Sam Pittman comments on contract situation with Arkansas

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman has not been on campus for a long time but has already made quite an impact on the program. Having to rebuild after the previous regime of coaches went to new lows, early expectations have not only been met but surpassed. Now, Arkansas is looking to lock down Pittman to a long-term deal and may have successfully done so.

Pittman was asked about his contract situation and said he has agreed to a new one with Arkansas. On the flip side, the Razorbacks have agreed to Pittman’s terms. The two parties have not officially announced the details but according to Pittman himself, there is a fresh contract agreed to.

“I’ve agreed to what they’ve offered and they agreed that when I agree,” Pittman said. “I don’t know what that all means. Do you? I agree, they agree. So I guess that means we agreed.”

Laying out a few details of the contract, Pittman said it’s impossible for him to leave for another job. There’s a certain selling point he’s trying to drive home, especially in the recruiting world. Stability is important to the head coach at all levels, not just himself.

“Awesome,” said Pittman. “Awesome. You know, I will tell you this. It’s going to have a non-compete clause in it and that’s about all I’ll say about it but I am glad it does. It allows us to recruit. There’s a lot of different things in recruiting but one of them happens to be stability. They can fire me whenever they get good and ready to but I can’t leave if that makes sense. Don’t want to anyway but we’re using that.

“We have 130 schools, eight of them have the head coach, their offensive and defensive coordinators still there in the last three years is what I read somewhere. You got eight schools that got the head coach, the OC, the DC of 130 the same ones they had three seasons ago. Or, going into the third season, excuse me. We’re trying to sell this contract as stability.”

Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles had opportunities to leave this offseason, with other programs wanting him to run their offenses. Instead, he decided to stay with the Razorbacks and be part of the stability Pittman is preaching. Defensive coordinator Barry Odom is still with the program as well, most recently being the head coach of the Missouri Tigers.

Pittman will be hoping to keep those three intact for a long time, letting recruits know they won’t be going anywhere soon.