Arkansas officially announced Sunday that it has much-embattled head coach Sam Pittman, with the school also revealing that former head coach Bobby Petrino, Pittman’s offensive coordinator, is taking over on an interim basis.
But while the Razorbacks and their fans are eager to get the coaching search started, the program first has to deal with a unique buyout situation that is associated with Pittman’s contract.
As has been covered frequently while Pittman was on the hot seat, the coach signed an extension in 2022 following a 9-4 campaign in 2021. That deal ensured that Pittman would be with the program until 2026, and it was automatically extended to 2027 when Arkansas won 7 games in 2022.
The buyout stipulation in the contract stated that if Pittman was fired before 2027, he would be paid 75% of the money he would be owed only if his post-2021 record is better than .500 at the time of firing. If that was not the case, Pittman would have been awarded 50% of the remaining contractual benefits.
Following the defeat at the hands of Notre Dame, Pittman’s record since 2021 is 29-27. Had Arkansas waited for a couple more losses, the school would have had to deal out $6.9 million as opposed to the $9.8 million it is paying to its former head coach now.
With games against Tennessee, Texas A&M and Auburn on the docket for Petrino & Co., the Razorback power brokers might have not had to wait very long for the number to drop significantly. Perhaps Arkansas leadership feels that Petrino can lead the Razorbacks to a bowl game.
Parker is currently the sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
