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Seriously, these national guys and their obsession with Gus
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:05 pm
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:05 pm
It's seems to really be from the ESPN guys, but holy shite, just stop.
quote:
Gus Malzahn started his college career at Arkansas and remains the dream candidate for many around the program.
Adam Rittenberg
ESPN Senior Writer
Here's a look at the Arkansas job and who could be the Head Hog in 2020.
The candidates
Tier 1
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn: He grew up in the state, started his college career at Arkansas and remains the dream candidate for many around the program. Arkansas' willingness to pursue Malzahn, 54, in 2017 pushed Auburn to grant him an incredible contract that some on the Plains now regret. He would owe Auburn $7 million if he left before Dec. 31, and $5 million after. Perhaps Malzahn wants to restart his clock in a more comfortable setting, Otherwise, it's hard to see him leaving so much money on the table at Auburn.
Memphis coach Mike Norvell: Although his ascent to the Power 5 has been a bit delayed, Norvell will get his opportunity soon and would be a great fit for Arkansas. He played college ball at Central Arkansas and began his coaching career at Tulsa, where he worked alongside Malzahn. The 38-year-old knows the area and would have a good recruiting plan. He's already one of the top offensive minds in the sport, and he also knows how to put together strong coaching staffs. Arkansas would have to make a convincing pitch, as Norvell is happy at Memphis and could be on Florida State's radar.
Washington State coach Mike Leach: Fans petitioned Arkansas to hire Leach two years ago and would welcome his unique approach. Leach, 58, has won consistently at have-not programs like Texas Tech and Washington State. He has never had the resources Arkansas would offer, and understands the Texas recruiting landscape after 10 years at Texas Tech (and a year as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator). Leach likely has one big move left. He's a risk-reward hire but could be exactly what Arkansas needs right now.
Tier 2
Boise State coach Bryan Harsin: Harsin has a low profile despite an incredibly impressive record at his alma mater (60-16), which includes two Mountain West titles and three top-25 finishes. Harsin, 43, also guided Arkansas State to a Sun Belt title in his only year in Jonesboro. He understands the recruiting landscape, having spent two years as Texas' co-offensive coordinator before taking the Arkansas State job. Harsin has turned down Power 5 jobs before. The question is whether he'd be interested in this one.
Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables: Arkansas had interest in Venables when it hired Morris and could pursue him again. The question is whether Venables, 48, would have real interest in coaching the Hogs. Some in the industry wonder if he truly wants to be a head coach, since he has a great situation at Clemson, where his son plays. If Venables wants to be a head coach, he should move relatively soon. Although he's never coached in the SEC, his time at Oklahoma and Clemson will help in recruiting and other areas.
Louisiana coach Billy Napier: It seems like only a matter of time before Napier returns to the SEC as a head coach. He spent four seasons as Alabama's wide receivers coach (plus another as an offensive analyst for the Tide), and has deep roots in the southeast as the son of a Georgia high school coach. Napier, 40, is off to a strong start in his first head-coaching position. While this would be a big move up, his knowledge of the region should help him.
Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz: Holtz is another coach whose recent excellent work seems to fly under the radar. He's in his fifth season of eight or more wins in seven years at Louisiana Tech, which has won five consecutive bowl games and two Conference USA West Division titles during his tenure. Holtz, 55, has winning records at three of the four FBS programs he coached. He also spent time around Arkansas when his father, Lou, coached the Razorbacks from 1977 to 1983.
UCF coach Josh Heupel: He's in a great situation at UCF, which has some protection with a $10 million buyout. But if Arkansas wants Heupel badly enough, it will find the money. Heupel, 41, has continued UCF's success, recording a 12-0 regular season and an AAC title in 2018. He also knows the region as a former Oklahoma player and assistant coach (2006 to 2014) who spent two years as Missouri's offensive coordinator before going to UCF.
Appalachian State coach Eliah Drinkwitz: He hasn't been a head coach as long as Norvell but boasts similarities, like a dynamic offensive system and ties to both Malzahn and to the state. Drinkwitz, 36, attended Arkansas Tech, began his coaching career at two Arkansas high schools and served as an Arkansas State assistant in 2012 and 2013. He took over a very good situation at Appalachian State and guided the team to its first win over a Power 5 opponent since Michigan in 2007.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long: It seems unlikely Arkansas would target a coordinator other than Venables, but Long also could be on AD Hunter Yurachek's list. Long, 36, spent two years at Arkansas under Bobby Petrino as an offensive graduate assistant. He also served as Memphis' offensive coordinator under Norvell in 2016. Notre Dame has dramatically improved since his arrival in 2017. The Alabama native eventually will end up closer to his native soil and would bring an edge to Arkansas' locker room and recruiting efforts.
Tulane coach Willie Fritz: Arkansas likely needs a unique approach to compete in the SEC West, and Fritz provides one, along with extensive head-coaching experience, including at two FBS programs. He has improved Tulane every season and showed willingness to tweak his offense by hiring Will Hall from Memphis after 2018. Fritz, 59, has spent his career coaching near Arkansas -- Kansas, Texas, Missouri, now Louisiana -- and could be a sneaky-good hire for the Hogs.
UAB coach Bill Clark: Like Morris, Clark has a background in high school coaching, which could work against him in the search. But he also has accomplished much more than Morris as an FBS coach, reviving the UAB program after a two-year hiatus. Clark, 51, is 31-17 at UAB with no losing seasons. He understands the SEC recruiting landscape and also how to win at a program with some inherent challenges, like Arkansas.
The recommendation
Mike Norvell: If Arkansas can't land Malzahn, it should put all its energy behind luring Norvell to Fayetteville. Norvell reminds me a bit of Lincoln Riley, but with more experience from his time at Memphis and as an assistant under Todd Graham. His offense gets the most attention, but I've really liked his staffing hires over the years, which Arkansas needs after the missteps from Morris.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:07 pm to Jack Ruby
Trying to get clicks without having any real info.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:10 pm to Jack Ruby
I'm not going to be excited about Malzahn at all. Norvell would get me pumped.
I'm actually surprised more people haven't been pushing for Harsin. His Boise teams are pretty decent.
I'm actually surprised more people haven't been pushing for Harsin. His Boise teams are pretty decent.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:11 pm to Jack Ruby
Norvell. OK, lets give it a shot.
Clark. Fine. The man brought UAB back from the dead and I mean that in the literal sense.
Fritz. The guy has been a college coach forever and at some less then wonderful stops but has been successful where ever he has been.
Those three, at the very least, and I'll throw in Leach and a few others, would be better hires then Gus. Gus has too much baggage.
Clark. Fine. The man brought UAB back from the dead and I mean that in the literal sense.
Fritz. The guy has been a college coach forever and at some less then wonderful stops but has been successful where ever he has been.
Those three, at the very least, and I'll throw in Leach and a few others, would be better hires then Gus. Gus has too much baggage.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:12 pm to Jack Ruby
frick Gus. These stupid mfer think we are the dumb ones, and believe we just want to help AU get better by taking their shite coach. That is why they are all campaigning for this shite. They seriously think we are backwoods retarded, and they want another SEC team with a good coach in the west, and gus ain't one.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:14 pm to russellvillehog
We should have hired Norvell 2 years ago, but that liberal POS JCP that half of you beat your meat to at night, and wanted her to be the AD wouldnt hire him because he exuded too much of the patriarchy for her liberal taste.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 1:59 pm to FleaMarketBill
Eh, Harsin took over for Petersen and they’ve definitely taken a step back from those days.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 2:02 pm to FleaMarketBill
quote:
I'm actually surprised more people haven't been pushing for Harsin. His Boise teams are pretty decent.
I don't think he would leave his Alma mater to come to a job like ours at the moment
Posted on 11/12/19 at 3:08 pm to rockiee
Boise is still solid but it's mostly because they out recruit all of their competitors. They're a name brand in a conference of few name brands.
Boise has been good for 30 years, through multiple coaches, including Nutt. Peterson hit the heights, but his teams had even fallen a bit at the end of his tenure from where they had been circa 2007-11-ish.
Boise has been good for 30 years, through multiple coaches, including Nutt. Peterson hit the heights, but his teams had even fallen a bit at the end of his tenure from where they had been circa 2007-11-ish.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 3:14 pm to FleaMarketBill
quote:
I'm actually surprised more people haven't been pushing for Harsin. His Boise teams are pretty decent.
I don't pretend to know what makes the guy tick, but I doubt Harsin ever leaves Boise by choice unless he gets a godfather offer from a blue blood that he simply can't turn down.
He was born and raised in Boise, attended and played football at BSU, and was an assistant at BSU under both Hawkins and Petersen. Outside of 2 years at Texas and 1 at ASU, he's been in Boise for his entire life.
This post was edited on 11/12/19 at 3:16 pm
Posted on 11/12/19 at 3:24 pm to Jack Ruby
Like i said, if they lose to UGA this weekend his name will pop up more and more. He would bring us consistency and be good. That's all we need right now.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 3:44 pm to Woopigsooie20
Gus isn't going to happen, but someone mentioned Gus and Pittman as AHC... I could get behind that
Our run game would be nasty, and with KJ and our receivers... Gus could win
Our run game would be nasty, and with KJ and our receivers... Gus could win
This post was edited on 11/12/19 at 3:45 pm
Posted on 11/12/19 at 3:50 pm to Porcine Human
I have no desire to see Gus step foot back in this state.
I have some close connections with him and after the last search I washed my hands of him.
I have some close connections with him and after the last search I washed my hands of him.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 4:36 pm to beebefootballfan
I’m curious why we are in a position to not want a coach that has won an SEC championship and played for a national championship? Gus might not do that here but he was absolutely make us a respectable program again.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 4:42 pm to Latarian
Just doesn't make sense to me to fire a Gus protege only to hire the guy himself
Posted on 11/12/19 at 4:59 pm to Woopigsooie20
quote:
Like i said, if they lose to UGA this weekend his name will pop up more and more. He would bring us consistency and be good. That's all we need right now.
I hate Auburn and loathe Gus, but I'm hoping they beat UGA. The primary reason being that if UGA beats Auburn relegating them to a likely 8-4 season, you can bet anything that Gus and/or his proxies will be putting out feelers to the UA on his candidacy.
This post was edited on 11/12/19 at 5:00 pm
Posted on 11/12/19 at 5:10 pm to Jack Ruby
The truth is, Gus probably has the best resume out of the coaches we will look at. I'd like Norvell, but let's not act like Gus doesn't have a better resume.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 5:14 pm to momentoftruth87
I’d have no issues with Gus but he’d be the most divisive coach in our history. If he failed here then it’d get ugly in a hurry. I don’t think that’s good for any of the parties involved.
Posted on 11/12/19 at 5:17 pm to TheCheshireHog
Whoever we hire we will have arktards upset.
Who would Auburn go after?
Who would Auburn go after?
Posted on 11/12/19 at 5:18 pm to momentoftruth87
My issue is he’s winning 8-9 games a year at Auburn not 10 plus with superior talent than what he’s gonna get here
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