When the clock struck zero inside Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on Friday, no man in Memphis, Tennessee, breathed a bigger sigh of relief than Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman.
Arkansas' 39-26 victory over Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl gave Pittman his third winning season as the head coach of the Razorbacks, and improved his overall record as Head Hog to 30-31.
While the win provides Arkansas with some much-needed momentum heading into a crucial offseason, it encapsulated the enigma that is Pittman's career as the head coach at the University of Arkansas.
There's a lot more to Pittman's 30-31 overall record and 14-28 mark in SEC play than meets the eye. Pittman's second Liberty Bowl triumph gives PIttman the honor of being the first head coach in Arkansas history to win their first three bowl games. Pittman has led Arkansas to winning seasons in three of his first five seasons - an admirable feat considering the state of the program when he took over - and has led the Hogs to four bowl appearances in five seasons.
The first head coach in @RazorbackFB history to win each of his first three bowl games: Sam Pittman. pic.twitter.com/vw4vasHRYc
— Razorback Communications (@RazorbackComms) December 28, 2024
On the other hand, Pittman's shortcomings during his tenure in Fayetteville loom large. In five seasons, none of Pittman's teams have ever had a winning record in SEC play. Slow starts in non-conference play against the likes of Rice, Missouri State and UAB during Pittman's tenure have made Razorback fans reliant on heart medication, and a loss to Liberty in 2022 is the leading contender for the worst loss of PIttman's Arkansas career.
Pittman's teams also have a reputation of failing to close out games. Against Texas Tech on Friday, Arkansas jumped out to a 21-3 lead. However, a safety forced by the Texas Tech defense spurred a 16-0 run that got the Red Raiders right back into the game. While Arkansas handled business in the second half, the Hogs did give up a late touchdown to Texas Tech that made it a 13-point game, incurring memories of the 2022 Liberty Bowl, in which Arkansas managed to cough up a 15-point lead before winning in triple overtime.
The streakiness of Pittman's teams is also a curious case. In 2024, Arkansas only won consecutive games once, beating UAB and Auburn back-to-back in September. Wins over UAPB, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech were sandwiched between losses to Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, LSU, Ole MIss, Texas and Missouri.
In SEC play, fans could never be sure of which Razorback team was going to show up. The team that took down Auburn and Mississippi State on the road and shocked Tennessee in Fayetteville was not the same team that was throttled by Ole Miss and LSU at home, nor the same team that dropped heartbreakers to the likes of Missouri and Texas A&M.
The biggest problem fans have with Pittman is that the issues that always plague Arkansas are always the same: a failure to close out games, inconsistent play and an inability to consistently compete with the big boys of the SEC. These issues have been a constant during Pittman's tenure and never seem to improve over the course of a season.
At the same time, the reason many fans and athletic director Hunter Yurachek are partial to Pittman is because of his consistency. A program that won eight games - including just one SEC contest - from 2017 to 2019 isn't exactly in a position to complain about three winning seasons and three bowl wins in five years. With Pittman at the helm, Arkansas seems all but guaranteed to win a few SEC games and make the postseason, but whether or not it can take the next step under Pittman remains to be seen.
Pittman and the Razorbacks should be commended for their victory over the Red Raiders, but the win is a prime example of PIttman's enigmatic tenure at Arkansas.