Sam Pittman: 'I'm not worried about my job, I'm worried about the damn state of Arkansas'

This season has not gone the way the Arkansas Razorbacks imagined, as their 7-3 loss versus Mississippi State on Saturday represented their fifth straight loss as they’ve failed to achieve a single win in conference play this year.

A 2-5 record and underachievement at this point of the season usually comes with rumors and talks of a head coaching change, but Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman made it clear during his press conference on Monday that he’s much more concerned about the well being of the state of Arkansas versus his job security amid the team’s struggles.

“I’m real confident that we can get it back to what is respectable plus for the state of Arkansas, and to be honest with you, that’s really all I’m worried about. I’m not worried about my job, I’m worried about the damn state of Arkansas and having them proud of our football team,” Pittman said. “And hell, I’m not right now and I know they ain’t and I get it. But I’m the only one that can change it so we’re gonna work like hell to get that done.”

Pittman and the Razorbacks have taken a step back after many assumed he turned the program around following his successful 9-4 record in his second season at the helm in 2021.

One glaring area they’ve taken a step back in is with their offense, which went from one of the top five scoring units in the conference a season ago to the SEC’s worst offense this year in terms of yards and points per game. New offensive coordinator Dan Enos joined the staff this offseason, but was fired following the team’s most recent loss to the Bulldogs where the Razorbacks failed to reach the end zone once.

Pittman was also asked about how much of the offense he’ll be involved in moving forward, again addressing his attitudes towards being fired in the process.

“All of it, I mean it’s my butt on the line, it’s all of us,” Pittman said. “I don’t worry so much about losing my job, I worry so much about losing the building’s job. We got buyouts and all that kind of stuff, I don’t want to buy out, I want to win. So I’m not saying I’m the know-all answer guy, but I damn sure need to get involved more and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Kenny Guiton has taken over the role as Arkansas’ interim offensive coordinator, but there’s no doubt that this offseason the Razorbacks will have to take a long look at themselves offensively and make some changes.

Cornerstone pieces of their offense like quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Raheim Sanders will likely both no longer be with the team next season, and between personnel and staff, it’s hard not to think about Arkansas’ offensive future with just four games remaining in their season that’s been disappointing thus far.

“I think there’s so many guys out there that would like to be a part of Arkansas that we can find whether it’s in-house where we’re at now or whether we go and look outside. We can find somebody that’s damn good that wants to be at Arkansas,” Pittman said, “And I think in the quarterback room, because that’s where it starts, we’ve got some really good players in the quarterback room. I love [Jacolby] Crisswell and I think he’s really good, Malachi [Singleton] same. We got some guys that can win in the SEC and that’s kind of where you start. And then the rest of it you go okay, where are you gonna go in the portal, where you gonna go JUCO, where we going high school, whatever that may be to change our team next year.”