Arkansas fans still want Sam Pittman gone in Fayetteville: Who should replace him?

It was close but no cigar for the Arkansas Razorbacks vs. the old Southwest rival and new SEC rival Texas. No, it was not the greatest game of the season for the Longhorns either, but you have to wonder if a better Arkansas team showed up on Saturday night if we would even be having this discussion. Head coach Sam Pittman is on the hot seat at 5-5, and some rabid fans want him gone.

Arkansas' two remaining games are varying degrees of winnable. The Razorbacks host a Louisiana Tech Bulldogs team that is fighting for bowl eligibility at 4-6. If the Bulldogs lose, that might be it for their head coach Sonny Cumbie. If Arkansas were to somehow fall to LA Tech, Pittman should get fired on the spot. He may not though because Arkansas still has to play Battle Line vs. Missouri.

That budding rivalry game may be in CoMo, but Missouri has been so up and down all season long. I would give the Tigers the better shot at the win in that one, mostly because I think they are more talented. Simply put, a five-win season will be the last one Pittman coaches. Then again, 6-6 may not be good enough anymore. It makes you wonder if Arkansas did not beat Tennessee a few weeks ago.

Brett McMurphy of The Action Network shared a photo of a billboard on I-49 entering Fayetteville saying that it has been real, it has been fun, but has it all been real fun with Pittman as The Boss Hog?

If Arkansas really does want to destroy something beautiful in Pittman, here is who I would look at.

If Arkansas fires Sam Pittman, then what? Here is who may be hired next

To me, there are five candidates for this job. Promoting Bobby Petrino from within from offensive coordinator after what happened a decade ago in Fayetteville would only be par for the course living out this timeline we are currently on. Thankfully, I do not see that happening. I think there are four potential candidates out there that could be had, all of whom have strong ties to The Natural State.

Your fourth-best candidate is UNLV head coach Barry Odom. He was Pittman's star defensive coordinator at Arkansas before taking over the Rebels in Las Vegas. With how well UNLV has performed under him the last two years, Odom is ready to lead a Power Four team again. Unfortunately, his failure at alma mater Missouri is still somewhat fresh in the mind of SEC fans.

The third-best choice would be poaching Eliah Drinkwitz away from rival Missouri. He is originally from Arkansas, but that may be more of a lateral move for him at this point in his coaching career. If he is going to leave for another SEC, it would be for something like Auburn, Florida, LSU or Oklahoma, programs with bigger budgets, better recruitment and greater winning tradition than even Arkansas.

The second-best candidate was my pick to lead Arkansas after this season. I had Pittman on the hot seat and getting fired after a 3-9 campaign in my preseason predictions. The end result may be the same, but Arkansas has been better than expected. Conversely, UCF has been worse and Gus Malzahn has been rendered useless as a one-trick pony in the new Big 12 with hurry up and run, boys!

Oh, this would be fun... The best candidate to lead Arkansas is Malzahn's greatest disciple in his former high school quarterback and Auburn offensive coordinator in SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee. He was very good when he was on Manny Diaz's staff at Miami. His offense is more complex than what Malzahn has run for years. The fact he has SMU in the hunt for the playoff says he is the pick.

The strange part in all this is Lashlee may not leave. SMU has big-pocketed boosters and is located in the more talent-rich state of Texas. He can potentially build a juggernaut in the new ACC with guys that Texas and Texas A&M don't want out of high school. Truth be told, he could conceivably win with the same blueprint at his home state of Arkansas. Would he hire Malzahn as his offensive coordinator?

I would only fire Pittman after a six-win season is if I have assurances that Lashlee will be leaving SMU.