Arkansas coach Sam Pittman had to do it. He had to fire his friend.
Pittman had worked with Dan Enos back in the Bret Bielema era and the offense at that time was strong, with Enos calling the plays and Pittman handling the offensive line. A reunification for 2023 was curious, but had some optimistic.
Instead, Enos made it through only eight games before Pittman, now running the show, fired him. Technically, by university language, the sacking was for convenience. In actuality, Pittman did it to have a chance to save his own job.
He probably did.
Someone had to answer for Arkansas’ 2-6 record. It only made sense that the offensive coordinator, the owner of the 121st-ranked offense in FBS, take the proverbial bullet. Fans had called for action for weeks and after Saturday’s 7-3 loss to Mississippi State, Pittman could wait no more.
Enos was hired for $1.1 million a year on a three-year deal when he signed to take the gig. Arkansas owes him the rest of his first-year salary, then the $1.1 million plus each corresponding pay raise ($75,000 a year) for the next two. The amount is not massive, but it’s also not exactly cheap.
That, too, should give Pittman some breathing room. The cost to buyout the head coach’s contract would be at least six times more than that. If both Enos and Pittman were to go in the same year, Arkansas would owe almost $8 million a season in buyouts, plus they would be paying the likely $6.5 million (or so) to the new head coach and another $1.2 million, give or take, to a new offensive coordinator. That’s a lot of dough, even for the donor class.