Taylen Green reveals his reaction to Sam Pittman firing, Bobby Petrino interim coach status

Arkansas decided to part ways with head coach Sam Pittman just five games into his sixth season with the program following a disastrous 56-13 loss to No. 22 Notre Dame two weeks ago. The Razorbacks opened the season 2-0, but have dropped three consecutive games to fall to 2-3.

Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has taken over as interim head coach and is now in the midst of his second tenure in charge of the Razorbacks, as he previously served as the head coach in Fayetteville from 2008-2011.

Heading into Petrino’s first game back as Arkansas‘ head coach on Saturday against Tennessee, quarterback Taylen Green revealed his reaction to Pittman’s firing and having Petrino promoted to (interim) head coach on Tuesday.

“I think everybody has a similar reaction and feeling,” Green said. “We were just all shocked with all the changes that happened last week on the bye-week. Everybody was just in shock.”

“(Bobby Petrino) still holds us to a high standard even when he’s not there. He’s watching special teams, but when we go offense-defense he’s normally with the offense. But coach Miles Fishback does a great job with us in the meeting rooms and keeps us prepared and continuing our standard because we know how coach Petrino coaches and what he demands. It’s a great opportunity for Coach Fishback and myself to lead the quarterback room.”

Taylen Green has been one of the most productive QBs in SEC this season

Green certainly hasn’t been the issue for Arkansas‘ struggles this season, as he ranks fourth in the SEC in both passing yards (1,398) and passing touchdowns (12). He also leads all Southeastern Conference quarterbacks in rushing (441 yards) and ranks fourth overall in the conference among all players.

In last season’s 19-14 upset victory over No. 4 Tennessee, Green passed for 266 yards. Ahead of this season’s clash, Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel spoke highly of Arkansas‘ QB1.

“Defensively, huge task in front of us with their quarterback. He’s playing extremely efficiently and creating big plays in the pass game, but obviously has a chance to be a huge part of the run game as well,” Heupel said. “We’ve got to do a great job of bottling him up during the course of the afternoon and, you know, defensively with the changes they’ve made.”

Kickoff between No. 12 Tennessee and Arkansas this Saturday is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on SEC Network.