Don't be fooled, Petrino’s Arkansas return comes with win mandate

The polite denials and politically correct answers have finally all been laid bare in the wake of Sam Pittman’s long-anticipated ouster as head football coach at the University of Arkansas. Pittman’s fate accompli makes way for Bobby Petrino’s often-denied reascension as first hand to Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek’s position as king of Razorback athletics, but no one should be fooled by the press conference held on Monday. 

The game of thrones in today’s Southeastern Conference is not for the faint of heart where good guys and bad guys alike get fired. As Yurachek alluded to at the press conference, the handwriting on the wall for Pittman was written by a string of close losses over the course of his tenure as Yurachek’s right hand. His fate was sealed on Saturday when the team’s defensive and offensive units refused to fight like Sandor Clegane at the battle of the black water.

What started as a capacity crowd at Donald Reynolds Razorback Stadium looked on in disquiet, and by halftime it was over. A home stand in the return to the Hill in Fayetteville was needed. What Razorbackers got was a virtually empty stadium with the team down 42-13 at the half. It left the power brokers behind the throne with no choice. Heads had to roll.

Arkansas football's Game of Thrones-esque weekend

It began on Sunday with Pittman — good guy that he is — going out like an Eddard Stark. That was only the beginning however. Upon retaking the badge stripped from his hands in 2011, Petrino — with Yurachek blessing — wasted little time. Defensive coordinator Travis Williams and his top two lieutenants, Marcus Woodson and Deke Adams, all shared Pittman’s fate.

Anyone thinking the purge is over however, weren’t paying close attention. You only have to read between the lines of what was said on Monday to understand Yurachek and Petrino both know their fates are inextricably hogtied going forward. 

Petrino’s return from exile in 2023 bought Pittman and Yurachek more time in their jobs after the disastrous hiring of Dan Enos as offensive coordinator and the pre-emptive ouster of Kendall Briles. Petrino declared at the time he had no desire to be a head coach again and was contented staying in his happy place as the new OC. 

That proved otherwise when Petrino pursued — however briefly — the head coaching job at North Carolina Charlotte last December. Even when his offense fumbled away a chance to enter the Notre Dame game undefeated in back-to-back late-game road losses at No. 4 Ole Miss and Memphis, it was reported Petrino was “working the phones behind the scenes” to supplant Pittman. 

Lo and behold! Petrino’s offense no-shows against the Fighting Irish, and only Petrino and Yurachek emerge with one last chance to right the ship. Make no mistake. The collapse of the Razorback defense this season under Williams was a fireable offense. However, it was not indicative of his overall performance at Arkansas. Neither was Petrino's offense on Saturday and the previous two second halfs.

The wildfire blazing through the Razorback football program still threatens to claim more victims even with the defensive leadership decapitated. That is unless Petrino and Yurachek can regalvanize the talent which should have beaten Ole Miss and Memphis, and plug the defensive holes with nothing but ranked SEC head hunters lurking in the waters ahead. 

Former NFL and SEC assistant Chris Wilson steps in as defensive coordinator. He has talent to work with, but is short on time.

Not to be out done, Yurachek has certainly taken on some water which now threatens to sink his once-promising prospects. He chose a first-time head coach with no previous coordinating experience to lead the program which generates the lion’s share of revenue for the entire athletic department. He never turned down an opportunity to be the Dabo Sweeney of AD’s by championing the Luddite cause resisting new player compensation rules.

Yurachek doubled down on that cause going into the Memphis game. In a stunning display of lacking self awareness, he infamously went before the Little Rock Touchdown Club and declared Arkansas’ football program was not financially equipped to compete when it was precisely his job to raise the financing. 

The empty stadium on national television by the end of the Notre Dame game must have finally given him clarity. Or maybe it was the “charge” he received at Friday’s board meeting with Chancellor Charles Robinson. 

"“Coming out of our board meeting last Friday, I received kind of a charge from our board to come back to Chancellor Robinson and them with a plan of how we can increase the head coaches pool, the assistant coaches pool, the support staff pool, the operational pool moving forward and how we would support the increases in that,” Yurachek said. “And l'll have an opportunity to do that in the next couple of weeks and I truly believe that we will have everything that we need in place to attract the best head coach for our program and give that head coach the resources they need to be competitive in the SEC.”"

Hunter Yurachek

It’s good to know our fearless leader has finally seen the light. It may be too little too late however. Athletic directors often find their fates tied to the head football coaches they hire. The Sam Pittman era is now history, and the only way forward now for Yurachek and Petrino is with each other. 

Any talk of Yurachek presiding over the next football coaching hire at Arkansas is like believing in snarks and grumpkins. If Petrino can’t rekindle his magic, it’s hard to see Yurachek hiring another football coach at Arkansas. If Petrino can, he will redeem both their prospects.

In the SEC Game of Thrones, you either win or you don’t. There is no middle ground. Razorbackers everywhere should wish them both good fortune in the wars to come.

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