As the 2024–2023 season approaches, Sam Pittman’s future doesn’t appear to be promising. Following a 4–8, Arkansas football is once again considered a lower-tier SEC team. But the past four years haven’t been entirely depressing.
Although some may be weary of hearing it, Pittman succeeded in rescuing the program from near collapse and even elevated it to unprecedented levels for a professional offensive line coach. He also left Arkansas with a few pleasant recollections along the road.
Let’s take a moment to remember the positive aspects of the 2024 season, because there has been a lot of negativity lately. There will be ample opportunity to indulge in your melancholy if the experts’ predictions come to pass for the season.
The top ten highlights of Sam Pittman’s tenure
10. The 2020 Mississippi St. victory
To put things in perspective, Arkansas was experiencing a losing run of 20 SEC games. Arkansas’s most recent conference victory came against Ole Miss in 2017, by a score of 38–37. Sam Pittman, who was also in his first year, had to contend with COVID-19 in addition to the way that NIL and the transfer portal had altered college football.
On Mike Leach’s first trip to Starkville as head coach, the Hogs were 0-1 against No. 16 Mississippi State. Most people didn’t think Arkansas would win because the Bulldogs had just defeated LSU, the No. 6 team, the previous week. De’Vion Warren, though, had other ideas.
The Louisiana native, a senior, scorched the State with four receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. After a dogfight, the Razorback emerged on top. After two years, Sam Pittman had officially accomplished what Chad Morris had not been able do.
