Sam Pittman on Hunter Yurachek turning down Auburn, raise: ‘That’s shows what kind of man he is’

Not too long after the Auburn Tigers hired John Cohen to be their new athletic director, their target list was revealed. One of the individuals on that list was current Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek. It’s believed that by turning down Auburn, Yurachek turned down a huge raise. To some, that would be considered a foolish choice. However, Arkansas football head coach Sam Pittman says: ‘That’s shows what kind of man he is.’

“Everything. That’s a man that practices what he preaches,” said Pittman. “And, to me, he already was powerful with all of us head coaches, and for him to do exactly what, at times, he asked us to do is powerful. I’m so glad that he’s staying.

“Obviously, he’s the one who gave me my opportunity. But the old saying he practiced what he preaches; that’s what he does, and that shows what kind of man he is. And to say I’m excited that he’s going to stay here would be an understatement. I have a lot of respect for him and Jennifer. I mean what I’m saying; I’m ecstatic that he decided to stay.”

Under Yurachek, Arkansas enjoyed success throughout the majority of their sports programs. Their baseball program was already led by Dave Van Horn prior to his arrival and has consistently been one of the better ones in college baseball. But in basketball, Yurachek brought in Eric Musselman in 2017. Mussleman has turned the program around; making it one of the more competitive teams in the country. And in football, the aforementioned Pittman was hired in 2019. Since then, he has brought a level of success to the program that they have not seen since the early 2000s.

With what Yurchek has done so far, it’s not just Pittman that should be glad he stayed but the entirety of the Arkansas sports fan base.

Pittman provides additional information on Kade Renfro’s ACL tear

Arkansas has been missing quarterback Kade Renfro this season. Expected to be a backup behind KJ Jefferson, Renfro tore his ACL at the end of the 2021 season and hasn’t been able to play since then. Now, head coach Sam Pittman has a new update on Renfro’s status.

The question came up due to a post made by Renfro that he had surgery on his knee. This is the second surgery that he’s had to repair his ACL injury.

“I think it was during the Texas A&M week,” Pittman said. “Just stepped and planted and [a] non-contact deal.

“Swelled up on him a little bit. Didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I don’t think he did, and he couldn’t get the swelling off of it and found out that he had torn his ACL again. So, another misfortunate deal. A non-contact type situation. But, yes, he had an ACL again.”