The Razorbacks haven't had a 10-win season since 2011, Bobby Petrino's final year in Fayetteville. Since then, the program has gone through five different head coaches to try and bring back Arkansas to the forefront of the SEC. Sam Pittman is the fifth guy to get brought in to do that. So far, the results have been massively underwhelming.
Pittman's first season was a 3-7 finish in 2020. The next year, the Razorbacks improved to an 8-4 mark and won the Outback Bowl. Several years later, the 63-year-old is still trying to replicate those results. Over the last three years, the team has had a 4-8 mark sandwiched in between a few 7-6 finishes in 2022 and 2024.
Last year, the squad had a good 3-1 start. Unfortunately, any optimism that formed quickly faded away as the team fell back to inconsistent play. Even though the team was able to win the Liberty Bowl, uninspiring 7-6 records are not enough to last in the SEC, college ball's most grueling gauntlet. For 2025, Pittman brought in the 29th-ranked recruiting class and a transfer portal class just outside the top 50, according to On3.
It's no secret that things have to get better for the program. More wins in the regular season are needed. They haven't even finished a season in the national polls since that aforementioned 9-win campaign in 2021. Arkansas can't have much more patience for that massive breakout season. If it doesn't happen in 2025, expect them to start looking for another new head coach.
Ever since they lost the 2013 BCS National Championship, Auburn has been underwhelming. They've only had one 10-win season since then (2017), and the program has gone through four different head coaches since 2013. Hugh Freeze is the fifth, and things have been muddy so far. With complete honesty, Freeze being in the SEC seems to be too much for him to handle.
If you rewind to 2012, you'll see what I'm talking about. In 2011, Freeze became a college head coach for the first time. In his one year at Arkansas State, he guided the Red Wolves to their first Sun Belt Conference title. Immediately after that, he got the main job with Ole Miss. From 2012 to 2016, Ole Miss was mediocre under his stewardship. The height of their program under Freeze was a 10-win year in 2015 that included a victory in the Sugar Bowl.
After 2016, he was fired and wasn't a head coach for the next two years. Then, he was hired by Liberty. Freeze guided the Flames for four years to instant respectability following the school's arrival in the FBS. Because of the success, he got another chance to be a head coach in the SEC. So far, he has failed to get the Tigers back to the top of the conference.
Auburn has had seasons of six and five-win seasons during Freeze's first two years at the helm. Everyone around the college football world knows how the SEC works. No matter what school you are looking at, success is always expected, and rightfully so. Auburn is one of the teams that are always under the microscope, and pressure mounts from all sides.
If no progress is seen, these schools don't have qualms about making a change. This is especially the case in this era, where coaches have shorter leashes to turn things around. Auburn is a historic collegiate power that doesn't tolerate losing and mediocrity. Heading into 2025, the school hasn't won a bowl game since 2018 and hasn't reached the 10-win mark in eight years.
Freeze compiled a transfer portal class that is ranked sixth in the nation, according to On3. They are behind only Texas Tech, LSU, Ole Miss, Oregon, and Miami. The class is highlighted by QB Jackson Arnold(Oklahoma), OT Xavier Chaplin(Virginia Tech), WR Eric Singleton Jr(Georgia Tech), and CB Raion Strader(Miami-Ohio).
Auburn also has the eighth-ranked recruiting class, highlighted by a five-star signee at quarterback, Mississippi native Deuce Knight. The Tigers added lots of new talent to the roster and will hopefully see a vast improvement on the field and in the win column. If the team has another mediocre season, don't be surprised to see Freeze walk out the door.