How much Arkansas is paying Sam Pittman to not coach football
FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman can finally head to Lake Hamilton and enjoy retirement.
The Arkansas football program is now in the midst of a coaching search after athletic director Hunter Yurachek made the decision to fire Pittman after the Hogs’ 56-13 loss to Notre Dame last Saturday.
“I went to visit with Sam and Jamie at their house, ironically at their kitchen table, which was the same place I hired them at Athens, Ga., six years ago,” Yurachek said. “As you can imagine, Sam was incredibly gracious, incredibly thankful for the opportunity that he had had to be the head coach at the University of Arkansas and made a really tough day as well as it could for me as the director of athletics.”
Yurachek said that loss to Notre Dame was the final straw and a change had to be made. On top of that, the timing with a bye week this weekend made things easier.
“Having a bye week before we head to Tennessee, this was kind of a natural point to make that,” Yurachek said. “We have another bye week coming up later in the season, but I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me a little indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit, because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure.”
Yurachek reveals Pittman’s buyout information
Pittman had one of the more complex clauses in his contract, and his buyout amount was subject to change based on what his overall record was since 2021. If it dropped to below .500, he was owed 50% of his remaining contract. If it was above, it was 75%.
The former Head Hog was 29-27 since 2021 after the Notre Dame loss. But Yurachek said they settled on a lower number than 75%.
“If we’d waited till October and if the season continued the direction it was, he would have fallen below .500,” Yurachek said. “So part of our meeting was getting his representatives on the phone and we landed at a sweet-spot for both of us.
“I thought that 62.5% could save the university about $1.5 million and kind of fell between that 50% and 75% mark.”
That 62.5% number means Arkansas will pay Pittman $7.76 million as part of his buyout agreement. He does not have a duty to mitigate and find other employment, which means he can retire after his nearly six-year stint as the Razorbacks head coach.
