Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman opened up Monday about a hip issue that he's known about since before the season started.
Fans have probably noticed the fifth-year head coach walking with a limp on the sideline throughout the season that seems to have gotten worse as the year goes on. Pittman, 62, says he plans on getting hip surgery after the Missouri game to end the regular season Nov. 30.
"Well, my hip, I found out about my hip about 150... well, once I get the surgery, about 135-40 days ago," Pittman said Monday. "And it just went out. Just *makes noise*. And so I found out I need to get a new hip. And it was at a point in time where it was so close to the season starting that I just didn't feel like I could do it.
"And as it's gone on, it's gotten sorer and sorer. I've got a bone-on-bone, and I've got a chip. I've got a broken hip, which, it is what it is. Sore. But as soon as we get through with the Missouri game, between that and the postseason, I'm going to get a new hip."
The Razorbacks sit with a 5-4 record (3-3 SEC) with three games remaining on the schedule against No. 3 Texas, Louisiana Tech and No. 24 Missouri. With one more win, the Hogs will secure bowl eligibility and Pittman seemed positive that he'd be capable of making everything work out.
"I think that I'll be able to walk out of the surgery and then I should be... that 1st week after Missouri game is kind of a dead week for us because the kids are in finals or it's the last week of school, I guess," Pittman said. "I wanted to have it where I could move around pretty good by the time that the portal opened because it's very, very busy. You can sit down and do it but it's easier to stand up and move around a little bit.
"But that's really the only time I just didn't feel like I could get it done before the season and be effective, but it's sore, you know, you can't ever get off of it. You know, you can't sit off of it. You can't sleep off of it. You obviously can't walk off of it. So, anybody's had bone-on-bone hip knows that it's irritable and it's hard to sleep and those things. But I've made it a 130 something days of it, and I can make it another 19, 20, whatever the number is. It's 22."
Arkansas will host the third-ranked Longhorns on Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.
