"I'm popular now, it's just the wrong way," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Thursday. "I'm HOT."
Pittman had a clear understanding of how hot his seat is when asked about the topic on the final day of this year's SEC Media Days inside the Omni Hotel in Dallas.
It's no secret that Pittman has plenty of pressure on his shoulders entering his fifth season in Fayetteville coming off a 4-8 campaign last fall. With an overall record of 23-25 as the Head Hog, Pittman is looking to return his team to the form it had when it went 9-4 with an Outback Bowl win during the 2021 season.
"Listen, what's fair is fair," Pittman said. "If you're going to get patted on the back, you're going to get punched in the gut. What's fair is fair. To be honest with you, the only one that can really control the hot seat is me and what we do with our football team. It's never been about me, so I'm really not concerned about it. I'm concerned about the state, players and our staff. And we've got a good football team."
That successful 2021 season was just two years removed from the worst two-year stretch in program history when the Razorbacks won just four total games over two years in 2018-19 under former head coach Chad Morris. According to Pittman, the Hogs still have the ability to turn things around quickly — especially with the team he has this year.
Along with this year's squad — which featured 17 freshmen and 22 transfer portal additions — it's been well-documented that there are new offensive staff members. Headlining the staff additions is offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who Razorback fans remember well from his time as Arkansas head coach from 2008-11.
"It's like a security blanket," Pittman said of Petrino. "I got Bobby there. I had Barry (Odom) there. I had Bobby there that I can run off things. Both of those guys are not, hey, we need to do this, this, this. I'll ask them a question and I want their opinion and they know it.
"We'll agree on it or won't, but we're both grown men. If we do, we do. If we don't, we don't. We move on down the road. That's been very beneficial to me, and I really like him and I have a lot of the respect for him. It's just -- he spends more time in my office than anybody, and I apologize to him. I don't know if he likes it or not. I do make him talk to me a lot."
SEC Network analyst Roman Harper on Thursday called the addition of Petrino a "desperation move" by the Razorbacks. After his main room speech, radio segments and breakout interviews, Pittman took the SEC Network set to again field questions about his offensive coordinator in the midst of his job being not being the most secure.
"Listen guys, I'm not worried about my job," Pittman said. "I'm worried about winning games for Arkansas, and that's it. If I think getting Bobby Petrino is the best guy I can get to do that for our state and for our players and our staff, then that's damn sure what I was going to do. And it was very easy."
As for what Pittman and his staff have to do in order to realize more success, the Head Hog said it starts with recruiting.
"We've got to do a better job of recruiting," Pittman said. "With that comes a whole lot of NIL, comes a whole lot of collective — there's a whole conversation there. We've got to do a better job of handling the offensive line, and that's my baby and I've let it down. We have everything there is for us to have success.
"So, I like this team. I think we're going to have a lot of 'old cold beer' (postgame) talk. We've got to do a better job of recruiting. I do think we coach well. I think we communicate with our kids well. We've got to do a better job of that and I've got to make some better decisions on some of this 4th and 1, and things of that nature. I think that'll help us if I do."
Arkansas' season will kickoff Thursday, Aug. 29, against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The game will get started at 6:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on ESPNU.
