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FAYETTEVILLE — It sounds like Arkansas is close to finalizing a new contract for head coach Sam Pittman.
Following the Razorbacks’ open scrimmage Saturday, the third-year coach told reporters he has agreed in principle to terms offered by the UA.
"Well, I've agreed to what they've offered (and) they agreed when I agreed,” Pittman said. “I don't know what all that means. I agree, they agree, so that means I guess we agree."
Among the 13 known salaries in the SEC last season, Pittman’s $3 million ranked ahead of only South Carolina’s Shane Beamer, who made $2.75 million in his first season on the job. (Vanderbilt is a private institution and not subject to Freedom of Information laws.)
By winning eight regular-season games in 2021, Pittman triggered an automatic $750,000 raise. That would still rank 12th in the SEC, though, and — now represented by super agent Jimmy Sexton — he is expected to receive a much larger pay bump.
While he didn’t reveal any of the terms agreed upon, Pittman talked like it’d allow him to retire at Arkansas — something he has openly discussed as a goal since being hired following the 2019 season — and mentioned that the new deal will include a non-compete clause.
“I'm glad it does,” Pittman said. “It allows us to recruit. There's a lot of different things in recruiting, but one of them happens to be stability. They can fire me whenever they get good and ready to, but I can't leave… Don't want to anyway.”
Nothing has been finalized or announced regarding Pittman’s contract, but several of his assistants — including defensive coordinator Barry Odom and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles — recently agreed to extensions that came with pay raises.
Despite being pursued for other jobs, Odom and Briles will return to Arkansas for a third season and are actually under contract through the 2024 season. The Razorbacks are one of only eight Power Five programs with a pair of coordinators entering at least their third season together, according to research by HawgBeat.
The raises for them and the other assistants increased Arkansas’ salary pool for its 10 on-field assistants to a record-high $6.14 million in 2022. That is a 15.3% increase over last season.
