Sam Pittman responds to Hunter Yurachek's NIL comments
Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek made some startling comments regarding the Razorbacks football team’s Name, Image and Likeness situation Monday.
In short, Yurachek said the NIL resources that the Arkansas football team has are not enough to be competitive for a National Championship, but they are still able to compete in the SEC.
Yurachek received backlash online for those comments, and head coach Sam Pittman was asked his thoughts about what his boss said during the SEC Teleconference on Wednesday.
“When I went to the Little Rock Touchdown Club, I talked about how revenue sharing is going to equal the playing field,” Pittman said. “Not this year, but it would equal the playing field for all teams. I don’t think there’s been any question that in the NIL era, we didn’t have the same amount of money, nor close to the same amount of money as a lot of teams that we’re competing against.”
Why Pittman thinks revenue sharing will help down the road
Pittman’s comments about “not this year,” seem to reflect what Yurachek said about how other schools were able to exploit a loophole in the revenue sharing process, which allowed them to pay their players directly prior to June 30, when the House settlement took effect.
Arkansas was not able to do that to the same level, according to Yurachek.
That means other schools will be able to use the majority of their revenue sharing funds to pay the incoming class of high school and transfer portal recruits, while Arkansas may not.
But Pittman believes that further down the line, revenue sharing will even the playing field, which will help the Hogs get back to the success they had in 2021, when “all things were equal,” and they went 9-4 with a win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl.
“Most everybody pushed their money forward last year,” Pittman said. “So it will affect this recruiting class, but after that, revenue sharing should equal us back out and, of course as you know, when it was all equal, we went from 4-20 to 9-4.
“I can’t speak for the athletics director, but I’m assuming that’s what he meant by it.”
Country music star chimes in with his thoughts
Joe Nichols, a country artist and Razorback fan, opined on 103.7 The Buzz on Wednesday morning that Yurachek’s comments probably shouldn’t have been said at all, but definitely not in the middle of the season.
“That just does not help anything,” Nichols said. “Even if we all think it, you can’t say that, especially in public. You’ve got to be a solution to the problem, rather than add to it, and I think that added to the problem, really.
“Even if his message was right, it doesn’t matter. People heard, ‘well, boy, they’re just not very good. Even their athletic director says they’re not very good.'”
Despite the ruckus that Yurachek’s comments have caused on social media and among Razorback fans, Pittman still has to prepare his team for a tough matchup with the Memphis Tigers on Saturday.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Pittman said. “We got to beat Memphis, so I haven’t really thought about it.”
The Razorbacks and Tigers will kick off from Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT and the game will air on ABC.
