Arkansas fires football coach Sam Pittman

• The leadership change comes as the team is headed for a bye week before playing an away game against the University of Tennessee Volunteers on Oct. 11.
• The Razorbacks also lost to the Ole Miss Rebels and the Memphis Tigers this season.

What they're saying: Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek expressed appreciation to Pittman in a statement, saying, "From Day 1, you could tell how much this opportunity meant to him."

• "At this time, however, I feel a change is necessary to put our student-athletes and program in the best position to be successful," Yurachek said.
• "The goal for our football program is to be highly competitive within the Southeastern Conference and compete for a national championship."

Flashback: Pittman was hired in December 2019, and Petrino was hired in November 2023, following a rough season for the Razorbacks.

• Petrino was fired in 2012 as head coach after hiring a woman with whom he was in a romantic relationship, which came to light after an infamous motorcycle accident with her as the passenger.

Zoom out: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised Pittman for lifting the program "from one of its all-time lows" and for treating Arkansas as "a place to call home," calling him a coach of "high integrity and character."

• "Bobby Petrino has demonstrated a track record of winning at Arkansas and we hope he can bring the team together and lead them to finish the season strong," she said.

What's next: Arkansas will immediately begin a national search for its next head coach, and "that search will include Coach Petrino, who has expressed his desire to be a candidate for the full-time job," Yurachek said in his statement.