Arkansas football fired three more people on Bobby Petrino's first full day as interim head coach.

State of play: Defensive coordinator Travis Williams, co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson and defensive line coach Deke Adams were fired yesterday.

• "I felt it was in our best interest to do what we did this morning for our players to improve individually, to get a little bit more motivated, and I think it'll help our team overall get out on the field and compete and find ways to win a game," Petrino said at a news conference.

Catch up quick: Arkansas (2-3) fired head coach Sam Pittman on Sunday and named offensive coordinator and former head coach Petrino interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

What they're saying: Athletic director Hunter Yurachek called the Razorbacks' performance during their 56-13 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday "unacceptable." He confirmed the loss combined with this season's losses to Ole Miss and Memphis led to Pittman's firing.

• "As you can imagine, Sam was incredibly gracious, incredibly thankful for the opportunity that he had had to be the head coach at the University of Arkansas and made a really tough day as well as it could for me as director of athletics," he said of his conversation with Pittman at Pittman's home on Sunday.

Zoom in: Pittman's contract states that if he is terminated "for convenience by UA" — as in, not for misconduct or violating policies — he is to be paid either 50% or 75% of his remaining annual salary and other compensation, depending on his winning percentage.

• Yurachek said during yesterday's press conference the department was negotiating with Pittman to pay out 62.5%. A department spokesperson did not respond to Axios' request for confirmation on a specific dollar amount.
• Pittman, who was under contract until December 2027, will be owed about $7.7 million and is in line to receive about $999,000 in prorated deferred compensation, according to Whole Hog Sports.
• Pittman's annual salary and other compensation totaled $5 million, and he was eligible for other bonus pay ranging $250,000 to $750,000 depending on wins, plus three retention payments of $1.5 million, $2.7 million and $3.3 million.
• Pittman was hired in 2019 and signed a new contract in 2022.

The big picture: Petrino, who was head coach from 2008-11 before being fired in 2012, is vying to lead the Razorbacks again. However, he said his focus for now is the remaining nine weeks of the season.

• Yurachek does not expect Petrino to come in with "magic pixie dust" and win all seven of the remaining games but does want to see great leadership and a more competitive team, he said.

What's next: The athletic department will solicit search firms to find a permanent head coach, Yurachek said.

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined 24 other Republican governors in signing a letter yesterday urging the U.S. Senate to avoid a government shutdown.

Why it matters: Thousands of government employees could permanently lose their jobs if Congress doesn't reach an agreement to fund the government by tomorrow, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.

• While not every federal employee's job is at stake, a shutdown could have a financial impact on roughly 14,000 living in Arkansas, according to an analysis by Axios this spring.

What they're saying: "From impacting pay for our troops, first responders, and firefighters, to affecting critical services for seniors and veterans and disrupting food assistance for families in need, a government shutdown would inflict severe consequences on the American people that are completely avoidable," the Republican governors' letter reads.

• "Sign me up as a person that believes we ought to work out our differences and get this thing across the finish line in a bipartisan way, and save America from the drama and the potential horrific consequences of a government shutdown," Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers told Little Rock's THV11 last week.

What we're watching: Ahead of the last potential shutdown, in December 2024, Sanders issued guidance to her cabinet secretaries to ensure continuity of services "vital to the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, while temporarily suspending government services that rely on federal funding."

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🏢 The Marshall student apartment complex in Fayetteville recently sold to Deutsche Bank of Frankfurt, Germany, for $92 million. (Arkansas Business)

🏗️ An architect posted several images on Instagram of a planned mixed-use project that will redevelop a church property on Township Street near Gulley Park in Fayetteville. (Fayetteville Flyer)

⚕️Arkansas children who lack health insurance rose to 7.7% in 2024 compared to 6.7% the year before — tied for the 13th-highest increase in the nation. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Walmart's 2025 Opportunity Summit last week convened about 300 professionals from companies including Kaiser Family Foundation, Bank of America and Blackstone.

• Its focus was on the evolution of the workforce through technology and the rise of skilled trades workers.

What they're saying: In an interview with the Associated Press, CEO Doug McMillon opined on the topic of the day — artificial intelligence.

The Associated Press: Which jobs might be eliminated or added because of AI?

McMillon: I think no one knows how this is going to play out exactly. And the way it feels to me is that basically every job gets changed. And I think the best way to think about it is getting "plussed up." So how can I lean [into] the role that I have, regardless what that role is, to adopt new tools, leverage them and make things better than they would've otherwise been?

• As I look across our company, we have everything from store associates to supply chain associates. Of the 2.1 million people (globally), something less than 75,000 of them are home office jobs. All the other ones are working in a store, a club, a distribution center. And I think those jobs change more gradually. We are still going to want to serve customers and members with people. The change as it relates to the home office jobs probably happens faster.