Turner hired to coach Arkansas' tight ends

Morgan Turner is shown Dec. 28, 2017, prior to the Alamo Bowl between the Stanford Cardinal and TCU Horned Frogs.

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas has made its official hiring announcement of tight ends coach Morgan Turner.

Turner signed a two-year contract Thursday that will pay him $325,000 per year, according to the contract that was supplied by the UA through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported the likelihood of Turner coming on board Wednesday after learning the 10-year veteran of the Stanford coaching staff would be visiting Razorback tight end commitments Shamar Easter, Luke Hasz, and Jaden Hamm on Thursday.

Coach Sam Pittman moved swiftly to replace tight ends coach Dowell Loggains, the former Razorback back-up quarterback and holder, who took the vacant post of offensive coordinator at South Carolina this week.

Loggains was in the final season of a contract that paid him $400,000 per year at Arkansas. He will be paid $1 million annually as part of a three-year contract at South Carolina, according to reports. 

Turner, a 2009 graduate of the University of Illinois, is a native of Champaign, Ill. He is part of a well-known coaching family, including his father, Ron, and uncle, Norv. 

Ron Turner has been the head coach at both Illinois and Florida International. Norv Turner had a long career in coaching, including NFL head coaching stints with Washington, the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.

Morgan Turner, 37, got his start in the industry as quarterbacks coach at Indiana State in 2009 and stayed in that position one year before joining the Stanford staff in the sports performance department. The following year he was appointed an offensive assistant by long-time Stanford Coach David Shaw and in 2013 he took the on-field position as tight ends coach.

Turner’s tight end group at Stanford over the last decade would rival any group in the country, leading to the Cardinal touting itself as "Tight End U" on social media.

Turner has helped tutor a long string of standout tight ends who have gone on to NFL success in Austin Hooper,  Zach Ertz, Coby Fleener, Levine Toilolo, Dalton Schultz, Colby Parkinson and others.

Ertz broke the NFL record for tight end receptions in a season with 116 in 2018. Stanford has been represented by the most tight ends on opening day NFL active rosters in 10 of the last 11 years. The Cardinal have had eight tight ends drafted since 2010, the most of any FBS program in that span.

"I’m so excited about this hire that I’m checking eligibility to see if I can play TE," Pittman tweeted Thursday.

The Razorbacks had a strong run of tight ends through the 2010s, highlighted by DJ Williams and Hunter Henry both winning the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end. Those two, along with AJ Derby and Jeremy Sprinkle, made NFL rosters. However, the Razorbacks have not had a tight end taken in the NFL Draft since Sprinkle went in the fifth round to Washington in 2017.

Matt Jones contributed

CORRECTION: A previous version stated the wrong day that Turner signed his contract. It has been corrected.