Pittman ranked 57th among Power Four coaches puts Arkansas at crossroads

More importantly, the only SEC coach behind him is Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby. Going into his second year Lebby is ranked at the bottom.

That doesn't help headed into a season where hope is about all Razorback fans can find for this season. There were more questions than answers coming out of spring practice.

And for a program steeped in tradition and hungry for progress, this ranking has sparked debate and introspection in Fayetteville.

Pittman, entering his sixth season at Arkansas, has compiled a 30-31 record, with three bowl wins to his name. He stabilized a program that was below terrible.

The Hogs had won just eight games in the previous three seasons, but Pittman's teams have been marked by inconsistency, especially in SEC play.

The Razorbacks have yet to post a winning conference record under Pittman, with season marks of 3-7 (2020), 4-4 (2021), 3-5 (2022), 1-7 (2023), and 3-5 (2024).

Arkansas’ best season came in 2021, when the Hogs finished 9-4, ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll, and notched impressive wins over Texas, Texas A&M, and Penn State in the Outback Bowl.

The Razorbacks have struggled to sustain momentum. Pittman entered 2024 on the proverbial hot seat and, despite a 7-6 finish, "the 3-5 mark in SEC play didn’t turn the dial down much."

As one CBS Sports analyst put it, "If we were to ask our voters to rank coaches on the likelihood we wouldn’t be ranking them at all next year, Pittman could very well finish at the top."

The Razorbacks’ roster has seen a ton of turnover lately, with 88 scholarship players entering the transfer portal over the past three seasons, including 34 in 2024/25 alone.

Pittman’s lone top-25 recruiting class came in 2022 (22nd overall), but only two players from that class remain on the roster.

This instability has made it difficult for Arkansas to build continuity, a challenge compounded by the ever-evolving landscape of college football’s transfer portal and NIL era.

Despite the external noise, Pittman remains optimistic about his team’s prospects.

"I really like this team,” he said at SEC Media Days last year. "I’m not trying to win media days. I’m just going to tell you how I feel.

"I really like this team, and I think with the culture and the tightness of the team. You can win those (one-score) games a little bit easier than if it’s the other way."

He knows exactly how the precarious nature of his position:

"If you want to be patted on the back, you’re going to get punched in the gut," Pittman said. "What’s fair is fair. To be honest with you, the only one that can really control the hot seat is me and what we do with our football team."

The SEC is still probably the most competitive coaching environment in college football from top to bottom.

Kirby Smart (Georgia), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), and Brian Kelly (LSU) top the 2025 SEC head coach rankings, while newcomers like Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Mississippi State’s Lebby are still establishing their reputations.

Notably, legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick, now at North Carolina, is ranked just three spots ahead of Pittman at No. 54 in the CBS Sports list, despite being a first-year college head coach.

This puts some context on the pressure on Pittman to deliver results in a league where patience is short and expectations are high.

Arkansas fans have mixed feelings about Pittman’s return for a sixth season.

Many appreciate the stability and bowl appearances he’s brought, but others point to the lack of progress in SEC play and the program’s inability to capitalize on recruiting momentum.

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