FAYETTEVILLE — Incoming Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long met with Clemson head football Coach Tommy Bowden Monday night to discuss the Razorbacks’ head coaching position, but a completed deal has not been brokered, a source close to the search said.

Long, who stayed in South Carolina overnight, is expected to discuss the Arkansas offer in more detail today with Bowden, who has also been offered a contract extension and a stronger financial package by Clemson.

ESPN analyst Jim Donnan, a former Georgia coach, said he spoke with Bowden on the phone Monday and that Bowden said he was engaged in “preliminary discussions” with Arkansas.

Another source said Long and Bowden had reached an accord on several specifics of a potential deal, including the number of assistants Bowden would take with him to Arkansas, but that Bowden wanted to sleep on the offer overnight.

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UA Chancellor John White was asked Monday after the Razorbacks ’ basketball game if the university was in negotiations with Bowden.

“I can’t comment,” White said. “We hope to have somebody by the end of the week.”

White spent a portion of the second half of the game in close consultation with UA associate general counsel Scott Varady.

There is a tie between Bowden and Long. Bowden was serving as offensive coordinator in the final season of a four-year stint at Duke in 1986 when Long was a part of that Blue Devils staff.

Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips has tendered a contract extension to Bowden, whose 9-3 team is scheduled to play Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31. The Tigers are ranked No. 15 in the latest BCS standings and Associated Press poll.

Bowden has three years remaining on his contract, which reportedly pays more than $ 1. 2 million per season. Bowden also has a $ 2. 5 million buyout through next season, and the figure drops to $ 500, 000 at the end of the 2008 regular season, according to media reports in South Carolina. Sources in South Carolina said Clemson might be prepared to increase the buyout back to $ 2. 5 million after the 2008 season.

Clemson’s opponent in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Auburn, is coached by Tommy Tuberville, a Camden native who was thought to be a prime candidate for the Razorbacks. But his $ 6 million buyout has been a major impediment to any deal.

Bowden was asked Sunday during a Chick-fil-A Bowl teleconference how he felt about the contract extension offered by Clemson.

“I think I would feel very similar to what [Tuberville ] does — I’ll stay as long as they want me,” Bowden said, referring to a comment Tuberville made recently.

Long has canvassed multiple football insiders, as he promised last Wednesday, in his week-long search. Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English and Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn are reportedly among the men he has talked to about the job.

Bowden, 53, has served four stints as an assistant coach in the SEC, the last as offensive coordinator for his brother Terry Bowden at Auburn (1991-1996 ).

Bowden’s record in nine seasons at Clemson is 69-40. He led Tulane to an 11-0 regular season in 1998 before taking the head coaching job at Clemson, before the Green Wave’s victory in the Liberty Bowl. Bowden replaced Tommy West at Clemson. West is now head coach at Memphis.

Bowden’s Clemson teams have never finished with a losing overall record or a losing record in Atlantic Coast Conference play. His first team at Clemson finished 6-6, and he’s directed the Tigers to winning seasons in every year since. If his current team can defeat Auburn, he’ll have his first 10-victory season at Clemson.

A message left on the phone of Phillips was not immediately returned. Information this article was contributed by Mary Cook of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.