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Sam Pittman enjoyed a breakthrough season with Arkansas in 2021, but things have stalled in a frustrating way since.
The Razorbacks won 9 games in Pittman’s second season atop the program, the best campaign at the time since Bobby Petrino left Fayetteville. But they went 3-5 in SEC play the following season and then fell apart in 2023 to finish 4-8. Facing a scorching-hot seat, Pittman brought Petrino back to town to run his offense. Arkansas opened the year 3-1, but was marred by inconsistency throughout SEC play and ended with a losing league record for the third consecutive season.
Whether the program should move on from Pittman has been a constant topic of conversation in recent years.
“Everybody’s got an opinion,” Sam Pittman recently said in an interview with On3’s Pete Nakos. “Mine’s the only one that really matters.”
Speculation about his job security is one thing. Pittman, who will turn 64 in November, is also beginning to face retirement rumors.
He told On3 he plans to fulfill his obligation to Arkansas and coach out the remainder of his contract.
“I said, whenever I signed the contract after the 2021 season, I signed for 5 more years. And then we won 7-plus games, which was in my contract, one time that I could get an extension. So I have 3 years [left], and I always said that I wanted to coach through that obligation,” Pittman said. “That’s what I want to do, after that, I don’t know.
“Part of that saying was the way I looked. I had a hip that was terrible. I probably looked older than I am. I’ve been out walking 2 miles a day now, and I feel great. I love my job and this team. Everybody in this business is going through the same thing with portal rosters. It just seems to get magnified at times in our state. My goal is to coach, at least through what my contract is.”
Pittman signed a 5-year extension in June 2022 with a retroactive start date of Jan. 1, 2022. A 7-win season the following fall triggered the clause in his deal that extended the life of the contract through Dec. 31, 2027.
Pittman’s contract also reportedly has a clause in it that ties his buyout to his performance. If the program chose to fire him at any point, he’d be entitled to 50% of the money owed to him if his record since the start of the 2021 season was below .500. If his record is .500 or better, Arkansas owes him 75% of his remaining salary.
Following a 7-6 season in 2024, Pittman has led the program to 27 wins and 24 losses since the beginning of the 2021 season.
The Razorbacks have a daunting schedule in 2025. They’ll face Notre Dame in late September. They have road conference games against Ole Miss in Week 3, Tennessee in Week 7, and then LSU and Texas in consecutive weeks in mid-November. Arkansas does return talented quarterback Taylen Green, but anything short of a breakthrough isn’t likely to quell the questions about Pittman’s future.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
