One Burning Question: Arkansas Football

By Chris Marler

Is the ceiling high enough to get Pittman off the hot seat?

Arkansas, like several teams in this league, lives in this weird purgatory of existence that is somewhere between expectation and apathy. Also like several other teams in this league, they have one of the worst things imaginable working against them – past success. 

“It’s the hope that kills you.” 

That line from Ted Lasso sums up the Arkansas fanbase perfectly. 

The 2010 and 2011 seasons don’t seem that long ago. Those years were highlighted by an exciting quarterback, explosive offense, and offensive guru in Bobby Petrino. They have some combination of those three currently on campus. They might even have all three. 

However, the question remains, how high is the ceiling for this team and is it high enough to get Sam Pittman off the hot seat? 

Sam Pittman has accomplished one of the biggest tasks assigned to him when he took the job: turning around the Arkansas program. He’s done that. Pittman has three winning seasons and three bowl wins in his first five years, including a nine win season in 2021. None of those accomplishments may seem like much, but they are when you consider the Razorbacks had just eight wins in the three seasons combined, prior to Pittman arriving. 

The ceiling for next season should be around eight to nine wins. It feels like there are three to four guaranteed wins on the schedule with Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Memphis, and Mississippi State. They also get Texas A&M at home for the first time since 2013, as well as a potentially winnable games against Missouri and Auburn in Fayetteville.

The offense will be in year two of the Bobby Petrino era at offensive coordinator. Taylen Green is back at quarterback and was one of the most explosive and underrated playmakers at the position in the entire country. There are several games that Arkansas could have won a season ago if he took care of the football better. He finished the year with nine interceptions and eight fumbles. The eight fumbles were the fourth most in the SEC and the tenth most in the country. 

If Green can cut down on the turnovers and Arkansas’ defense can improve from allowing the most passing yards in the SEC and second most points per game, the Hogs should be better. Will this satisfy fans? Arkansas still has Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, and LSU on the schedule for 2025, and only one of those five games is at home. 

Like it seems is the case every year, a six to seven win season for Arkansas feels like it would take a Herculean effort to achieve. This time around the question becomes, even if it occurs will it be enough for Pittman to keep his job?