Sam Pittman is out at Arkansas after five and a half seasons as the head coach. He won nine games in his second season but was never able to replicate the success, losing at least six games in each of the last three seasons. The knockout blow came with a 56 to 13 loss at home to Notre Dame. Where does Arkansas turn? Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek admitted Pittman did not have the resources to succeed so will the next coach be given the right resources? Arkansas is an SEC job so there will be plenty of takers interested in taking over the sidelines next year.
Bobby Petrino (Former Arkansas Coach and Current Interim)
Bobby Petrino has one of the most confusing tenures in college football. He started at Louisville before moving to the NFL for a season. He turned Arkansas into a contender winning 21 games between 2010 and 2011. Petrino was then fired after a famous motorcycle incident involving a mistress. Petrino would make stops at Western Kentucky, back to Louisville, Missouri State, an assistant job at Texas A and M and then to Arkansas as the offensive coordinator. Petrino is certainly qualified to be the head coach and rumors have it some boosters are interested in him taking over but does Arkansas want all the chaos?
Rhett Lashlee (SMU Head Coach)
Rhett Lashlee is going to be one of the favorites for this job. Lashlee played for Arkansas from 2002 to 2004. He went to high school just 15 minutes from campus. The Arkansas faithful would view this as a homecoming. Lashlee is a strong offensive mind who brought SMU their first real success since the death penalty. He took SMU to the playoffs in their first season in the ACC. Arkansas did hire Chad Morris from Arkansas but Lashlee has been far more successful at SMU than Morris. Lashlee owns a 31 and 14 record across three and a half seasons. While the Mustangs are likely not headed to the playoffs again, they are still a strong team destined for another bowl game.
Ryan Silverfield (Memphis Head Coach)
Ryan Silverfield’s name is going to continue to be brought up if he wins games. Arkansas fans are familiar with him as his Memphis program defeated Arkansas earlier this year. Silverfield is just 45 years old and already owns a 47 and 21 career record. He is 26 and 5 since the start of 2023 and has Memphis primed to be a contender for the College Football Playoffs. Silverfield notably never played college football but has worked his way up to become one of the better coaches at the Group of Five level.
Pete Kwiatkowski (Texas Defensive Coordinator)
Many people are not familiar with Pete Kwiatkowski but if you dive deeper he has been the catalyst behind the transformation of the Texas defense. He took over in 2021 where Texas finished 99th in scoring defense and 100th in total defense. Slowly but surely the Longhorns defense improved. In year two Texas finished 54th in total defense and 28th in scoring defense. Last year was his best year yet with Texas finishing third in scoring defense and total defense. Kwiatkowski is a strong defensive minded coach who has proven his defense works in the SEC. He is one of the 15 highest paid assistants in the country but there is a question if he can lead a program or if he wants to. Some coaches are perfectly content as a coordinator running their scheme and not having to worry about the other side of the ball.
Tyson Helton (Western Kentucky Head Coach)
Tyson Helton just consistently wins. Helton is 52 and 33 and has led Western Kentucky to a bowl game in each of his first six seasons. In 2020 they won just five games but every team qualified for a bowl. He has won at least eight games in every season except for 2020. The Hilltoppers have made two Conference USA Championships but have yet to win one. Helton has the Hilltoppers at 4 and 1 and they are destined to win at least eight games once again. Helton would not be a sexy hire by any means due to the lack of top end success but he is a coach who has found ways to consistently win. Would he be a fit in the SEC? I do not know. The cutthroat nature may not be best suited for him but I could see Arkansas at least exploring the possibility.
Kane Wommack (Alabama Defensive Coordinator)
It only feels like a matter of time before Kane Wommack becomes a head coach once again. He willingly left his head coaching position with South Alabama to become the Alabama defensive coordinator. Wommack had success at South Alabama. He went 22 and 16 across three seasons including a 10 win season in 2022. Now that Wommack has experience as a coordinator in the SEC, will he be interested in taking over his own program? The other interesting note about Wommack is he began his playing career at Arkansas. He played for the Razorbacks in 2005 and 2006 before transferring to Southern Miss. Why not bring back a guy who played fullback in front of Darren McFadden?
Mike Gundy (Former Oklahoma State Head Coach)
Maybe this is a little outlandish but maybe it is someone they should actually consider. Mike Gundy helped turn Oklahoma State into a legitimate contender and made the Big 12 Championship as recently as 2022. A disaster ending to his career at Oklahoma State has left a sour taste in people’s mouths but maybe he still has something left in the tank. He is 58 years old with more than two decades of experience winning at Oklahoma State. Coaching in the SEC is a different monster but he has considered a move to the SEC in the past. He considered Tennessee in the past but ultimately stayed at Oklahoma State. Has the game passed Gundy by or would he look to take another power four job?
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