March 17, 2020 · 6:41 AM

College football in the time of pandemic, part six

At The Athletic, an observation about Arkansas’ trip to Notre Dame ($$):

Start with the home opener against Arkansas, with the Irish favored by 16.5. Does anyone see that game being even remotely close? The Hogs lost five games last season by at least 26 points. They have a new coach in Sam Pittman. Maybe he’s the long-term answer, maybe he’s not, but one thing is certain: The epic rebuilding task ahead of him is going to be that much more difficult now given the lack of time together during these formative months for a new regime.

As a general rule, 2020 is not shaping up as a good year for new head coaches, for exactly that reason.  It’ll be interesting to see how many of their athletic directors give them a pass if things don’t go well.  (I suspect it will be most, since for them it will be a matter of defending the hire more than a case of defending the coach himself.)

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12 Comments

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12 responses to “College football in the time of pandemic, part six”

  1. eethomaswfnc
    March 17, 2020 at 6:49 AM

    New coaches always get a pass in their first year. Pittman could even almost lose to an FCS opponent, lose to an SEC doormat on homecoming, get dominated by a rival, and then lose his last game of the year to another rival at home. He may even have radio hosts say after the game that it was a throwaway season.

    Good luck, Pitt Boss, you’re going to need it because you aren’t going 8-4.

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