-crossing the country, Enos has learned a few things. To Pittman, that was part of the advantage of hiring him.

"Since Dan left Arkansas, he’s been in multiple formations, multiple sets, multiple offensive philosophies," Pittman said. "I think he can adjust, and will, around any of the personnel that we have."

That begins with quarterback KJ Jefferson. The multi-year starter is back for 2023, and he's going from an offensive coordinator with an Air Raid style in Briles to a pro-style coordinator in Enos.

In his first stint at Arkansas, Enos was working with quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Austin Allen. The brothers weren't the kind of running quarterbacks that Jefferson is. Enos doesn't intend to reinvent the current offense or force Jefferson into a role he hasn't played in his previous two years as QB1. That variety of schemes Pittman mentioned means Enos is prepared to work with the talent he has.

"I think you’re always going to try to do things that your personnel can do," Enos said. "When you have a quarterback that can run, you’re going to do more things where he’s able to use his feet. If you have a quarterback that can’t run, and he’s a pure drop back passer, you’re going to streamline things to help him and use his abilities. But the big thing is that we’re going to evolve, and we’re going to use the talent that we have, try to get them the ball and try to find creative ways to be efficient on offense."

Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks for the Southwest Times Record and USA Today Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Dan Enos is back with Arkansas football. Why Sam Pittman wanted him