It’s been a busy offseason trying to hold on to assistants for Arkansas coach Sam Pittman.

After wide receivers coach Justin Stepp left for South Carolina, defensive coordinator Barry Odom was reportedly a candidate at Texas, and Jamil Walker, the strength and conditioning coach, receiving interest from South Carolina, Pittman is working to hold on to another assistant.

Pittman now is trying to retain the services of offensive line coach Brad Davis, FootballScoop reported. Per sources with direct knowledge of the situation, Southern California head coach Clay Helton has made an offer to add Davis as the Trojans’ offensive line coach. USC recently parted ways with a pair of coaches, offensive line coach Tim Drevno and well-regarded strength coach Aaron Ausmus, whose contract was not renewed by USC.

This is an interesting position given Pittman himself is a former long-time and well-respected offensive line coach. But they also have a special connection. Pittman coached Davis for the Oklahoma Sooners in 1997-98, and later brought Davis to North Carolina in 2008 as the offensive line graduate assistant.

Davis previously coached at Missouri under Odom and Florida under Jim McElwain. Before that, Davis spent single seasons at North Texas (2016), East Carolina (2015) and James Madison, where he also was the co-offensive coordinator for a Dukes team that finished 9-4 and earned a FCS Playoff berth, according to his Arkansas bio.