Sam Pittman anticipates further staff changes at Arkansas

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman already made one big staff move this offseason, bringing in Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator.

Pittman met with the media on Thursday and shared that he expects more staff changes to come.

“Yeah, I do. I think there will be some, you know,” Sam Pittman said. “But I’m not ready to talk about it. But I don’t think we’ll be intact totally next season.”

It’s no surprise that Sam Pittman is looking to make more changes to his staff after Arkansas finished 4-8 this past season. One additional change has already taken place with Razorbacks offensive line coach Cody Kennedy reportedly leaving to take the same position at Mississippi State.

Footballscoop.com reported the news earlier this week.

“Cody Kennedy, a multi-time honoree as an Broyles Award candidate and former semifinalist for the award given annually to college football’s best assistant coach, is set to move on from his spot on Sam Pittman’s Arkansas Razorbacks staff to join Lebby’s inaugural Bulldogs staff, numerous sources tell FootballScoop,” John Brice of FootballScoop reported. “He will coach State’s offensive line. It’s viewed as an absolutely crucial addition for Lebby from a noted conference rival, per sources within the Southeastern Conference.”

It will be interesting to see if there are additional changes, and if so, what those changes are.

Sam Pittman on Bobby Petrino’s past: ‘We all make a mistake’

Sam Pittman bringing Bobby Petrino on board caused quite the stir.

Pittman had to address the controversy around Petrino from his prior stint in Fayetteville during a press conference on Thursday. As for vetting the hire, he left that up to the school and athletic department. He just wanted to hire the best man for the job and, in his opinion, that was Petrino, regardless of his past.

“That part of it? That’s up for Hunter (Yurachek) and those guys,” said Pittman. “I wanted to hire him. I know he’s a good man. We all make a mistake.”

“I wanted to hire him,” Pittman continued. “He was our best candidate, he’s a wonderful person. I was adamant that I wanted to hire him and he was adamant that he wanted to come. So the university went to work on all that kind of stuff.”

Petrino’s history with Arkansas is well-documented. He was the program’s head coach from 2008 to 2011. During that four-year stretch where they improved their record each season. In total, they finished 34-17 in those years with two wins in three bowl appearances.

Then, following the season, Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident. However, it went further than that as, long story short, he wasn’t honest or faithful regarding who was with him during the incident.

That led Arkansas to fire him as Petrino would be out of the sport for two years. He has since been rehabilitating his career with stops at Western Kentucky, Louisville, Missouri State, and, most recently, Texas A&M.