Report: Arkansas sticking with Sam Pittman as head coach

Arkansas athletic director informed the program that Sam Pittman would remain as head coach, according to Matt Zenitz.

Pittman and crew improved to 4-7 with a win over FIU over the weekend. However, the team has mightily struggled compared to expectations.

But for now, Pittman will remain the leader of the program in 2024.

The season seemed like it went off the rails when Pittman and the program elected to fire offensive coordinator Dan Enos. Pittman cited a need for change on that side of the ball.

Ahead of Week 12, the head coach sent a message to Arkansas fans supporting the program.

“First of all, we thank them for coming out and supporting us,” Pittman said after a loss to Auburn. “Obviously, we’re disappointed we didn’t have even a good showing for them on Saturday. We believe we can get this thing turned around and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Pittman acknowledged the difficulty of winning and keeping everyone’s heads up during a trying season.

“You’re always trying to win,” Pittman said. “Honestly, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different than what it does every week. We want to win and to coach for our players to be the best they possibly can be. Coaching, I think a lot of times, you get concerned when you felt like you had a really good practice week and it doesn’t go well on a Saturday.

“We went back and tried to figure out if we could change something up. It was the same thing we did against Florida format-wise. But, no. We’re trying to win games and trying to do the best we can to put the kids in the best spot to have success.”

With Arkansas bound to miss the postseason, barring not enough six-win teams available and having to dip into 5-7 squads, Pittman is likely to focus on a rebuild for 2024 to get some fast improvement.

Arkansas will have to win its finale against Missouri to be in that conversation. Pittman knows how difficult it is to block out the noise.

“It’s hard to block out noise. It’s more like for the kids, for the recruits. Once it starts, negative stuff, it’s about recruiting,” Pittman said ahead of the FIU game. “My job is to get ready for FIU. I’m not worried about my job security at all and I think I’m the guy for the university and I want to stay here for a long time.”