Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek admits Sam Pittman did not have resources for success
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
A day after firing Sam Pittman and naming Bobby Petrino as interim head coach, Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek is taking some accountability.
Arkansas began the season 2-0 with blowout victories vs. Alabama A&M and Arkansas State. However, the Razorbacks followed that up with 3 consecutive losses to then-No. 17 Ole Miss, Memphis, and then-No. 22 Notre Dame.
In hindsight, Yurachek reached an unfortunate conclusion that doesn’t soften the blow for Pittman, who was his in sixth season at Arkansas.
“You were at the board meeting,” Yurachek said during a press conference on Monday. “And I gave you some statistics where our head coach compensation, our assistant coach salary pool, our support staff salary pool, and our overall operating budget ranked toward the bottom of the Southeastern Conference. I think, with that information, Coach Pittman did not have the resources he needed to appropriately compete in this conference right now.”
Pittman departs with a 32-24 record since taking over at Arkansas in December 2019. Pittman guided the Razorbacks to 4 bowls in his 5 full seasons.
The long-time former head coach Petrino will make his debut at the helm for Arkansas coming out of the bye at No. 15 Tennessee on Oct. 11 (4:15 p.m. ET/SEC Network).
