Arkansas' firing of former football coach Sam Pittman was not surprising to fans, but it was perceived differently from within the program. Quarterback Taylen Green was particularly caught off-guard, as he says the rest of the team was.
Green is in his second year with the team after being recruited by Pittman and Arkansas from the 2024 college football transfer portal. While he knew the team's 56-13 loss to Notre Dame was unacceptable, he was still surprised to discover that Pittman had been let go during the Razorbacks' bye week.
“I think everybody has a similar reaction and feeling,” Green said, via On3 Sports. “We were just all shocked with all the changes that happened last week on the bye week. Everybody was just in shock.”
The Week 5 result was Arkansas' third consecutive defeat, dropping it to 2-3 on the year. The Razorbacks were competitive in a 41-35 loss to Ole Miss, but suffered an upset loss to Memphis before getting embarrassed by Notre Dame.
Arkansas has since named offensive coordinator and former head coach Bobby Petrino as its interim coach for the remainder of the year. Petrino led the Razorbacks to consecutive double-digit win seasons in 2010 and 2011 but was unceremoniously terminated after he was discovered to have been conducting an extramarital affair when he got into a motorcycle accident.
Taylen Green, Arkansas look to get back on track against Tennessee
Since Pittman's firing, Arkansas benefited from an additional week to transition. However, the schedule does not get any lighter, as it will look to end its three-game skid in Week 7 against No. 12 Tennessee.
The Razorbacks not only face the difficulties of the coaching change, but they face a Volunteers team on the road that will be seeking revenge. Arkansas upset then-No. 4-ranked Tennessee at home in 2024, giving Josh Heupel's team additional motivation for Week 7.
Although Arkansas is against the odds, it has reason for optimism. UCLA recently endured a similar coaching change when it fired DeShaun Foster ahead of its Week 4 bye, and the move has seemingly paid off. The Bruins are 2-0 since releasing Foster and are coming off a program-changing upset of No. 7 Penn State.
