In college football, there is never a good time to tell fans when to accept mediocrity. It’s been five years since Arkansas hired Sam Pittman for stability because no one really wanted the job.

The coaching talent pool had dried up in 2019, and current Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was the only ‘big name’ considering the Arkansas job. When Kiffin decided to pursue a more consistent opportunity with the Rebels, it took several days of filtering names to reach the decision to hire Sam Pittman.

A group of former players sent an evaluation letter to athletic director Hunter Yurachek to hire Pittman; That letter came to fruition days later when the two reached an agreement with a memorable video. The decision to bring him aboard was a decision in the dark, perhaps even desperation, as Arkansas was going through the worst stretch of football in program history.

The Razorbacks program had no chance of hiring a head coach at the FBS level for the first time since Chad Morris’ 4-20 run, where he spent most of his career as an offensive line assistant. Hiring a guy with no real top-level experience in college football’s toughest league was always going to be a tough sell.

What Pittman was trying to do was to rekindle the pride of being an Arkansas fan by working hard like most fans. In a very short period of time, he turned down several top 2020 prospects and signed others in the late signing period.

After taking over a team on a 20-game conference play losing streak, Pittman led Arkansas to its first SEC victory faster than the three coaches before him. He went on to win three conference games and fall short in just over two; This showed so much promise for the future after being stuck in obscurity just four months ago.

The success continued when the NCAA relaxed eligibility rules due to COVID-19, allowing players to capitalize on their name, image and likeness for the first time. Perhaps it was a curse that Pittman won nine games in his second season as coach, because it raised expectations to a point the program never reached again during the three years it was abolished.

Pittman appears to have reached the turning point of his tenure with the Razorbacks, having put the mistake of hiring Dan Enos as offensive coordinator behind him, which set the program back a mile. Now, with Bobby Petrino and defensive coordinator Travis Williams coaching both sides of the ball, it’s been a rollercoaster ride.

On one hand, beating No. 4 Tennessee to start the schedule’s October was a great win at the time, but the shine faded pretty quickly. Three other SEC games were lost by 10 or more points, proving to be an exception to what has happened at Razorback Stadium for most of the last two years.

Constantly playing in Group of Five competitions, losing to teams as betting favorites and being kicked out of your home stadium are usually grounds for termination in the fifth year, regardless of who the coach is. Anyone who is just 2-8 in their previous 10 conference home games would be in the hot seats in college football, but some people close to the Arkansas program want to pass the ball to Pittman.

The wins didn’t feel like a conference juggernaut, as Auburn and Mississippi State were 6-14 overall and 1-11 in SEC play. In year five, he was not called to blow out twice at home, once against 6-4 LSU (should have been 5-5 but the SEC officiates) and the other against Ole Miss (who was considered the equal team in terms of talent).

The beauty of sports, especially those at the Fifth Estate, is the rabid fan bases that live and die game by game, game by game, and every day with every move made by their favorite show. The fans in the SEC are crazy, they embrace reality and they won’t have it any other way.

What if a fan decides to spend money on a billboard to get their opinion out there, it happens every day, no matter the topic. If a fan decides to fly a plane over their team’s stadium because it doesn’t go along with the schedule, it doesn’t make that person any less of a fan.

Social media has been a dumpster fire for fans since the early 2010s, as it allows anyone with a phone, the internet, and an opinion to vent their hatred, excitement, or satisfaction about any topic. Toxic or not, things remain the same, and that’s the beauty of having an idea that the world can hear.

Arkansas will have a competitive advantage for the first time if the power brokers decide to make a change at the head coaching position. Similar to the move to hire Kentucky’s John Calipari in April, he has an opportunity to become the first major domino to fall into the Power Four with a stable program.

With so many unknowns as schools decide to share revenue with their student-athletes, it may lead schools not to take action this season, even if it’s warranted. If Arkansas brass truly listened to their fans’ desires and committed to winning, the cost would be much higher, but history shows that being serious rarely happens.

• Calipari has an opponent he must learn he can never beat in Arkansas

• Pittman staying with the Hogs; What happens now? | Locked in Razorbacks

• Indications are Texas may have played with its food against Arkansas

• Razorbacks may have acted as playoff spoilers

• Is the Petrino offense still working for the Razorbacks? | 4th and 5th

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