Sam Pitman spoke of potential staff changes after the disaster against Notre Dame. The team fell to 2-3 and lost 56-13 against Notre Dame. The staff change came, and it was the dismissal of Pittman. Now, Arkansas looks for a new head coach.
Pittman broke into coaching after finishing his playing career at Pittsburg State. He finally landed a job as a junior college head coach in 1992, taking over at Hutchinson. After going 11-9-1 in two years, he became the offensive line coach at Northern Illinois in 1994. Pittman took multiple stops after that, including stops at Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Missouri, before being hired out of Georgia as the Arkansas head coach heading into the 2020 season.
His first season did not go well, going 3-7, but the next year was a 9-4 season, and things looked to be on the way up. Pittman never brought Arkansas to the top of the SEC. His best finish was a tie for third in the Western Division of the SEC, as he went 32-34 at Arkansas. This led to his dismissal this week. Now, Arkansas looks for a new head coach.
Rhett Lashlee, SMU head coach
Rhett Lashlee may be the top candidate for the job if Arkansas can pull him from his current spot. Lashlee is not only the candidate that supporters want, but he was the quarterback for Arkansas from 2002-04, before his career ended due to a shoulder injury. After his playing career ended, Lashlee went into coaching.
His first job was with Springdale High School, before returning to Arkansas in 2006 as a graduate assistant. The former quarterback would move up the ranks, becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Samford in 2011. He spent time as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Arkansas State, Auburn, UConn, SMU, and Miami through the 2021 season. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in 2013 at Auburn under Gus Malzahn.
Lashlee finally landed his first head coaching job in November 2021 at SMU, being named the head coach of SMU as Sonny Dykes left for TCU. In that time, he has been highly successful. Lashlee is 31-14 currently, with a playoff berth. He has made bowl games in each of his first three seasons and has shown himself to be a quality coach. The former Razorback quarterback could be a quality pick for Arkansas.
Gus Malzahn, Florida State offensive coordinator
Lashlee is the up-and-coming head coach that a team brings in with the hope of turning around a program. If Arkansas wants to bring in a head coach with a track record, Gus Malzahn needs to be an option. Malzhan is currently the offensive coordinator for Florida State, but has been a quality head coach in his career.
After working his way from a high school coach to an offensive coordinator at Auburn, he got his first crack at a head coach job at Arkansas State in 2012. After a 9-3 season with the Red Wolves, he moved to Auburn. At Auburn, Malzhan went 68-35, going to a bowl game each year, and playing for a national title in 2013.
Regardless, he was not retained by Auburn, spending two years with UCF, going just 28-24, and resigning to become the FSU offensive coordinator. If Malzhan wants to get back into head coaching, this is a perfect spot for him.
Ryan Silverfield, Memphis head coach
If Arkansas wants to go to the group of five ranks, with someone who has shown success, the team should look no further than Ryan Silverfield. Silverfield began his coaching career as an assistant at the Bolles School before returning to his alma mater of Hampden-Sydney. His first head coaching job would not go well, finishing 1-9 with Memorial Day High School, but that would lead him back to the college ranks, and then the NFL ranks with the Minnesota Vikings.
He would bounce back and forth between the NFL and college ranks until joining Memphis in 2016 as the offensive line coach. He rose through the ranks there and became the head coach when Mike Norvell left for Florida State.
In his time at Memphis, he is 47-21, going to a bowl game each year. Still, he has yet to win a conference title. Currently, Memphis is ranked just outside the AP Top 25, being the top team in others receiving votes.
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas interim head coach
Bobby Petrino is now the interim head coach for Arkansas, and Petrino is looking to get the full-time job. Petrino began his coaching career in 1983 and moved up the ranks to become the Louisville head coach in 2003. After a solid career at Louisville, he went to the Atlanta Falcons.
His time in the NFL was nothing short of a disaster, coaching just 13 games with a 3-10 record before he resigned. This led to his first stint at Arkansas. He turned a struggling program into one that won the Cotton Bowl before he was fired after a scandal after the 2011 season.
Ultimately, Petrino has done solid work at Louisville and Missouri State since, and now looks to take over Arkansas once again.
Regardless of who Arkansas chooses as the head coach, the coach will have an uphill battle. The college landscape has changed since Petrino has been a coach, and even since Malzahn last patrolled a power conference sideline. Regardless, Arkansas should be better than they have been in recent years, and the new coach will need to make that happen.
