Arguably the biggest assistant coaching hire of the offseason was understandably a hot-button topic during Arkansas’ session at SEC Media Days — and Sam Pittman fielded the numerous questions about Bobby Petrino on Thursday like a Gold Glove shortstop.
Of course, it is peak “talking season” and “winning” the event in Dallas won’t count toward the actual win-loss column, but for a coach whose job is on the line in 2024, Pittman made progress toward shifting the narrative around the Razorbacks ahead of their season opener against UAPB on Aug. 29.
Just take the SEC Network broadcast as an example.
Before Pittman took the stage, most of the talking heads were discussing his job security. Former Alabama and NFL safety Roman Harper even went so far as to describe his decision to hire Petrino as his offensive coordinator as a “desperation move.”
Following his roughly 30-minute speech and Q&A session, though, talk of Petrino took on a much more positive tone. SEC Now host Dari Nowkhah actually praised Pittman for the hire.
“How about the amount of humility it shows for a guy on a seat that most people feel is warming to hire a former head coach at that school, and most of that fan base still loves Bobby Petrino, who’s been a successful head coach everywhere he’s ever gone and say, ‘Come run my offense,’” Nowkhah said. “To me, when he did that, the first thing I thought is, man, feels maybe a little inherently risky, but at the same time it shows that he’s a humble, humble man.”
Nowkhah has a point. Any success the Razorbacks have this year, especially on offense, will be credited to Petrino.
The man who once led Arkansas to 21 wins over a two-year span before being fired amid controversy is still revered by many fans and is viewed not only as a potential savior in 2024, but a possible replacement for Pittman in the event he gets let go or retires.
The last time a similar dynamic existed, with at least a segment of the fan base wishing the offensive coordinator was the head coach, Houston Nutt was leading the program and Gus Malzahn was calling the plays.
That experience gives Nutt a unique perspective and, during a regular appearance on Little Rock talk show Morning Mayhem, the former Arkansas football coach described the dynamic as “very, very tough on Sam.”
“It’s going to be real, really interesting,” Nutt said. “And I feel sorry for Sam a little bit in this situation because he’s still the leader of the team.”
Different Situation with Bobby Petrino
Comparing the current situation in the Arkansas football program to what happened 18 years ago with Houston Nutt and Gus Malzahn is understandable, but it’s not really the same.
Even as the Razorbacks rattled off 10 straight wins and won the SEC West, there was obviously friction within the coaching staff. After all, Nutt once felt the need to tell Chuck Barrett, following a win over Ole Miss in 2005, “That was a called play, and I called it, Chuck! I called some good plays today, brother!”
The comment was an apparent response to growing criticism from the fan base regarding his offense, which was at least a part of why Malzahn was brought in the following season — and why he maybe got more credit than Nutt for Arkansas’ drastic turnaround.
If that happens this year with Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino, it doesn’t sound like Pittman will care too much. He has a much more hands-off approach with his coordinators, which also includes Travis Williams on defense and Scott Fountain on special teams.
“I would want to work for me,” Pittman said Thursday. “I would want to work with me if I was an offensive coordinator because I’m going to let you go get them. Now, I’ve got any ideas and I’m going to come in and have my tape up there and go, ‘Okay, I see this, I see this, I see this.’
“But I would think if you ask Bobby and Travis and Scott, they say he gives me the freedom to run what I think is best, and I don’t know about A&M. I don’t know that. I just know we’ve given him the freedom to go score points.”
That comment was in response to a question about how he might be meshing with Petrino better than he had the previous year under Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. The Aggies finished fifth in the SEC in scoring offense and went 7-6, but Fisher was fired with two games remaining in the regular season.
Pittman said he wasn’t sure how things were between Fisher and Petrino, but the latter touched on that topic during his introductory press conference back in November.
“When I took the job at A&M, Jimbo wanted to keep the same terminology and call things the same way they did,” Petrino said. “It was hard. It was hard on me. I was staying up all night. I can remember staying up all night just getting ready for the first scrimmage. I woke up at 2 a.m. in the morning to get ready to call plays for the first scrimmage just understanding what the terminology was, what the formation was, and it was different.”
Needless to say, that won’t be the case in Fayetteville. Pittman reiterated Thursday that Petrino would be in charge of the offense — something he’s said since the hire was made.
“He’s got a job to do and I don’t know how I can allow him to do a job if it ain’t his offense,” Pittman said in November. “We hired him because he’s a brilliant offensive mind. It’s his offense. That’s just what it is.”
Other Benefits for Sam Pittman, Arkansas Football
In addition to being an offensive mastermind, Bobby Petrino also brings something else that Arkansas football lacked in 2023, when it limped to a 4-8 record.
Last year was the first time Sam Pittman coached a season without defensive coordinator Barry Odom by his side. The former Missouri head coach was with him for three years and was instrumental in helping the rookie SEC head coach.
Petrino has also been a head coach in the SEC, holding that role at Arkansas from 2008-11, which has made him a “great resource,” Pittman said.
“It’s like a security blanket,” Pittman said. “I got Bobby there. I had Barry there. I have 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.”
Pittman elaborated on several other things Petrino brings to the table during an interview on SEC Now, in which the first thing he was asked about was his new offensive coordinator and the decision to bring him on board.
“I also wanted his expertise at calling plays,” Pittman said. “I knew that he knew alumni. I knew that could help us in NIL. I knew that he knew our state, with our coaches. I knew that he knew Texas and knew California. There were so many benefits and I also knew he was a head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, a head coach at Louisville, Western Kentucky, Arkansas. All of that stuff meant a lot to me.”
If there was any question about Pittman’s motivation, he shut it down Thursday.
He isn’t worried about being on the so-called “hot seat” or not receiving enough credit for any potential success in 2024. As long as the Razorbacks are winning games, he’s happy.
“Listen guys, I’m not worried about my job,” Pittman said. “I’m not worried about any of that. I’m worried about winning games for Arkansas and that’s it. If I think Bobby Petrino is the best guy I can get to do that for our state and for our players and for our staff, then that’s damn sure what I was going to do and it was very easy.”
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Watch Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman’s full interview at SEC Media Days:
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