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Arkansas fired Sam Pittman.

And Bobby Petrino is the interim head coach.

Yes, that Bobby Petrino.

The Razorbacks are paying Pittman a $9.3M buyout despite his 29-27 record since 2021. If they'd waited for him to drop below .500, the buyout would've been $5.7M. But Arkansas didn't hesitate. They pulled the trigger immediately.

Which tells you everything you need to know about how done they were with Pittman.

But Petrino?

That's the real story here.

Petrino already had two stints at Arkansas—one that ended in 2011 after a motorcycle accident revealed an affair with a staff member he'd hired, and another as offensive coordinator under Pittman. Now he's back in charge as the interim.

And he might be auditioning for the permanent job.

CBS' Will Backus breaks down the buyout details:

Pittman signed his extension in June 2022, locking him in through 2026 (with an automatic extension to 2027 after winning 7 games). His salary jumped to $5 million annually, and the buyout structure was tied to his performance since 2021.

Above .500? Full buyout.

Below .500? Reduced buyout.

Arkansas didn't care. They moved on anyway and handed the keys—temporarily—to one of the more colorful figures in Arkansas football history.

The hot seat just got a whole lot more interesting.

Read more here. And here.

On3’s Pete Nakos reports “Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek says the school negotiated [former Football HC] Sam Pittman's buyout down to 62% of his remaining contract. Brings it down to roughly $7.6M.”

Virginia Tech is about to spend its way back into relevance.

The Hokies are adding $50M to their athletic budget by the end of the month. That's not a typo. $50 million.

Why? To prove they can compete with the top programs in the ACC.

And according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Virginia Tech and UCLA are both targeting experienced head coaches for their current vacancies. Not up-and-comers. Not coordinators looking for their first shot.

Experienced head coaches.

The message is clear: Virginia Tech isn't rebuilding. They're buying their way back to the top.

More here. 

Nick Saban just said the quiet part out loud.

During ESPN GameDay yesterday, Saban addressed the leadership change at Oklahoma State. And his take? Mike Gundy couldn't adapt to the idea of paying players.

"Some people have a tougher time embracing the whole idea of paying players, especially some of us old timers."

Saban gets it. He understands that college football has undergone a fundamental change. The old model, coaching as teaching, with a focus on self-gratification through player development, no longer works when recruits are making business decisions based on NIL deals.

Gundy was a great coach for a long time. But he couldn't make the shift.

And according to Saban, that's what got him at Oklahoma State.

The game changed. Some coaches changed with it. Others didn't.

Gundy was one of the ones who didn't.

Read Saban’s comments here.

DEEP DIVE

Our top 10 (plus a bonus) from the Week 6 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings

The seat is hot.

The seat is very hot.

Here are the 11 coaches in college football who are feeling the heat right now.

1. Billy Napier — Florida (SEC)

This is it.

This is the hottest seat in college football, and it's not even close.

Napier is 20-22 overall. He's 3-11 against Florida's key rivals (Miami, Georgia, Tennessee, FSU, LSU). The offense is unwatchable. The penalties are constant. The blown opportunities are weekly occurrences.

And fans? They're done.

The administration is losing faith. The boosters are losing patience. And in the SEC, treading water means you're drowning. Florida demands immediate improvement—and Napier isn't delivering it.

2. Trent Dilfer — UAB (American)

7-17.

Zero road wins.

The fanbase has turned on him. The athletic department is being questioned for making the hire in the first place. And performance? It's gotten worse since he arrived.

The buyout is a problem. But the lack of progress is a bigger one. Every week, the pressure builds. Every week, the seat gets hotter.

3. Joe Moorhead — Akron (MAC)

8-28 over three years.

Moorhead has improved the stats. He's made Akron more competitive. But here's the problem: stats don't win games. And Akron keeps losing close ones.

The expectation isn't competitiveness anymore. It's wins. And patience? That ship has sailed.

4. Butch Jones — Arkansas State (Sun Belt)

Year five.

19-31 overall.

Stuck at the bottom of the Sun Belt.

When you're in year five and the program hasn't turned around, hope fades. And when hope fades, action follows. Jones likely needs a winning season to survive. Anything less, and he's gone.

5. Sonny Cumbie — Louisiana Tech (C-USA)

13-27.

The offensive innovation everyone expected? It hasn't translated to wins. The buyout that once protected him? Donors and fans don't care anymore.

One more losing streak could be his last.

6. Derek Mason — Middle Tennessee (C-USA)

4-13 in 17 games.

Mason followed a 3-9 debut with a 1-4 start, and optimism has evaporated. Even with modest expectations, Blue Raider fans are growing impatient.

More losses, and his fate is sealed.

7. Scotty Walden — UTEP (C-USA)

Walden went 3-9 in year one with some competitive losses.

But here's the thing: C-USA coaches don't get long rebuilding runways. Struggling against a soft schedule doesn't help. And the inability to close out wins? That's intensifying the focus on results.

8. Jeff Choate — Nevada (Mountain West)

3-10 overall.

Nevada just suffered three straight 10-loss seasons—the worst stretch in FBS.

Patience is non-existent. Fans and administrators expect immediate improvement. The pressure isn't just mounting. It's crushing.

9. Scott Satterfield — Cincinnati (Big 12)

8-16 in two seasons.

Near the bottom of the Big 12. Disappointing home record. No momentum. No turnaround in sight.

Fan and donor support has plummeted. Unless there's a late-year surge, Satterfield is likely coaching his last season in Cincinnati.

10. Lance Taylor — Western Michigan (MAC)

Persistent underperformance.

No trajectory change.

Stuck in the MAC's lower tier.

The expectation was year-over-year growth. It hasn't happened. And if the stagnation continues, Taylor won't either.

11. Luke Fickell — Wisconsin (Big Ten)

Wait, what?

Yes, Luke Fickell.

14-15 overall. 8-11 in the Big Ten. 2-7 in the last nine games.

Wisconsin has an identity crisis on both sides of the ball. Fans are restless. Donors are concerned. And while a $25M buyout and a good relationship with the AD might help him finish the season, the margin for error is gone.

Continued losses make a change possible—even for Fickell.

The hot seat doesn't care about your reputation.

It only cares about wins.

See where your coach ranks here. 

THAT’S A WRAP

That's a wrap on this week's Hot Seat Rankings.

We covered a lot of ground: Arkansas firing Sam Pittman and handing the interim job to Bobby Petrino (who might actually get it permanently). Virginia Tech is throwing $50M at its athletic budget to compete with the ACC's top programs. And Nick Saban explaining why Mike Gundy couldn't survive at Oklahoma State—he never adapted to paying players.

The Deep Dive broke down our top 11 coaches under the most pressure right now, from Billy Napier's disaster at Florida (3-11 against rivals) to Luke Fickell's shocking struggles at Wisconsin.

But here's the thing: these rankings change every single week.

And this week's slate of games? It could shake everything up.

Friday's issue will break down the big Hot Seat matchups you need to watch:

• Trent Dilfer's UAB hosts Army—another loss, and the scrutiny around his 7-17 record intensifies.

• Joe Moorhead's Akron (8-28 overall) takes on Central Michigan at home, and a loss could have immediate consequences.

• Lance Taylor's Western Michigan faces winless UMass—lose to a team with zero wins, and it's likely over.

And then there's Luke Fickell.

Wisconsin travels to Michigan. Fickell is 2-7 in his last nine games, and a blowout loss on a big stage could push Badger fans and donors past the breaking point.

Friday's issue will preview all the Hot Seat games, explain what's at stake for each coach, and predict who survives the weekend—and who doesn't.

See you Friday.