Official Arkansas Coaching Search Thread Presented By Pioneer Sports Posting Network

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3. What will Arkansas do?

Athletic director Hunter Yurachek is too smart to fire the solid but unspectacular Mike Anderson without a plan. A source summed up the plan in Fayetteville this way: "Kelvin Sampson, Kelvin Sampson and Kelvin Sampson." Yurachek was on staff at Houston when they hired Sampson, and Sampson can't be thrilled the current administration hasn't appeared in any hurry to lock him up long term. Sampson likes UH and living in Houston, but he's been around long enough to be skeptical of putting his career in the hands of an eccentric billionaire (Tilman Fertitta) and an athletic director with little juice (Chris Pezman).

This has been perceived to be done for so long that there's buzz Houston already has a replacement lined up. Look for UH to act fast, as this is the most obvious move outside Buzz Williams leaving for Texas A&M. It's a Fertitta production, so look for a big splash hire — maybe Eric Musselman? — so Fertitta can show up at the news conference to pat himself on the back. (Maybe he'll call sports talk radio to rip Lane Kiffin like he did a few years back. That was fun.)

If somehow Sampson stuck around, Chris Beard would be another solid option in Fayetteville. (Maybe a better one.) He has strong ties from his successful stint at Arkansas Little Rock. He may wait around at Tech and have his pick of prime jobs next season.

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