Sam Pittman Fired As Arkansas CFB HC After Loss to Notre Dame, Bobby Petrino Interim

Less than 24 hours after a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame, Sam Pittman has been fired as Arkansas' head coach.

Athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced on Sunday that Pittman has been dismissed and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will take over as interim head coach.

Saturday's game against Notre Dame was the largest margin of defeat for the Razorbacks at home since a 52-3 loss against Alabama on Dec. 12, 2020.

That was also during Pittman's first season as head coach when Arkansas finished 3-7. He took over a program in need of a rebuild coming off three consecutive losing seasons from 2017 to '19.

In addition to the 43-point loss to Notre Dame, Arkansas has lost three consecutive games after a 2-0 start to the season.

Bret Bielema was fired after the 2017 season and replaced by Chad Morris, who didn't even make it through two full seasons before he was dismissed in November 2019.

The Arkansas job marked Pittman's first as an FBS head coach after 25 seasons as an assistant for various programs from 1994 to 2019. He was working as an associate head coach and offensive line coach at Georgia when the Razorbacks hired him.

Pittman's second season in Arkansas was a success with a 9-4 record, its most wins since 2011 (11-2). That turned out to be the high-water mark for the program during his run, as he went 20-23 in four seasons since 2022.

Petrino has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Pittman's staff since 2024. He previously served as head coach for the Razorbacks from 2008 to '11, recording a 34-17 record during that period.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for Arkansas with Petrino taking over. Its next two games are against Tennessee and Texas A&M.