Before you try to push Pittman out the door, who wants the job next?

FAYETTEVILLE, AR. It’s November, fans are crushed by Arkansas’ latest front panel at Razorback Stadium, and here we are again.

Sam Pittman’s status at work is being questioned by people who have no say but claim to “know people” who know everything. We’ve already seen that under Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek, the usual way of tracking coaching requests doesn’t look the same.

Between the search for football players and two recruited basketball players, the only people talking are those who have no idea what they’re talking about. People who REALLY know don’t talk.

Perhaps the biggest question we don’t know the answer to is can they afford to push Pittman out the door and get a big name replacement? In today’s world where NIL takes a lot of money, athletic departments have to just roll with it and use what they have.

Arkansas is not in the best place in the world for raising ZERO money, and many of the people with the most money are not big enough “fans” to write huge checks because someone made a bad choice of where to work. I don’t care what you think, that’s the reality of the situation.

That’s why they’ve been paying people for years not to coach the Razorbacks. Some places just pay them and everyone moves on. UA is trying to force people they don’t want to look for other jobs, and some say it’s a smart move, but it doesn’t attract the biggest names.

We went through this just a few years ago. All the names people pointed to rejected them. Pittman wasn’t the first choice and it’s unlikely the names back then aren’t of greater interest now or even still alive (RIP Mike Leach).

Now the names being thrown out include former defensive coordinator Barry Odom and, of course, the return of current offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino to try to recreate the past with a different set of rules and circumstances ten years later.

Of the two options, Odom may be the best fit and draw the most interest. His son will be a quarterback at Fayetteville High this year. He knows the situation and expectations where an average of 8 wins per year can qualify for tenure.

As for Petrino, I’m not sure he’ll even want the job again. He lives at the Pinnacle Hotel in Rogers and enjoys riding his golf cart, making game plans and earning $1.5 million a year. Don’t assume that others have the same priorities in life and work as you. He’s probably in his happy place now.

Whether it will work or not is a hypothetical question that we can discuss for years without getting an answer. Petrino didn’t win a championship when he was here four years ago and lost the biggest games he coached with the Razorbacks. It’s just a fact.

This doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach. Sooner or later, everyone will have to look at the only constant in what has now been 20 years of coaching circuses, and that is the UA itself. Let’s not forget that insanity is best defined by repeating the same action and expecting a different result.

Sooner or later, every Razorback fan will have to seriously think about what the real problem is. Once this is fixed, there may be a sixth attempt in 17 seasons. Finding someone who sees this as a safe situation is a needle in a haystack.

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