A lot is being made out of this upcoming season for one SEC program whose fan base is restless since last year. Remember that Billboard rally to fire their HC? This year, the bar is eight wins or pack up. And now, national analysts are weighing in. Last week, ESPN’s Rece Davis sat down with Dan Wetzel to talk about hot seats. The betting line was set at 2.5 HCs being fired. The list of names was as familiar as it was uncomfortable. Hugh Freeze, Brent Venables, Billy Napier, Mark Stoops, and the man squarely in the crosshairs of this conversation – Sam Pittman.
Rece Davis praised Sam Pittman’s fit in Arkansas but pointed out the obvious. The record has to improve drastically. “Do they need to win a few more games? Yeah, probably,” he said. “But they had a winning record a year ago. Kind of looking at their schedule… It’s a pretty tough schedule there. Get off to a good start. Hopefully, we’ll take the under there.” And the good start for them rests on game 4 where the pressure point is.
On August 15, The Chuck & Bo Show gave a glimpse into what Rece Davis said on Arkansas football’s schedule. “You cannot lose that game at Memphis. That’s a pivot point, to me, for the early part to see what kind of a season Arkansas’s going to have,” he said on the show. The Tigers aren’t just non-conference opponents. They could be the razor’s edge on which Sam Pittman’s future balances.
ESPN’s Rece Davis (@ReceDavis) on Arkansas football’s schedule:
“You cannot lose that game at Memphis. That’s a pivot point, to me, for the early part to see what kind of a season Arkansas’s going to have.”
Agree or disagree? pic.twitter.com/gXcQ8RSmw7
— The Chuck & Bo Show (@chuckandboshow) August 15, 2025
Rece Davis isn’t exaggerating. This isn’t some cupcake game to gloss over. Memphis went 11-2 last season, undefeated at home in Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. They capped it off by beating West Virginia in the Frisco Bowl. This year, Arkansas is their only power conference opponent which means Ryan Silverfield’s squad will treat the Razorbacks like a bowl game in September.
History and QB familiarity add even more weight. Taylen Green, now under center for the Hogs, has already taken snaps at Liberty Stadium once with Boise State in 2023, then again in the Liberty Bowl with Arkansas. That doesn’t erase the sting of Sam Pittman’s 4-8 campaign in 2023, his worst since year one, nor does it overshadow the 7-6 rebound season capped with a Liberty Bowl win last year. The reality is that building on that seven-win finish won’t be easy. Not when half the upcoming schedule features teams that won at least 10 games.
Sam Pittman has to navigate a brutal schedule
Arkansas doesn’t just face a gauntlet. They face a season where six opponents averaged 11.3 wins last year. So much for Sam Pittman’s road to redemption! Factor in trap games against Auburn, Texas A&M, and even Arkansas State, where War Memorial Stadium is more likely to be filled with Red Wolves fans than Razorback loyalists, and you start to see why Rece Davis called Memphis the “pivot.”
Sam Pittman tried spinning it at SEC Media Days. “I think it’s an outstanding schedule,” he said. “With that, everybody, that gives the University of Arkansas one h— of an opportunity. That’s what it does. We got a good football team, too.” Maybe so, but opportunity looks a lot like pressure when job security is already a topic on national shows. While he has steadied the ship at times, whispers about his long-term future haven’t slowed down.
Some fans and analysts are pointing toward Jon Gruden. The former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, the Super Bowl champion, the Monday Night Football voice. His name has lingered in college football circles for years, and Arkansas has always been one of the programs he’s connected to. For Sam Pittman, that’s the worst-case backdrop. A brutal schedule, national pressure from ESPN voices, and a ready-made replacement with a shiny NFL resume hovering. The 2025 season won’t just decide how many games Arkansas wins. It may well determine who’s leading the program into 2026.
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