Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman's weekly meeting with Athletics Director Hunter Yurachek must've been business as usual despite Saturday's 48-10 loss to Auburn over the weekend.
"I talk to him after every single game," Pittman said in his Monday press conference. "Talk to him on Sundays. Not often. Well, yeah. I talk to him on Mondays and you’d have to ask him about the conversation. But I haven’t really expressed to (the media) what our conversations have been over the four years. I don’t think today’s a good time to talk about that either."
After the blowout defeat in front of a home crowd at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, rumors regarding Pittman's job security began to work around the internet on Sunday.
The Hogs own a 3-7 overall record this season and a 22-24 record during Pittman's almost four full seasons as head coach. Razorback fans have loudly voiced their opinions online, and some expected the regularly scheduled Monday noon press conference with Pittman to go differently than usual.
Although Pittman addressed the rumors regarding his job security, he didn't provide any reason to believe he's going anywhere.
"Our kids probably hear and read the same thing that the recruits do," Pittman said. "I’m not going to address it because I don’t think it’s as severe as y’all do. But if they ask me about it, then I’m going to explain about that, but I don’t have time really to explain about my job security, to be honest with you.
"We’ve got to beat FIU and that’s an honest answer. So, if I was worried about me personally, I think it would take away from what we’re trying to get done here. I’ve got a job to do, I get paid to do it. I need to do a better job, so I can’t really sit around worried about my job security or me. I think it’s a much bigger issue with the media than it is with myself."
While Pittman probably means well with that last statement, having a 3-7 record and losing four out of the five true home games you've played is a pretty big issue.
Still, Pittman said he and his staff were working the phones to talk with recruits on Sunday in an attempt to calm some nerves.
"We can’t do anything about what people write," Pittman said. " just wish they’d write truth. Not opinion. If you’re saying a man is fired then he should be fired. We can’t deal with (untrue) things and that’s probably the most difficult thing, because they kids believe and the parents believe it. But look, we put ourself in this situation and we’ve got to fight our way out of it."
While Pittman's team certainly hasn't gotten the job done on the field this season, it has also had two wild off-the-field incidents. First, there was the Dan Enos emailing students situation. Now, we have an incident from over the weekend where redshirt players were watching the Polar Express at halftime.
"I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t even know there was a TV in there," Pittman said. "Somehow, the TV got turned on. I don’t think, I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think him being in the redshirt locker room watching a movie had anything to do with us getting our butt kicked. "
Pittman is right, that incident regarding redshirt players who weren't even able to actually play Saturday didn't make a difference in the 48-10 loss on the field. But it's just another example of the circus this season has become.
The reality is, there are two games remaining and Pittman has to get a win this weekend with a 4-6 Florida International team coming to town. Pittman was asked if he thinks he's coaching for his job the next two games.
"Well, you’re always trying to win," Pittman said. "So honestly, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different than what it does every week. We want to win and coach for our players to be the best they possibly can be. In coaching I think a lot of times you get concerned when you felt like you had a really good practice week and it doesn’t go well on a Saturday.
"So we went back and tried to figure out if we can change something up. Obviously it was the same thing we did against Florida, format wise. But no, we’re trying to win games and trying to do the best we can to put the kids in the best spot to have success."
If it were his decision, Pittman wants to stay in Fayetteville with his wife, Jamie, for a while longer.
"Jamie and I, when we got here, we were planning on coaching here until whatever that date was that we were going to do down to Hot Springs and call it a day," Pittman said. "I’m not close to that year right now, and the plan is to get this program back to where it deserves to be and stay here as long as we possibly can. … But it’s hard to block out noise. It’s more like for the kids, for the recruits. Once it starts, a lot of negative stuff, it’s about recruiting.
"I know what’s going on and Hunter Yurachek knows what’s going on, but really nobody else really [knows]. It’s opinion. They don’t really know what’s going on. But it affects our recruits, so we spent a lot of time yesterday with that as well. My job is to get ready for FIU. I’m not worried about my job security — at all. And I think I’m the guy for the University and I want to stay here for a long time."
Arkansas and FIU will take each other on at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
