Two weeks ago, Arkansas football had a surefire top-25 team for 2012 coming off a 21-5 record the past two seasons. Today, the Razorbacks have that same team, but Bobby Petrino is no longer there to lead them. In fact, his house in Fayetteville, Ark. is up for sale for $2.5 million, about $1 million less than the salary he was due to earn this year.
Right now, linebackers coach Taver Johnson, a former Ohio State assistant who was hired in the offseason, will serve as the interim coach for at least the rest of the spring. Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, who took a huge stand in firing Petrino for his transgressions, now has the task of finding a new coach who can keep Arkansas near the top of an SEC West division that has Alabama and LSU.
Arkansas has the advantage of not conducting a head coaching search under the auspices of an NCAA investigation or sanctions like USC and Ohio State. The Razorbacks return a very strong team, including two of the best offensive players in the conference in quarterback Tyler Wilson and running back Knile Davis. Unfortunately, very few coaching searches occur during or after the spring, so it'll be hard to find a current coach willing to leave his program and jump into a new situation.
South Florida head coach Skip Holtz and new Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn are two of the top names being talked about to replace Petrino. Holtz has been a successful coach everywhere he's been, from Connecticut to East Carolina to USF, and his father, Lou Holtz, was the head coach at Arkansas from 1977-83. Though Skip Holtz hasn't been at South Florida very long, SEC jobs don't open up with the regularity of other conferences, and Arkansas would be a great situation to jump into. Malzahn was the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator in 2006 after being the head coach at Springdale (Ark.) High from 2001-05. It'd be hard for him to leave Arkansas State months after taking the job, but if Arkansas goes with an interim head coach for the entire season, Malzahn would probably be more interested.
Then again, there's John Daly's idea. Daly, the golfer and Arkansas dropout, tweeted earlier this week with his suggestion.
"My first loyalty is to the University of Arkansas. I trust that Jeff Long will do what's best for the program. Everyone ogs in the Razorback Nation is devastated! This is heartbreaking as Coach Petrino is a very good friend of mine! From here, I think we will need a great coach like him to continue our winning ways! I myself, would hold out for a great NFL coach---GRUDEN! #GoHogs"
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