re: Sam Pittman to return as Arkansas football coach, Hunter Yurachek informs team

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COMPARISIONS TO PITTMAN SITUATION

There are examples of coaches who bounced back after a bad year late in their career, but there are a lot more examples of ones who did not. After a 7-6 Year 3 in 2018 for Will Muschamp at South Carolina (mirroring Pittman's 7-6 Year 3 in 2022), the Gamecocks dipped to 4-8 in Year 4 (mirroring Pittman's 4-7 Year 4 in 2023). He was retained but was fired in Year 5 after a 2-5 start.

On the other side, after going 6-6 in Year 5 in 2020, Tulane coach Willie Fritz somehow survived a 2-10 campaign in Year 6. Had he been fired, the Green Wave never would have reached 12-2 the next season, nor would they be sitting at 9-1 this season.

I wrote this article before the Florida game, so again ignore the text at the top and scroll down where I break down the situations with the most recent coaching changes at each school and what it took for the AD to fire the coaches.

Now how about some comparisons of what Arkansas is willing to accept versus what other SEC programs are willing to accept. Mississippi State just fired Zach Arnett after less than one year on the job. Maybe this is a minority opinion, but it was justified. The only reason he was hired as head coach was to keep the continuity of the program following the tragic passing of former head coach Mike Leach who took the program from 4-7, to 7-6 to 8-4 the previous three seasons. Arnett instead decided to do it his own way and completely altered the offensive philosophy. They tanked because of it.

What was there for Mississippi State to salvage with Arnett? They didn't owe him much, and he had no good will built up for keeping him. For Yurachek to keep Pittman, apparently he feels there is plenty to salvage.

'Texas A&M doesn't settle for mediocrity, even if it costs them $77.6 million...' Well, they did for a while, actually. Jimbo Fisher was there six years, and they didn't win any championships the five seasons before he was fired last week. One might argue his 9-1 record in 2020 was comparable to Pittman's 9-4 season in 2021 considering the shape of the programs they inherited. Would his 8-4 2021 then not be comparable to Pittman's 7-6 2022 season? Fisher survived 5-7 in 2022 in Year 5, just like Pittman apparently is surviving 4-7 in 2023 in Year 4. But the Aggies had finally had enough after a 6-4 start in Year 6, and the truth is that will be Pittman's fate if 2024 isn't something else.

WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

Now that Pittman is apparently safe, what else needs to happen? Arkansas needs to go get former wide receiver commit, in-stater and top-100 prospect Courtney Crutchfield back in the fold. They need to get everybody to recant their crystal ball projections for in-stater defensive lineman and top-100 prospect Charleston Collins to flip from Arkansas to Ole Miss. Yurachek's assuring move needs to start that process, and then they need to make sure they are competitive from an 'NIL' standpoint.

As for Pittman, he has to get better as a head coach. Arkansas came off that Florida game feeling too good about themselves and came into the Auburn game like Hugh Freeze owed them a favor. Pittman cannot allow that to happen. Then there's more minor in-game management issues.... like not running the tush-push on 4th-and-1 until late in the season when there's not a more similar QB in the NFL than Jalen Hurts who has been doing it with the Eagles for the past two years.

There's also timeout usage. Early in the year, why would Arkansas call a timeout before punting before a fourth-and-short? It's a small detail again, but Arkansas has to run a hard-count in that situation and then either run a pre-determined play or just take a five-yard penalty and punt. No timeout needed...

This might be overlooked, but against Florida on their final fourth quarter drive, they had a first down with all three timeouts, in field goal range with a rolling 1:46 remaining on the clock. Florida only had one timeout. Why in the world did they snap the ball with 26 second left on the play clock? After Arkansas' field goal to tie the game at 33-33, Florida had 44 seconds left. It took them 36 seconds to get into field goal range.

It all worked out, which is why it might be overlooked, but had Arkansas waited to snap the ball there then maybe Florida would have had more like 20 seconds left instead of 44, which obviously made a huge difference.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm not sure what the right answer is. Some say I didn't have a hard enough take in my Walk & Talk after the FIU game, but I just convey how I feel in that moment, nothing more or less. If Arkansas comes forth with the resources, I think Pittman stands as good of a chance at turning things around next season as anybody they would hire to replace him. More than anything, it's the optics of how it looks keeping him when other programs have shown they would have made a change in Arkansas' situation. 'Is Arkansas' settling for mediocrity?'

With the way the season played out I think things spiraled for Pittman. I think the roster has more talent overall than the 4-7 record indicates, but offensive line was a major problem, and that position group cannot under any circumstances be the weakest link It effected everything they tried to do on offense. To have a mobile quarterback and surrender 42 sacks on the year is just astoundingly bad.

What the Pittman retention does ensure is that this defensive coaching staff should be back, and they should have most of the same players they have had in 2023. Invest competitively against other programs, and put a lot of it into the offensive line. Make sure you're in excellent shape at quarterback. There is no room for hoping. The first two options at QB need to be great options.

Many have pointed to the success TCU in just one year by making a coaching change, but they are an outlier who found a diamond in the rough at QB in Max Duggan who entered the season as a backup before leading the Horned Frogs to the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game. He's gone, and now TCU is 5-6. Quarterback matters more than anything, but he has to be protected, and he has to have playmakers.

Is Pittman the right guy for the job? I get fans want someone to pay for how sorry this football has been the majority of the last decade. But with the right players and an OC worth a damn, he can be the guy to get it back on track.

Is it the best idea to blow it all up if you can avoid it right before the new era of the SEC with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference? It is if there is no hope left. Is there hope?

We'll know a lot starting Dec. 5 when the transfer portal opens.

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Damn. This year had some pretty good coaching candidates we might actually be able to land too.

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“I don't think I'm getting fired, or (Yurachek) would have told me I'm getting fired,” Pittman said. “I'm not sure why I have to answer these questions about fired or not, but I think it will kill recruiting if we keep talking about it. If you're an Arkansas fan, it's going to hurt us… When we fabricate stories and put it out, it kills us in recruiting. When we give opinions about who is coming in and those type of things, it kills us. I've got a wife, and she's a human being.”

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