Sam Pittman responds to Steve Sarkisian's take on Arkansas-Texas rivalry: 'He's probably right'

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian took a jab at Arkansas fans at SEC Media Days earlier this week, declaring that at times, Razorbacks supporters “hate Texas more than they like themselves.”

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman was asked about Sarkisian’s comment during his turn at the mic on Thursday. In a bit of a surprising move, Pittman agreed with Sarkisian.

“Well, I will say this, we hadn’t played Texas for years, and when we played them a couple of years back, it was the most excited our fanbase has been in a while,” Sam Pittman said. “So I would say he’s probably right.”

Arkansas and Texas faced off in the 2021 season, with the Razorbacks earning a 40-21 win in Fayetteville. The Longhorns finished 5-7 that season in Year 1 under Steve Sarkisian.

Needless to say, expectations are higher for Texas entering 2024. The Longhorns reached the College Football Playoff last season and return plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, including star quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Pittman is well aware that beating Texas this coming season will be more difficult, but he is thankful that the game will once again be played at home.

“The difference is, is Texas is certainly a different team than what we played. That was his first year there and now obviously he’s a great coach, great guy. And Got a wonderful football team,” Pittman said. “But I’m glad we’re going to play them at home again. I don’t know if that’s fair, because they came there two years ago. But it’s an early morning game.”

Pittman isn’t sure that he is the most qualified person to respond to Sarkisian, but he also can’t argue with what the Texas head coach had to say.

“He’s probably correct,” Pittman said. “You’d have to ask the old hats of Arkansas, but he’s probably right.”

Sam Pittman: Arkansas must ’embrace the Hog’ in 2024

Arkansas is in need of a quality record this season for their fifth year under Sam Pittman. In order to do so, he has coined a new phrase in Fayetteville that certainly got some attention at SEC Media Days on Thursday.

While at the podium in Dallas this morning, Pittman noted how his program is entering a brand new year in the coming weeks. With that, he wants the Razorbacks to accept what they are and, as he put it, “embrace the Hog”.

“2024 is a fresh start. We’ve been working tirelessly to address the areas that we need the most improvement,” Pittman said.

“Our focus is to embrace the hog, which means we need to be tough, we need to be together, we need to be consistent, accountable and do it with pride. I think we’ve accomplished that through the spring ball.”