Sam Pittman Admits Razorbacks 'Probably' Behind in NIL

Other SEC teams may have more, but is he starting to get a little frustrated over it?

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Nov 15, 2023 4:16 PM EST
Original:
Nov 15, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman may have started showing some signs of frustration over this whole name, image, likeness thing that has seized college athletics by the throat the last few years. His tone and demeanor had all of that talking about it Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm not fine with it at all," he said in his final media appearance before Saturday's game with Florida International. "If we're going to be like an NFL franchise, we may need to look at what the NFL is doing. It's wild."

The numbers are big and going to probably grow until some sort of fiscal sanity sets in. For now, though, it's an arms race. Maybe the worst part of it is the Razorbacks may be dragging a little bit there. That's not speculation. Pittman thinks so, too.

"It's probably not as large as some other SEC schools," he said.

The whole thing came at the end of his Zoom press conference. You get the idea just about every player being recruited brings it up and it's not something he particularly cares for. He understands "everybody wants to make the most money they can," but this is probably a completely foreign concept. Pittman didn't spend 30-something years learning to be a coach and have to deal with this.

"It's wild," he said. "Something has to give. We're rapidly going to be in trouble."

Pittman probably wasn't referring to just the Hogs. That's all college sports, but it's about how much can they make and Congress won't be the answer, despite what they hope for. None of them want to deal with it.