HawgBeat has confirmed that Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman will sit in the dugout instead of on the sideline during Saturday’s Battle Line Rivalry game against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

With temperatures below freezing and snow covering the entire field before the game, it’s no surprise that Pittman is making this decision. The 63-year-old coach is scheduled to undergo hip surgery next week.

“Well, my hip, I found out about my hip about 150… well, after surgery, about 135 to 40 days ago,” Pittman said on November 11th. “And she just walked out. Just make noise.” * And that’s how I found out I had to get a new hip, at a time when it was so close to the season that I just didn’t feel like I could do it.

“And as time goes on it becomes more and more painful. I’ve got a chip on my bone and a chip. I have a broken hip and this is what it is. It hurts.’ But as soon as we’re done with the Missouri game, between that and the postseason, I’m going to get a new hip.”

MORE: Sam Pittman to undergo hip surgery after season

This is the second time Pittman has not coached on the sidelines during his five-year tenure. He did not coach at Florida’s 2020 game because he was ill with COVID-19.

Arkansas and Missouri begin at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Click here for live updates from HawgBeat.