Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Sam Pittman is firmly on a scorching hot seat in Fayetteville after the Notre Dame Fighting Irish marched into Razorback Stadium and forcefully handed the Hogs a 56-13 loss.
It’s unclear how many chances he has left. The Fort Smith Southwest Times Record’s Jackson Fuller believes Pittman may not have the capability to make good on any of the remaining chances left on the 2025 schedule. Not after losing to the Group of 5 Memphis Tigers last week and showing no fight in a laid-egg response in their biggest non-conference game of the season.
Arkansas plays the Tennessee Volunteers on Rocky Top after the bye week, then the Texas A&M Aggies, Auburn Tigers, and Mississippi State Bulldogs at home, then the LSU Tigers and Texas Longhorns in Baton Rouge and Austin, before finishing up against the Missouri Tigers in the Battle Line Rivalry at home.
“Pittman and his players raved about this week's practices. It felt like there was a quiet confidence that the Memphis defeat was an aberration,” Fuller wrote.
“Instead, the Group of 5 loss was an ominous sign of what lied ahead. It's hard to identify where the next win on the schedule might reside.
“There's an ocean-length gulf between the Razorbacks and the best teams in the sport, and the future of program is back on unsteady ground with a coach firmly on the hot seat again.”
Sam Pittman won’t survive with losses to Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn
Bobby Petrino may be the head coach before long, anyway. Perhaps Pittman won’t need to worry about Mississippi State, LSU, Texas, or Mizzou.
With Pittman’s buyout shrinking by more than $3 million if his overall record with the Hogs falls below .500, he would likely be out of a job after consecutive losses to Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Auburn.
There’s a ticking time bomb in Arkansas. When it blows depends on how much worse this gets, and how soon.