Considering their status in a state that loves its Razorbacks, it’s easy to forget that Arkansas coaches are people, too.
Just like the common man with a 9-to-5 job, they’ve been known to crack open an “ol’ cold beer” after a long day at work, do fun things over the weekend or take a vacation when the calendar allows it.
Even a Hall of Famer like John Calipari had to escape to the Jersey Shore to “catch a breath” after his first summer session in Fayetteville. Eric Musselman famously went to MLB games all over the country during the summer. Just this weekend, Dave Van Horn made his way over to Harrison to see Zach Williams — a Christian rock artist from Jonesboro — perform a show.
For fifth-year Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman, his fun usually centers around spending time at his lake house in Hot Springs and going to concerns with his wife, Jamie.
In an interview on the debut episode of The Chuck & Bo Show on ESPN Arkansas, Pittman said they did get away for a couple days this summer to Las Vegas, where they saw a Lionel Richie concert. Other than that, though, they dialed things back on the music front.
“I didn’t get to see a whole lot of concerts,” Pittman said. “Usually Jamie and I go to a whole lot of concerts. Didn’t get much of that this summer.”
For a guy whose catchphrase involves turning on a jukebox, that was probably quite the sacrifice. It is also probably an indication of Pittman recognizing that 2024 is shaping up to be a make-or-break season for him and his future at Arkansas.
The Razorbacks are coming off a 4-8 season in which they won just one SEC game. There was speculation that he might not even make it through last year, so when Hunter Yurachek opted to retain him, Pittman immediately became one of the top “hot seat” coaches in the country.
Just as he has taken on a larger role with the offensive line — becoming, as he likes to say, the highest-paid graduate assistant in college football — Pittman preferred to stay closer to the UA campus this summer. With Hot Springs less than a four-hour drive away, he made up for the lack of concerts with lake time.
“I love the water and all that about it, the people of Hot Springs and Arkansas,” Pittman said. “But the other thing is I’m not too far away from the university and if I need to get back and come back in the morning and watch the workouts and then get back to the lake, it’s not that difficult. I hate to go too far away from the kids in the summer, even though we need our time as well.”
