The Sam Pittman era at Arkansas is over.

Pittman was fired Sunday, one day after a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame, the Razorbacks’ third consecutive loss. Pittman had a 32-34 record over six seasons. He won nine games en route to an AP Top 25 finish in 2021 and reached two other bowl games, but his program never consistently played at a high level.

It’s the first SEC job to open in what should be a very busy coaching carousel that already has four other Power 4 jobs open.

So how good is the Arkansas job? What names could get in the mix? Based on conversations with industry sources, here is a report card for the job and the potential candidates to watch.

Recent history/tradition: B

The Razorbacks’ 2021 peak under Pittman was their lone Top 25 finish since 2011, as well as the only season in which they won more than eight games in that span. Since then, they have had more losing seasons than bowl appearances. Arkansas hasn’t won a conference championship since 1989 and hasn’t played in the SEC Championship Game since 2006.

But as the only Power 4 team in the state, the fan support is strong. The Razorbacks averaged more than 73,000 fans at home in 2024, 96 percent capacity for their home field, despite there not being an overwhelming amount to cheer for in recent years. It’s a fan base begging for a winning program.

On-field outlook: C-

Arkansas has been among the least talented teams in the SEC for years. In 247Sports’ Team Talent Composite rankings, which take high school star ratings into account, Arkansas sits 13th in the SEC, only ahead of Mississippi State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. It’s arguably the toughest place in the SEC to recruit when factoring in the distance to major cities and the in-state high school talent. The 2025 roster has 28 players from the home state and 24 from Texas.

Quarterback Taylen Green has been a bright spot in 2025, but this is his final year of eligibility. The team’s top two rushers and top three pass catchers are also seniors. The defense has few bright spots, ranked 113th nationally in scoring.

Competing in the SEC brings money and recruiting prestige, but the path to on-field success is steep. In the newly announced nine-game SEC schedules, Arkansas will play Texas, LSU and Missouri every year for the next four seasons, perhaps the toughest draw of anyone.

Money matters: C+

One player agent told The Athletic that the Razorbacks underpay everyone relative to their peers. That’s in part because Pittman wasn’t very into the modern era of paying players, according to people familiar with his thinking.

But it’s also because of Arkansas’ other sports. The men’s basketball program hired John Calipari away from Kentucky, and boosters gave him the money to succeed (including an $8 million salary, far higher than Pittman’s $5.5 million). Baseball, too, is a priority. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek ruffled some feathers earlier this month when he said football was not set up to win a national championship compared to other sports.

“I believe we’re set up to win a national championship in men’s basketball moving forward,” Yurachek said. “We know we’re set up to win a national championship in baseball moving forward, and I think we’re set up in several other sports to win a national championship. Football, where we are right now, we’re not set up to win a national championship. I’ll just be brutally honest with that. But I think we’re set up to compete really well in the Southeastern Conference, especially now with the new revenue sharing model. … It’s directly related to finances in what programs were able to invest in their teams.”

“Football, where we are right now, we’re not set up to win a national championship.”
— Arkansas Razorback Athletic Director, Hunter Yurachek.@hunteryurachek @razorbackfb @arkrazorbacks pic.twitter.com/5pWnSt2b3G

— LR Touchdown Club (@LRTouchdownClub) September 15, 2025

Arkansas can spend more relative to other head coaching jobs currently open, but bigger jobs will open soon, and the bar for hanging with SEC competition is a lot higher.

University stability: A-

Yurachek has been Arkansas’ athletic director since 2017 and has produced a lot of success, though most of it has come outside of football. He earned Athletic Director of the Year honors in 2022, and Arkansas has finished in the top 20 of the Learfield Directors Cup, which measures all sports success, for five consecutive years.

Chancellor Charles F. Robinson has been in charge of the campus since 2022, and new system president Jay B. Silveria began his term in January after coming from Texas A&M. The school continues to set enrollment records, and the leadership appears to be in stable shape and in support of athletics.

Coach pool: A-

Here are potential names to watch in this search, based on conversations with industry sources.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee: He’s a native son and a former Arkansas player and assistant coach. Lashlee took SMU to its first conference championship in four decades, then led the Mustangs to the College Football Playoff last year. His work in Texas would also help with a needed recruiting pipeline. His parents still live in Arkansas, too. But SMU has made it clear it won’t lose a coach due to money, and Lashlee might have better options come open.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall: He’ll be the hottest Group of 5 coach in this cycle because he’s 36-10 as a head coach with two Sun Belt championships and an American Conference title game appearance in three-plus seasons. He played at Kentucky and coached at UK and Ole Miss.

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor: He worked at Arkansas as running back/assistant head coach from 2018 to ’19 and impressed people there. He’s also more connected to Texas high school ball than anyone. Traylor is 48-22 in six seasons at UTSA, including two Conference USA championships, though the program has taken a step back from its run of 32 wins in three years from 2021 to ’23. His buyout to leave UTSA is $5 million, which is high for a sitting Group of 5 head coach.

Georgia Tech coach Brent Key: He has brought consistent success to his alma mater, including playing Georgia close multiple times. Key is 23-16 in four seasons, including a 5-0 start this year with a potential path to the College Football Playoff. His teams play incredibly hard. It might be too difficult to pull Key away from his alma mater, but the athletic director who hired him is no longer there, and Georgia Tech’s finances are limited.

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell: Yes, he shows up often on these lists only to stay at Iowa State, but other schools are still interested in him. He continues to build a tough program that gets the most out of its players, reaching the Big 12 championship game last year and starting 5-0 this year.

UNLV head coach Dan Mullen: His Florida run ended abruptly, but he still reached three New Year’s Six games in his first three years. He knows the SEC really well, including nine strong seasons at Mississippi State. His first UNLV team is also 4-0 to start this season. Mullen will need to show he can keep up with today’s SEC recruiting landscape, but he’d be a familiar face.

Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn: It’s always been the dream, and Malzahn has flirted with it before as a former Arkansas player, assistant and high school coach in the state. Malzahn said he considered retirement while serving as UCF’s head coach before leaving to take the assistant job at FSU. Maybe he doesn’t want to be a head coach again. Or maybe he gives the Razorbacks one last look.

Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield: Arkansas fans are familiar, as he beat the Razorbacks earlier this season. Silverfield has kept the Tigers as a steady winner since taking over for Mike Norvell, including 21 wins across 2023 and ’24 and a 26-5 record over their last 31 games. That also includes four consecutive wins against Power 4 opponents.

South Florida head coach Alex Golesh: The Bulls may be turning the corner in Golesh’s third season, with wins over Boise State and Florida. He inherited an 1-11 team and posted winning records in each of his first two years. Like Sumrall, Golesh will likely get all kinds of interest for open jobs.

Texas State head coach GJ Kinne: The 35-year-old looks like a rising star head coach, but would he be ready for an SEC job? He did spend a year on the 2018 Arkansas staff. The Bobcats are joining the new Pac-12 next year in large part because Kinne has turned Texas State into a respectable football program, reaching the school’s first two bowl games in his first two seasons with consecutive 8-5 records. That came after a 12-2 season and a No. 3 finish at Football Championship Subdivision program Incarnate Word.

Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann: The 35-year-old has been Kirby Smart’s right-hand man for well over a decade. He’s been a part of multiple national championships and would bring a winning pedigree and longtime SEC experience.

Arkansas offensive coordinator/interim head coach Bobby Petrino: He coached Arkansas’ last great run, winning 22 games from 2010-11 with a top-five finish in 2011, and he’s got time as interim head coach now to make an impression. The school acknowledged in its official release on Pittman’s firing that Petrino expressed his desire be considered for the full-time job. It’s a longshot, but it can’t be ruled out. It wouldn’t be the first time Petrino got a second stint. At Louisville for the second time, Petrino went 34-18 from 2014 to ’17, directing a Heisman Trophy season for quarterback Lamar Jackson, before the bottom fell out he was fired amid a 2-8 start. Some influential people at Arkansas believe he can recreate old magic for the Hogs.

Overall grade: B

It’s an SEC job with a supportive administration, so it’s going to get more interest than the other jobs currently open. But Fayetteville is a really difficult place to find consistent success in today’s game, especially while competing for finances against other Razorback sports. Arkansas will be behind most of its SEC peers, including ones that could also make coaching changes in this cycle. But winning is still possible here, with the right coach who knows how to maximize talent.

(Top photo: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)