News broke Sunday morning that Hunter Yurachek is retaining [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] the day after Arkansas defeated Florida International.
— Hunter Yurachek (@HunterYurachek) November 19, 2023
Unfortunately for the rank and file fans, they don’t get to call the shots, Yurachek ultimately does.
So let’s take a look at what a hypothetical 2024 could look like with Sam Pittman still at the controls.
Schedule
Arkansas doesn’t have to play Alabama for the first time since the 1991 season, when it was still a member of the Southwest Conference, and gets LSU, Ole Miss, Texas and Tennessee all at home.
The non-conference is UAPB in Little Rock in the season opener, at Oklahoma State, UAB and Louisiana Tech.
At worst, Pittman should go 3-1 in that non-conference.
The SEC road games are at Auburn and Mississippi State, places Pittman won at in 2022, and then at Missouri, which appears to be the toughest game it will have besides maybe LSU or Texas.
It’s not far-fetched to think 4-4 is doable in that conference slate. That would be a 7-5 overall record. Hardly something that would set off firework celebrations, but would be the best overall record of his tenure besides the 8-4 he posted in 2021.
Coaching staff
It’s no secret that members of Pittman’s coaching staff will have their jobs on the line in the season finale Friday against Missouri.
[autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag] will be retained as the defensive coordinator for sure, and Williams will likely want to keep the majority of his staff.
The offensive staff? There’s no guarantee that any of them will return.
Fans have been clamoring for Pittman to fire Cody Kennedy, the offensive line coach.
[autotag]Kenny Guiton[/autotag], meanwhile, after an impressive debut against Florida and a nice showing against FIU, was completely stymied by Auburn’s defense, who turned around and got manhandled by New Mexico State.
Guiton will get one more chance against Missouri to show what he’s got.
Miscellaneous
One could argue that the reason Yurachek hasn’t pulled the trigger on Pittman yet is:
A) the buyout is too large to justify terminating him at this juncture considering what he inherited and
B) joining the coaching search carousel while also going up against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, and maybe even Florida, seems less than ideal. Plus if any other P5 jobs open based on coaches filling those roles.
Yurachek is going to bat for Pittman currently after a rough year. Pittman won’t have that luxury next year. Anything less than bowl eligibility by November next year likely has him canned.