If you talk to those who understand the mechanics of big-time college football, they will tell you that hiring a head football coach is not much different than finding a top chief executive officer.
The No. 1 requirement is to find a leader. Yes, he needs football coaching skill, too.
But the top challenge for Hunter Yurachek as he looks to fill opening for the Arkansas football program: find the ultimate leader.
The model at Arkansas isn’t to look at Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma or any other Power 5 program that is rolling.
It’s to look at Arkansas. That starts and ends with Frank Broyles, the only Arkansas coach to win a national championship.
Leadership was his skill. He knew how to organize, hire, motivate and recruit. He led in every way and had his hand in every aspect. Yet, he delegated, as leaders must. But he knew his people could handle the task, or he replaced them, swiftly.
I’m not talking so much about Broyles, the athletics director, the position Yurachek holds. I’m talking Broyles the football coach. You could argue that both Ken Hatfield and Houston Nutt had some of those leadership skills. They had success winning conference and divisional championships, respectively, too.
That’s what Yurachek needs to find, someone with Broyles-like skills as a leader.
One thing to understand: it’s a massive task, leading an SEC program like Arkansas. Hiring a staff – and that’s not just coaches – is a huge task. Assembling every piece from operations, recruiting, analysts and molding them into a well-oiled machine is important. Then, that coach must lead in a detailed and organized way.
Some of the names I’ve heard thrown around in the 24 hours since Chad Morris was fired don’t seem to fit that task.
How about Mike Leach from Washington State? He’s a different cat. He might fit best in an outpost kind of place like the WSU campus. He fought with his bosses at Texas Tech, probably the reason he’s been unable to land something except with the Cougars.
Leach beats to a different drum. He rarely has staff meetings.
He would be fun to cover as a reporter. But it’s anyone’s guess whether he could make it work at Arkansas.
Can he coach? You bet, but it’s with an unconventional leadership style to say the least.
What about Lane Kiffin, winning at Florida Atlantic? He just trounced Florida International, coached by UA alum Butch Davis, no doubt disqualifying Davis.
Kiffin would come, as would Leach. He’s another interesting cat. He’s had the right training, but he’s stumbled at both Tennessee and Southern Cal, not to mention the Oakland Raiders. He didn’t get along with Al Davis or Nick Saban, although who does?
I’ve heard Nutt suggested. And, just to make sure, no, he’s not called me, nor has anyone from his camp.
The one positive for Nutt, he’s been there and done that. And, just for those who didn’t like his offensive style, he’s come across to the spread concepts. He’d probably run something that looked remarkably like the Gus Malzahn offense.
And, what about Malzahn? He might be available if the Tigers lose to both Georgia and Alabama in coming weeks. Auburn would give him away, so to speak. But, they are probably going to keep defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Steele is the best coach at Auburn now, not Malzahn.
That’s an interesting idea. Could you hire Steele as head coach? His training is maybe the best in the SEC. He’s worked for Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne and Saban. He played for Johnny Majors at Tennessee.
Steele has been a head coach, a horrible four-year stay at Baylor ending in 2002. The Bears went 1-10, 2-9, 3-8 and 3-9. His Big 12 record was 1-31. He may not want another head coach fling.
But the key is to hire a head coach who can hire coaches like Steele, or Malzahn’s offensive line coach, J. B. Grimes. Grimes had multiple stints at Arkansas and is a top-notch tactical and technical coach.
That brings us to another name surfacing in the Arkansas hunt. Sam Pittman, the Georgia O-line coach, is said to be interested. He was superb as a recruiter and coach at Arkansas under Bret Bielema.
But he has no experience that would suggest that he could flourish as anything but an O-line coach. Perhaps he could hire a top staff. You’d think his first move would be to reunite with Jim Chaney, the offensive coordinator at Tennessee.
Pittman would bring a physical nature that has been missing the last four years at Arkansas. He’d want tough practices that produced tough teams.
But it’s anyone’s guess as to what he could do as far as overall leadership of a program. It’s a massive job, but he is a massive person with a personality that matches.
Some have put Mike Norvell from Memphis as the early favorite for the job. He might fit. He's got the offensive mind and has more credibility than Morris. Can he lead in the SEC? Maybe he can. That's the key question. Arkansas is different than Memphis, in visibility and overall program size.
It's much different from Appalachian State, too, where Eliah Drinkwitz is 8-1 this season and has victories over North Carolina and South Carolina. Drinkwitz is from Alma and spent much of his early coaching years in Arkansas.
I don’t have the one slam dunk answer. Probably no one does.
It’s an expensive proposition. Another massive buyout with a promise of five years will be required to get anyone that has any present job security. That would include any of the Power 5 head coaches I see on most every fan’s wish list.
There are some who would not wow anyone who might do a great job. Of course, I can relate to anyone who aches for Nutt to be given another chance.
I won’t go with you on Bobby Petrino. He had his second chance at Louisville and failed miserably. Yes, he’s apologized to Arkansas fans. But I don’t know if he matches what I’d want as a leader and head coach.
But I’d also suggest that the likes of Barry Lunney, Jr., and Tim Horton understand and can do the job. They’d be cheap. They have similar training as Dabo Swinney did when hired at Clemson. Swinney was the wide receiver coach with no background as a coordinator.
Sometimes you have to make a reach hire. But it’s unlikely that Yurachek has the clout less than two years into his current job to make such a hire, unless the Razorback Foundation is short on cash.
That could be the case. It’s hard to imagine there is lots of extra cash with the number of empty seats I’ve seen in the stadium the last two years. I am aware that there have been some sales of foundation-owned land in the last few months. Maybe that’s provided some security for hiring a new coach.
None of this should paint a dire picture. Arkansas will emerge with a successful football program. I’m convinced that it can be done, even in the SEC West.
I think Eric Musselman can be successful as the Arkansas basketball coach, just as Dave Van Horn is in baseball. The list of those who have won at Arkansas in other sports is long.
Just a few current coaches who have won SEC championships: Lance Harter, women’s track; Colby Hale, soccer; Shauna Taylor, women’s golf; Brad McMakin, men’s golf, and Chris Bucknam, men’s track.
Obviously, the Hogs are not near winning in the SEC West in football. But those who think they can’t are wrong.
Here’s hoping Yurachek finds the right leader to make it happen.