It was the Monday night of the CFP national championship game in January of 2022, and the FootballScoop staff was at a rooftop party of a coaching agency at a hotel in San Antonio. Dozens of current and aspiring head coaches were there, enjoying their night and either plotting their next move or enjoying the move they'd just plotted. The food was sensational. One of the Scoop staffers may have gone back for thirds. The game was on, but only a precious handful were actually watching it. Among them: Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, willing his former Bulldogs on from a thousand miles away, in a game they would eventually win, no doubt in the back of his heart dreaming of a day when he'd be on that stage and someone else would be cheering him on from afar.
Alas, that did not and will not happen. Pittman was fired on Sunday, five games into his sixth season at Arkansas.
As we did with Mike Gundy, DeShaun Foster and Brent Pry, we break down Pittman's tenure with a Coaching Autopsy.
What was the high point? This one was so clear we pointed it out in near real time. On Sept. 15, 2021, a 16th-ranked Arkansas knocked off No. 7 Texas A&M 20-10 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The win:
-- snapped a 9-game losing streak to the Aggies (and remains the only time Arkansas has beaten A&M since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012)
-- marked Arkansas's first win over an AP Top 10 foe since 2012
-- came two weeks after the Hogs hammered No. 15 Texas 40-21, their largest margin of victory over the hated 'Horns since the 2000 Cotton Bowl
-- gave Arkansas wins over UT and A&M for the first time since 1988
-- pushed the Razorbacks to No. 8 in the AP poll, the program's highest rank since 2011
No. 8 Arkansas would get blanked by No. 2 Georgia on their way to the first of two straight national championships, but the Hogs would go on to beat No. 17 Mississippi State, played eventual finalist Alabama to a 42-35 final in Bryant-Denny, and beat Penn State in the Outback Bowl. It was the program's highest win total, first New Year's Day bowl win, and first AP Top 25 finish since 2011.
What was the low point? It was quite obviously on Saturday, but what was the specific low point? I'll say the 9-second mark of the second quarter in Saturday's game. After Notre Dame had just gone on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to stretch its lead to 35-13 with 35 seconds left in the first half, Taylen Green hit Raylen Sharpe for a 20-yard completion, but Sharpe fumbled the ball back to the Irish. When CJ Carr hit Jadarian Price for a 35-yard touchdown, Notre Dame put the game away for good with a 42-13 lead just before the break.
In the first half of their eventual 56-13 win, Notre Dame ran 41 plays for 413 yards and scored touchdowns on all six possessions.
What did Pittman get right? At a place where you're running uphill to build a better roster than your competitors, I thought Pittman and his staff made smart choices at quarterback in KJ Jefferson and Taylen Green. Having a big, strong athlete at quarterback who can make you right when much around them is wrong is a much smarter way to handle the position and build an offense than whatever, say, Kentucky has tried to do this decade. He also smartly hired Barry Odom fresh off his firing at Missouri to run his defense.
Also, Pittman is a kind, decent man who grinded nearly 30 years between head coaching gigs in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and the Southeastern Conference and never let the position, and the pressure he was under, change him. I know it's not enough to save his job, but that counts for something, even today.
What did Pittman get wrong? Arkansas never finished in the top half nationally in yards per play defense after Odom's departure following the 2022 season. In fact, the Hogs' high-water mark of 47th in that metric in 2021 was the only time they were among the top 50 percent nationally.
And while hiring Bobby Petrino was the right decision for the team, Pittman also hired his own successor. Another OC hire could have ridden Green to a 6-6 regular season last year as Petrino did, and Pittman likely lasts at least until the end of this season.
Also, Pittman failed to develop the necessary connections and confidence among the booster class to pony up the money necessary to win in the SEC. How much of that is on Pittman and how much is on the program? We'll find out.
What did Arkansas get right? Arkansas swung hard in the opposite direction after SEC outsider Chad Morris flamed out without a conference victory in his 22 games atop the program, and Pittman's initial staff hires were impressive. In a world where NIL does not exist, Arkansas could have scratched out a living in the SEC's middle class under Pittman.
What did Arkansas get wrong? “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 now with the new revenue sharing model," AD Hunter Yurachek said earlier this month. Says it all, doesn't it?
Where does Pittman likely go next? Pittman indicated this summer he would consider retirement after coaching through the end of his contract, which expired in 2027. “I have three years, and I always said that I wanted to coach through that obligation,” he said. “That’s what I want to do, after that, I don’t know.” At 63, it would be a surprise if Pittman never donned another coaching polo, but it would be a bigger surprise if he took another on-field, full-time position coaching job.
Where does Arkansas likely go next? Arkansas needs a proven head coach with a track record of doing more with less or, even better, turning less into more, or at least equal. Rhett Lashlee, Jeff Traylor, Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh all have SEC and/or region experience and have won at a level below yours. Make your phone calls and take your pick. Lashlee is a Springdale, Ark., native who played and GA'd for the Hogs, so the search will almost certainly start (and perhaps end) there.