After Sam Pittman led Arkansas to its first nine-win season in over a decade in 2022, his second year on the job, he was rewarded with a five-year extension. Now, entering the penultimate year of that deal, and his sixth season in Fayetteville, even coming off a 7-6 campaign and a Liberty Bowl victory, he remains on the hot seat.
With Notre Dame, LSU, and Texas headlining a brutally difficult schedule in 2025, another winning season looks unlikely for the Razorbacks, so now is a good time as any to look at what Pittman’s buyout would be if he were fired during the 2025 season.
Pittman needs to keep on winning, for more reasons than one
So, what is Sam Pittman’s buyout? Well, that’s a good question. The answer is: it depends.
Pittman’s 2022 extension was rather incentive-laden, and it included a clause that reduces Pittman’s buyout to 50 percent of the money owed if he is fired without cause, and his overall record from the beginning of the 2021 season through the date of his firing is below .500. After going 7-6 in 2024, Pittman’s record from the start of 2021 is 27-24.
If Pittman’s record is fired without cause and his record is above .500, then he will be due 75 percent of his remaining base salary and supplemental compensation.
Therefore, if Pittman wins at least five games next season, finishing 5-7, his record will be 32-31, and he will be owed $3.75 million of his $5 million base salary for the 2027 season, the final year on that five-year extension that he signed in 2022 and 75 percent of his additional due compensation. If Pittman were to finish the year at 4-8 or worse, and fall below .500, he would be owed $2.5 million of his base salary for 2027 and 50 percent of supplemental compensation.
As for the supplemental compensation, Pittman’s max annual bonus is $1.45 million, so at most, if Pittman somehow hit his contract incentives, stayed above .500, and was still fired after completing the 2025 season, the largest his buyout could be is $4,837,500.
For an athletic department that just paid John Calipari a five-year contract worth upwards of $40 million to leave Kentucky and take over the basketball program in Fayetteville, a buyout just south of $5 million should be no problem if the Razorbacks are interested in moving on after six years of Pittman.