Pittman, Hogs tasked with avoiding history with 10-game SEC slate in 2020

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FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman’s first season as a Division I head coach just got a lot more difficult.

Instead of beginning his tenure against Nevada and playing Charleston Southern and ULM during the season, the longtime offensive line coach will go through the grind of a 10-game, SEC-only schedule, the conference announced Thursday.

“He’s relishing that opportunity to play 10 SEC games in his first year as a head coach,” Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said. “You know what, Coach Pittman just wants to coach football. He wants those young men to have an opportunity to play football.”

The Razorbacks know who eight of their opponents will be and the two extra SEC East foes - along with the full schedule - should be announced in the next 7-10 days. Having won just one of their last 25 conference matchups, they'll likely be the underdog in all 10 games.

Nearly three years has passed since that lone victory. It came when Arkansas rallied from a 24-point deficit and completed the largest comeback in school history to beat Ole Miss 38-37 in Oxford, Miss., back on Oct. 28, 2017.

Since then, the Razorbacks have lost 19 straight SEC games. Not only is it the longest conference losing streak in school history, but it also ranks sixth in SEC history. With three more losses, Arkansas would surpass Mississippi State’s 21-game losing streak between 1965-70 for the longest by a current SEC West school.

If they Razorbacks fail to win a single game, it would be their first winless season since beginning football in 1894 and the first by an SEC team since South Carolina in 1999. That would also give them a 29-game SEC losing streak, which would rank third behind only Vanderbilt (33, 1976-81) and Sewanee (37, 1933-40).

Pittman was not made available for interview after the scheduling format announcement, but he did release a statement through the UA.

“The most important part of all of this is keeping our student-athletes healthy and safe,” Pittman said in the statement. “I think this plan accomplishes that while giving our players the chance to compete.

“I’m so appreciative of Hunter, Chancellor Steinmetz, Commissioner Sankey and administration from around the league and the SEC for their long hours and efforts to ensure our student-athletes are safe and healthy while getting the chance to compete this fall. Our staff is already working on plans to get our team ready to go. Our entire program is excited to know we’re going to play football starting September 26.”

Although he didn’t get to meet with players individually, Yurachek said he was able to give the players the news about the new schedule.

He felt they received it well, despite the fact it makes the season ahead even more difficult coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons.

“You could see some relief and a weight lifted off their shoulders because there’s a plan now,” Yurachek said. “Having a plan gives them a sense of, ‘Okay, we know we have a target date that we’re going to start on Sept. 26.’ Again, fall camp will look a little bit differently, but just having a plan in place helps give them something to focus on and remove some of the anxiety of potentially the season being canceled.”

Pittman hasn’t been a head coach since he led a JUCO program in the early 1990s, but he was emotional about the opportunity at his introductory press conference in December.

The coronavirus pandemic completely eliminated the Razorbacks’ spring practice and a chunk of offseason conditioning, so Yurachek said he knows he’s ready to get going.

“I appreciate Coach Pittman’s patience throughout this process,” Yurachek said. “I know he, more than anybody, has been itching to get out and on that field as a first-year head coach and the opportunity to work with these young men and compete on that field.”