Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Sam Pittman is on a scorching hot seat following three notable firings in the past week. The Oklahoma State Cowboys fired Mike Gundy on Tuesday, two days after the Virginia Tech Hokies fired Brent Pry and the UCLA Bruins fired DeShaun Foster.
What’s not helping Pittman is that the Hogs have an interim head football coach in mind: Bobby Petrino.
The offensive guru was deemed by CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello the “logical” interim replacement for Pittman if he was fired. Marcello made sure to point out that Petrino is “not undercutting” Pittman.
“Let's be clear: Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino have been/are close. They help each other A LOT. They're trying to fix Hogs. Petrino is *not* undercutting. Many I've talked to believe he's now the logical choice if an interim is needed,” Marcello wrote.
After a come-from-behind 32-31 loss to the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, Pittman is a sitting duck in Fayetteville. Schools are not being shy about dumping the wrong guy right now, and most Razorback fans would classify Pittman as such. Hell, even the school's administration voices that opinion in coded fashion.
Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek has defended Pittman, claiming that a national championship isn’t possible with his roster.
“We know we’re set up to win a national championship in men’s basketball moving forward. We know we’re set up to win a national championship in baseball moving forward and I think we’re set up in several other sports to win a national championship. Football, where we are right now, we’re not set up to win a national championship. I’ll just be brutally honest with that, but I think we’re set up to compete really well in the Southeastern Conference, especially with the new revenue-sharing model,” Yuracheck said this past week.
That’s not a strong defense. Pittman apparently can’t convince the Razorbacks’ donors to spend on the recruits he’s interested in.
Yurachek’s words should make sense soon. Pittman will be fired, and Petrino may be back as Arkansas’s head football coach until further notice.