Arkansas is transferring on from Sam Pittman.
The Razorbacks fired Pittman on Sunday afternoon, the college introduced, after Arkansas fell to 2-3 following a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame in Week 5. The defeat to Notre Dame got here per week after Arkansas blew an 18-point lead in a 32-31 loss at Memphis.
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Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will take his place on an interim foundation.
“I want to thank Coach Pittman for his service and dedication to the University of Arkansas throughout his time as head coach,” athletic director Hunter Yurachek stated in a press release. “From Day 1, you could tell how much this opportunity meant to him. At this time, however, I feel a change is necessary to put our student-athletes and program in the best position to be successful. The goal for our football program is to be highly competitive within the Southeastern Conference and compete for a national championship. As we move forward in the process of finding our next head coach, I am certain we will be able to provide the necessary resources to our staff and team to reach our goals. We will begin a national search for our next head coach immediately and that search will include Coach Petrino, who has expressed his desire to be a candidate for the full-time job.”
After the loss to the Irish, Pittman stated he understood unease among the many fan base and stated that if he was nervous about his job standing on a regular basis he wouldn’t “be able to do as good a job as I possibly can.”
“I understand. I get it. If I was a fan, I’d be mad at me too, you know? I’d be frustrated as hell at me,” Pittman stated.
Arkansas employed Pittman after the 2019 season and the Razorbacks improved from 3-7 in 2020 to 9-4 in 2021. But Arkansas didn’t win greater than seven video games in any of the following three seasons and mustered solely Liberty Bowl appearances since that Outback Bowl win on the conclusion of 2021.
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Pittman’s firing comes with probably the most distinctive buyout clauses in school soccer. Arkansas owes Pittman practically $10 million because the group is above .500 because the begin of the 2021 season. After Saturday’s loss, the Razorbacks are 29-27 in that span and 32-34 total in his time with the group.
If Arkansas had a dropping report since 2021, Pittman could be owed slightly below $7 million.
The teaching change additionally occurs weeks after Yurachek told boosters that the football program was not set up to contend for national championships. Arkansas final posted a 10-win season in 2011 when the Razorbacks went 11-2 beneath Petrino. Months after the season was over, Petrino was fired after his notorious motorbike crash.
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Now Petrino is again in cost. At least on an interim foundation.
In his first stint at Arkansas, Petrino was 34-17 over 4 seasons. This interim run with the Razorbacks shall be his fifth head teaching stint at three FBS faculties not counting his time at Missouri State when the Bears have been on the second degree of faculty soccer. Overall, Petrino’s groups are 119-56.
Will he give Arkansas a spark to get to a bowl sport and probably place himself for the everlasting head teaching job?