Hunter Yurachek – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Is Sam Pittman returning next season a positive move or is Arkansas making a huge mistake?

Is Hunter Yurachek’s decision to keep Sam Pittman the right move or is Arkansas making a massive mistake? Let’s take a look at both sides.

The hottest topic surrounding Arkansas football in recent weeks has been Sam Pittman and his job security.

As it turns out, the rumors and speculation of his demise as head coach of the Razorbacks were greatly exaggerated. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek put the uncertainty to rest on Sunday afternoon when he confirmed that Pittman will remain in Fayetteville for the 2024 season.

“Our team was extremely excited last night after the game when I informed them that Coach Pittman is our head coach and will be moving forward into the 2024 season,” Yurachek’s statement on Twitter (X) read. “This has not been the season any of us anticipated. We have work to do. I am confident that together, we can meet the goals and expectations of our program.”

“I want to thank the many Razorback fans who have supported our team this season. I look forward to honoring our seniors and cheering on this team on Friday as we take on Missouri.”

The news was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from Razorback fans. There were a few in favor of the move, but the majority of people believe that the team’s performance this year warrants a coaching change.

Let’s take a look at a few reasons that retaining Sam Pittman could be good for the program and, conversely, why it could end up being a huge mistake.

So, let me get this straight, was Pittman a good hire or a bad hire?

Like in life, hindsight for coaching hires is always 20/20.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow see into the future and visualize how a decision will affect us, even before we have to make that decision?

The old adage agrees, we all have 20/20 vision in hindsight. Which never rings more true than with coaching hires – and many marriages, I guess. If we would have just known, we could have taken a different path and saved the pain.

The current swirl around the Arkansas football program has reached that dilemma. Was Sam Pittman a good hire or a bad hire? The current state of affairs doesn’t look very positive, but it never does when things go south. Should Pittman be let go or should he be given a little more time? I agree that things are wearing thin, but I don’t earn enough money to have to make that decision.

I do know that on Sept. 11, 2021, as fans rushed the field inside Razorback Stadium, after the Hogs’ stunning 40-21 win over No. 15 Texas, Pittman appeared to be a great hire. Then after defeating Texas A&M two weeks later – for the first time in 10 years – followed by a win over LSU in Baton Rouge, Pittman was the talk of the college football world. Arkansas Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek looked like a genius.

Arkansas then bounced blue-blood Penn State in the Outback Bowl to finish the season with nine wins – the most since that ill-fated motorcycle crash. Razorback fans couldn’t wait to get their hands on that iconic poster of Pittman sitting on a throne, surrounded by the Golden Boot Trophy, the Battle Line Rivalry trophy, the Outback Bowl trophy, with Larry the bowling ball, all residing in Fayetteville.

“Turn that damn jukebox on” became the chant of Northwest Arkansas.

Yet, just two short years later the program has again hit the skids, and in the eyes of many, Pittman was now a horrible choice. Some comparing the hire to the shameless debacle of winless SEC head coach Chad Morris. Apparently, the ol’ coach that just lifted the program from the ashes of ruin, now has no clue what he’s doing.

Some are even calling for the head of Yurachek for making the hire. From genius to idiot, in the blink of an eye.

Jeff Long was lashed the same way after Bret Bielema’s tenure ended on a sour note in 2017. Although, when Bielema was hired away from Wisconsin in 2013, he had just taken the Badgers to three straight Rose Bowls – averaging 10 wins a season over that stretch – with a power brand of football that most fans loved. After seven wins in just his second season, including back-to-back shutouts of Ole Miss and LSU and a “borderline erotic” victory over Texas in the Texas Bowl, Bielema seemed to have the program headed in the right direction.

With eight wins and a Liberty Bowl victory over Kansas State a year later, most Hog fans were riding the Bielema bandwagon. But then things began going downward over the next two seasons and the once-promising coach was suddenly a terrible hire, and Long was to blame.

If that crystal ball would have just been functioning correctly in the beginning.

Unfortunately, in the world we live in, things rarely go as expected, even half the time. Sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad.

On the flip side, many fans pleaded with the program to steer clear of Memphis coach Mike Norvell and Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz, during recent coaching searches. Although Norvell played collegiately at Central Arkansas and Drinkwitz is from Alma, neither guy seemed to have the resume the Razorbacks needed. Fast-forward to 2023, and they are two of the hottest coaches in the country, at Florida State and Missouri, respectively.

If that darn crystal ball would have just let us know.

The biggest knock against Pittman is the fact that he was just an offensive line coach and not a “real” head coach. Yet, that path has worked out well for Kansas City Chiefs Super-Bowl winning coach Andy Reid, as well as former LSU national champion coach Les Miles. All in addition to a number of other successful head coaches, like Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, who were “just offensive line coaches.”

If marriage is any indication, the failure of long-term compatibility in any relationship is about 50 percent. And ironically, Arkansas has the highest divorce rate of any state in the entire country. So, why should we be surprised when football coaching relationships end with a bitter taste?

The Razorbacks have had their share of successful coaches since Hugo Bezdek famously declared that his team played “like a wild band of Razorback hogs,” 113 years ago. Of the 31 non-interim head coaches in Arkansas history, 18 have left with winning records. Unfortunately, none since Bobby Petrino in 2011.

And if you want to drop all the blame on Yurachek for hiring Pittman, at this point, also give him credit for his home run hires, like men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman, softball coach Courtney Deifel and gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber, all among the nation’s best. Not to mention, the fact that Arkansas has won more overall conference championships in the SEC than any other school since he took the reins in 2017, including 23 conference titles in the past three years alone.

Only time will tell who the next successful head football coach at Arkansas will be. But when that happens, Razorback Nation will rejoice. At least for the time being.

Confirmed (again): Sam Pittman is not on the hot seat

We told you a month ago. Hunter Yurachek told you yesterday. Bloviating on social media about the program doesn’t do anything.

Back in mid-October, when the Arkansas football team was in the midst of what would be a six-game losing streak, pitchforks and torches were being prepared in sheds across the Natural State. The proverbial ‘they’ were getting ready to come for Sam Pittman’s job.

We said then that Pittman was not in actual trouble. The castle walls were too high, so to speak. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek was not going to sacrifice his first football head coach hire to the seething masses.

When Pittman offered up offensive coordinator Dan Enos as hecatomb, the heathens’ march slowed to a walk. As Arkansas finally snapped that skid last week against Florida, they just sort of got bored and turned around to go home, not putting the tools of revolution back into the attic just yet, though, lest the Razorbacks falter in their final three games.

Even if they do, Pittman is shielded. Yurachek said as much earlier Thursday at the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club.

“I have all the faith in Sam Pittman as our head coach,” the AD said.

His words were more, to the tune of the program had to do something and that something was done with the firing of Enos and the Razorbacks’ subsequent response on-field. Such actions were enough to keep Pittman onboard for another year.

Yurachek didn’t say that outright, of course. He’d be crazy to explicitly commit to something or someone more than a day in advance. If Bobby Petrino’s disaster taught nothing else, it taught athletic directors the folly of loyalty. Now, they get none and they receive none in return. Just the way it should be.

“Isn’t Yurachek holding on to Pittman because of loyalty?” No. He isn’t. Pittman is still the Arkansas coach and will remain the Arkansas coach because his record deserves another season. The Hogs are not some blueblood of the sport, after all.

Their status won’t stop the rabble, always spoiling for hostility toward leadership (or their perceived lack of it from the people supposed to be in it), from getting bored of being bored, though. Just don’t expect them to make any difference ~~ever~~ soon in the decision-making process.

If there’s a year for Arkansas to beat LSU on the road, it’s this year

Why? No, we’re not crazy. Look at the past between the Hogs and Tigers.

LSU is the best team Arkansas will play during the 2023 regular season.

So the time is perfect for the Razorbacks to beat the Tigers on Saturday.

By no means is the suggestion that Arkansas is better than LSU. Frankly, the comparison isn’t even close. According to the latest ESPN numbers, Arkansas has just a 12% chance up pulling off the upset. And the Hogs have won in Baton Rouge just four times since Arkansas joined the SEC.

This year’s Razorbacks have a lot in common with those four teams, though: they’re OK.

Some Arkansas fans want to burn the thing down, the program, and restart from scratch. We’ve already gone over how foolish that is after a solitary loss. Count this author on Sam Pittman’s and Hunter Yurachek’s side, too, in that the prevailing belief amongst the three of us is that Arkansas has some minor issues right now, not major ones.

Those are exactly the kinds of teams that have beat LSU in the Bayou. Arkansas’ 1993 team was the defintion of median, going 5-5-1. Granted, LSU was 5-6 and this year’s Tigers team is a lot better than that. But look at the other three.

Arkansas’ 2007 team is remember fondly, as well it should be, but the Razorbacks were not an elite team. Heck, if for no other reason than all the behind-the-scenes stuff would not allow them to. Yet a 50-48 win was the result against LSU.

Bret Bielema’s 2015 team was good, not great and it could be argued that the victory that season was the last truly great one Bielema had (we wouldn’t argue that, but many do).

And Arkansas of 2021 was solid, not spectacular. They were the team, frankly, that put all those angry fans are where they are today. The belief coming out of that season was so strong that Pittman would have Arkansas among the best in the SEC sooner rather than later, that it spoiled everything that has come after. Well, to the insane. Anyone who has watched Arkansas football for the last 40ish years should have known better.

This year’s Arkansas team has a chance. They’ve underachieved relative to the talent and expectations, but they do, in fact, have the talent. They have an LSU team that is riding the wave of big-time expectations themselves, too, perhaps ripe for the picking.

And you should an Arkansas team that knows what’s at stake over the next month, whether Pittman and the coaching staff are telling them to take things one game at a time or not.

What’s wrong with Arkansas football? “Normal football issues” Hunter Yurachek says

The Arkansas AD chalked up the difficulties to on-field tweaks more than major systemic problems.

Hunter Yurachek is right.

The Arkansas athletic director took the podium Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club to talk Razorbacks athletics. Football was, of course, top of everyone’s mind after Arkansas’ loss to Brigham Young on Saturday.

Yurachek chalked up the loss to typical on-field items.

“People say ‘What’s the matter with our football program?'” Yurachek said. “Quite honestly, I don’t know that anything is the matter with our football program but just normal football issues.”

Arkansas is a solid 2-1 after three weeks. The Hogs were just outside the Top 25, too, before the loss to the Cougars. And it isn’t as though BYU is a bad team. A modest Big 12 team, perhaps, but not slouches.

Yurachek acknowledged the Razorbacks have problems up front on the offensive line. But he re-iterated his faith in coach Sam Pittman.

“Absolutely, we have some inexperience on our offensive line. Everybody says ‘Well, Sam Pittman is an offensive line coach.”

And he was. That’s how Pittman received the opportunity for his first head-coaching gig. He was that good at coaching offensive lineman. The expectation from fans may be that, because of it, Arkansas’ offensive line should be a strength.

It isn’t right now, but that’s something Pittman said after the loss he recognized. Arkansas doesn’t have a ton of free time to fix things, though, what with LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss on the slate over the next month.

Those four games will go a long way in determining whether Yurachek’s defense will hold come October.

Two weeks after Yurachek’s NIL column, Arkansas loses its NIL director

Terry Prentice practically ran Arkansas’ NIL program. He’s now off to Mississippi State.

Terry Prentice, who served as the University of Arkansas athletic director for branding and inclusion, has left the post to become deputy athletic director at Mississippi State.

Prentice had been in that role with the Razorbacks since 2021. That was about the time schools across the country began to tackle Name, Image, Likeness activities. Prentice was, in a manner, Arkansas’ NIL lead in the athletic department.

Before arriving at Arkansas in 2021, Prentice held the diversity and inclusion AD position at Kansas. He also worked with the Razorbacks Foundation from 2014-18 after graduating from Arkansas in 2012.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek authored an editorial in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier in August that wished for the United States’ Congress make changes to the NIL, specifically calling for regulation of it.

In that vein, a larger spotlight than usual exists on Prentice’s replacement.

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Hawgs Club should have some dynamic speakers

The Hawgs Club, Northwest Arkansas’ version of the Little Rock Touchdown Club, will feature a number of big names and former Razorback connections.

The NWA Hawgs Club isn’t quite the Little Rock Touchdown Club, but it’s not too shabby itself either.

A number of big names and people who are very familiar to Razorback fans will be speaking this fall.

Sam Pittman led off things on Wednesday a day after he spoke to the Little Rock club.

There will not be a luncheon next Wednesday, but things will resume in September after Labor Day.

Here is a list of the confirmed speakers.

Little Rock Touchdown Club full of pizzazz per usual

The Little Rock Touchdown Club always has some flavor during the football season.

If anything, David Bazzel knows how to put on a show and get people interested in the subject matter.

His speakers that he has compiled for the 2023 Little Rock Touchdown Club will move the needle once again.

Most speakers will speak on Mondays, however, Labor Day will be an exception, along with the first meeting in August and then one in late November.

Tickets will be available before each event on the club’s website, lrtouchdown.com.

Take all the athletic programs in the nation, Arkansas is 13th

Arkansas finished in the top 15 for the third straight year in the Directors Cup.

Thirteenth is no joke.

The University of Arkansas athletics program, as a whole, placed 13th in the Directors’ Cup Standings, the highest rank of any school with 19 or fewer sports. It’s the third straight year Arkansas finished in the top 15.

Arkansas’ standing was helped by two national championships, 11 top-10 finishes in the rankings and five SEC titles. Points were awarded in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s beach volleyball, women’s bowling, men’s and women’s cross country, fencing, football, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, rifle, women’s rowing, skiing, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and men’s wrestling.

“Once again, Razorback student-athletes delivered one of the most successful years in our program’s history,” athletic director Hunter Yurachek said. “For the third-consecutive year and only the fourth time since the Directors’ Cup was initiated, Arkansas finished among the top 15 in the nation. That is truly remarkable and even more amazing when you consider we are competing against some programs with more than 30 sports.”

Eight SEC teams were in the Top 25 of the standings. The Hogs finished sixth in the SEC, behind Florida, Tennessee, Florida, LSU and Alabama.

Arkansas finished eighth two years ago and seventh last year. Before the current stretch, the best Arkansas had ever finished was 14th in 1998.

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