Pittman's beef with War Memorial, not Arkansas State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There may not be much of a budding rivalry between Arkansas State and the Razorbacks, but there certainly seems to be one boiling quite hot between Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and War Memorial Stadium.

Pittman has been pretty clear in his stance on wanting to be done with uprooting his team to go play in a much smaller venue that doesn't even sell out and often has major malfunctions when the Razorbacks come to town. However, in his press conference Monday, he may have been more definitive than ever.

He's hoping that by playing the Red Wolves in Little Rock, the fact it's the first time the two teams have faced and that it's closer for Arkansas State fans to travel to Warm Memorial than his own team, perhaps the place might be reasonably full. In a bit of a sarcastic manner, Pittman jested that perhaps he will get to finally experience this terrifying atmosphere at War Memorial as described by former Tennessee quarterback turned NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

However, when asked about a favorite moment in Little Rock whether as a coach or assistant, it sounded like he was trying his hardest not to say when the team gets on the bus to leave for the last time because Pittman struggled for a long time to come up with anything. Then he let it be known that as an assistant coach, War Memorial was a straight up nightmare for the Hogs.

"We didn't have a lot of fond memories," Pittman said. "When I was assistant here, I don't know that we, I'm not positive if we won over there ... When I was when I was here as assistant we didn't fare so well over there. And, well, I don't think we fared at all. You know, if I recall, yeah, we did [maybe beat] somebody. I can't remember. No, I think I forget who we played."

Turns out that one team was Samford, which the Hogs still struggled with, 31-21. Arkansas went 1-3 in War Memorial Stadium when Pittman was an assistant.

That included a 16-12 loss to Toledo in 2015 that should have sank the season. Instead, the Razorbacks finished 8-5, including 5-3 in the SEC, which makes the loss in War Memorial even more inexplicable.

War Memorial hasn't exactly given Pittman a reason to warm up to it since he became head coach either. Everything that goes into picking up his team to make the drive for a home game in a stadium that is already 20,000 seats smaller and then only half full usually on top of that just doesn't make him feel warm about giving up a game in Fayetteville to do it.

"I don't know that there's any advantage for us, in all honesty, to go to Little Rock and play Arkansas State," Pittman said. "It's closer for them. It's like when we used to go over there and play Mississippi State. It's closer for them ... There's going to be 20, 30,000 people less. But from what I understand, they hadn't been packed since I've been a head coach, and hopefully this one is, and it's as as loud as Peyton Manning says it is over there. You know, we sure would like that to be the case. But future wise, you know, I don't really have a lot of say so in that."

However, he did, technically, have a little say in playing Arkansas State in what Pittman hopes is the last game in War Memorial for the Hogs.

"Well, I was asked, you know, and to be honest with you, I was asked my first year here, and it was 'We'd like for you to play Arkansas State in 2025 in Little Rock,'" Pittman said. "And to be honest with you, I just gotten a job here, and hell, I'd have played anybody. I was just [named] head coach at Arkansas, and then it was six years away, and I'm like, well, if I'm still here, you know, that'd be okay ... I know we let [Arkansas fans] down at times, and I know at times we make them happy, but I thought it would be good for the state if that, if that happened. And so that's kind of why I said, okay."

He fully understands former athletics director Frank Broyles' perspective on not playing Arkansas State as the flagship program of Arkansas. He also understands, if there is any rivalry, it will be among fans, not necessarily the players.

The Razorbacks, although they have a handful of starters from the state, recruit Arkansas high schools very little as of late. The Red Wolves take on even fewer players from within the state at an even dozen on the roster, so there's not enough homegrown players between the two sides to generate any real feelings.

"I think certainly we're the ones with the pressure on us," Pittman said. "I don't, I wouldn't think that they would have it, you know. That's the reason I'm assuming it's the first time we've ever played, because most of the time it would be that our decision whether to play that game or not. So certainly, we have high respect for their program. I don't think there's a ton of Arkansas kids, to be totally honest, on their team, nor on ours. So I think the rivalry goes from it's the first game, and it's the fans, and it is, but we certainly understand the importance of the game."