Pittman or Petrino? Probably Both Picking Wide Receivers Coach

It's likely Bobby Petrino will recommend, Sam Pittman approve and some else give okay

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Dec 29, 2023 8:05 AM EST
Original:
Dec 28, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's typical Arkansas fashion. Multiple media reports say wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton is off to Wisconsin, but there is no official word. They tend to wait until the wagon gets rolling, then jump under it.

Now the speculation is all about who might be the replacement. The assumption is offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will make the call, which is probably correct to a large degree, although, he won't have the final approval.

Coach Sam Pittman will at least have a couple of conversations with whomever Petrino recommends. He probably welcomes input and gives Petrino a lot of it, just like with anything else. Sam isn't giving up total control, though.

Then after all that, there's one other guy who has to sign off on it. Athletics director Hunter Yurachek technically has final say on salary and contract stuff. Shoot, he may even want to talk to them a time or two.

The old days under Frank Broyles don't exist anymore. It's probably not exactly a quick process these days. There are multiple steps involved these days. Nobody else seems to know anything definite, either, but they act like they know for sure. Even they are at a loss.

Even Pittman will still be heavily involved in the secretive process, though. Assistants, even coordinators, come and go, but the guy at the top doesn't let them do that. Coaches who have made mistakes like that usually get replaced by the guy making those calls.

If you have any doubt, how do you think Phillip Fulmer got the job the first time at Tennessee? He did when they had a Vols legend in Johnny Majors in charge of things. Bear Bryant always said it was the biggest thing that determined his assistants. He had seen too many assistants try to climb to the top by knocking down someone else to get there.

Pittman has no desire to let anybody else choose when he packs up to go sit on his dock on Lake Hamilton and wave at boaters going past while he sips on a cold one. Most of all, he's not going to let an assistant's personnel decision make that happen prematurely.