Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian shared a very interesting point of view during the weekly SEC Media Conference Call on Wednesday. Sarkisian was asked for his reaction to the recent dismissal of Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman by a reporter who covers the team. During Sarkisian’s response, he talked about the challenge of convincing fans that 9-3 is a good season in the SEC.
Question: “Good afternoon, Steve. Just going off what you said at SEC Media Days about finding out about the Arkansas rivalry in your second game. Curious about your reaction to Sam Pittman’s dismissal, and if you’ve had a word.”
Sarkisian: “First of all, I’ve got a ton of respect for Sam Pittman. That guy is a tremendous football coach. He’s a good man. From where that program was when he arrived, and what he was able to do in a very tough conference – I think sometimes people forget.
“Everybody wants to win a national championship, and everybody wants to be SEC champs. This conference is really hard. It’s really difficult. And at the time when he came in the SEC West, that was brutal. And now we expand the conference.
“So, ton of respect for the job that he did there, and as a man, as a person. But this is where we’re at in college football now. One of the challenges I’ve heard multiple head coaches talk about: how are we going to get our fan bases to wrap their brain around the idea that 9–3 is going to become a really good season in college football?
“We’re going into a nine-game SEC schedule next year. I don’t know how many teams are ranked in the Top 25 right now in the SEC, but it’s a lot. And then we’re still going to play these non-conference games. It’s going to be really challenging.
“Hopefully, people can appreciate the jobs that everybody’s doing and some of the great wins that Sam had there. I think back to beating Tennessee at home just a year ago and what that meant to that community.
“So all in all, ton of respect for him. Arkansas is a great place, and I’m sure they’ll find a great head coach.”
