I thought I'd put things into context for the Monday morning crowd who didn't keep with the multitude of posts from the last couple days (mostly on Sunday).
First and foremost, this is just rumor mill stuff coming out of SEC Country. The only open SEC job - at least right now - is Texas A&M and Gus isn't believed to be on their shortlist.
Anyway, the chatter began last week with a growing belief Mississippi State could make a head coaching change. Zach Arnett is in his first season and has underachieved per their fanbase's expectation - MSU is 4-6 overall. They won their OOC games and a 7-3 game vs. Arkansas. Since then, they've lost big to Auburn, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Their offense is terrible.
Arnett was the panic hire last December in the days following the sudden death of Mike Leach. MSU didn't even have an AD at the time, about a month later they hired Zac Selmon in that role. Anyway, their fanbase seems certain a change is coming.
Steve Robertson, who is the publisher of the top Mississippi State site (GenesPage), wrote on Friday about the possible SEC coaching carousel and floated this:
One name that has been mentioned to me as a guy who wants to return back to the SEC is Gus Malzhan. One source tells me that Arkansas is his dream job and that he might stick out another year at UCF just in case Arkansas makes a move next year. That’s just speculative at this point, but something to consider as the silly season begins.
That understood, expect Malzhan to be mentioned in connection with any SEC job that comes open.
It would appear Robertson was floating Malzahn as a strong possibility to be linked to an eventual Mississippi State search, but he was choosing his words carefully.
Robertson also wrote that he thought Sam Pittman at Arkansas was safe this year, but apparently those good feelings after beating Florida evaporated after the Razorbacks lost to Auburn 48-10 at home this past weekend.
Robertson (MSU writer) posted this earlier on Sunday:
"Have a message that Arkansas is expected to make a move now. Yesterday's debacle appears to have put some over the edge. Look for Malzahn to be priority one."
That came around the same time Arkansas message boards started buzzing on Sunday that Pittman would be fired at season's end and Gus Malzahn will be the top target of certain Arkansas factions.
A poster named "RyanMalletsScantron" posted this to Arkansas 247 (HawgSports) on Sunday:
"Pittman is out as HC at the University of Arkansas. Malzahn is the leading candidate to replace him and maintains a strong support from boosters. Announcement should be soonish."
It's now a 35-page thread on that message board and there are countless more posts about Pittman rumors and Gus possibilities everywhere else, including the Arkansas Rivals site.
Arkansas fans seem to regard "RyanMalletsScantron" as being connected to the inner workings at Arkansas. He did later indicate that nothing is a done deal, but added that Gus "is 100% the leading candidate and has booster support at the moment."
Other posters in that thread seemed to vouch for "RyanMalletsScantron's" credibility and others chimed in that big money boosters, namely those connected to a pair of chicken producers, Tyson and George's Inc., are fully on board in getting Gus to Arkansas and are promising to donate on behalf of NIL if he is hired.
On top of the message board rumors, Mike Irwin, a longtime Arkansas media personality, also tweeted that the pro-Gus donor camp is lobbying to get him to Fayetteville. But he also posted that Gus may not want the job.
So anyway, we're entering that crazy season. I really can't speak to Gus' motivations, but I do believe Arkansas would be a dream job for him. He grew up in Arkansas, went to Arkansas, had his first college coaching opportunity at Arkansas. Yeah, he could have left Auburn to go there in 2017 but the Tigers backed up the Brinks Truck for him.
If Arkansas eventually comes calling, that might be difficult for him to turn down. He'd be back in the SEC and in his home state, plus would have greater NIL resources.
Or maybe Gus follows through and decides to make UCF his last job - I do believe that was his intention when he came here. If his name continues to be linked to outside jobs and he decides to stay, that would send a pretty big message he's 100% committed.
One could argue the path to the Playoff could perhaps be easier at UCF in the Big 12 (though you could also argue the future CFP will be loaded with SEC teams).
I don't really think this a money thing. He's set for life from his Auburn buyout and is being compensated quite nicely in his new UCF contract.
Anyway, it's kind of silly to even be writing this as Arkansas hasn't even made a coaching change but does seem clear to me this chatter is calculated and deliberate by certain Arkansas-affiliated folks.
So that's where we are. It's still basically message board rumor stuff, but that could change in a hurry if Arkansas does make a change. Even if these rumors weren't already popping up, anybody could tell you Gus would be on everybody's Arkansas Coaching Candidate Hot Board.
The question is whether their AD Hunter Yurachek has come to the same conclusion as the fanbase that Pittman needs to go. He does come with a $16M buyout. And is Yurachek on the Gus Bus? ADs don't like being told who to hire, but if Gus has considerable donor support that may bring some influence since NIL has totally changed the game.
It could be an interesting next few weeks.
First and foremost, this is just rumor mill stuff coming out of SEC Country. The only open SEC job - at least right now - is Texas A&M and Gus isn't believed to be on their shortlist.
Anyway, the chatter began last week with a growing belief Mississippi State could make a head coaching change. Zach Arnett is in his first season and has underachieved per their fanbase's expectation - MSU is 4-6 overall. They won their OOC games and a 7-3 game vs. Arkansas. Since then, they've lost big to Auburn, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Their offense is terrible.
Arnett was the panic hire last December in the days following the sudden death of Mike Leach. MSU didn't even have an AD at the time, about a month later they hired Zac Selmon in that role. Anyway, their fanbase seems certain a change is coming.
Steve Robertson, who is the publisher of the top Mississippi State site (GenesPage), wrote on Friday about the possible SEC coaching carousel and floated this:
One name that has been mentioned to me as a guy who wants to return back to the SEC is Gus Malzhan. One source tells me that Arkansas is his dream job and that he might stick out another year at UCF just in case Arkansas makes a move next year. That’s just speculative at this point, but something to consider as the silly season begins.
That understood, expect Malzhan to be mentioned in connection with any SEC job that comes open.
It would appear Robertson was floating Malzahn as a strong possibility to be linked to an eventual Mississippi State search, but he was choosing his words carefully.
Robertson also wrote that he thought Sam Pittman at Arkansas was safe this year, but apparently those good feelings after beating Florida evaporated after the Razorbacks lost to Auburn 48-10 at home this past weekend.
Robertson (MSU writer) posted this earlier on Sunday:
"Have a message that Arkansas is expected to make a move now. Yesterday's debacle appears to have put some over the edge. Look for Malzahn to be priority one."
That came around the same time Arkansas message boards started buzzing on Sunday that Pittman would be fired at season's end and Gus Malzahn will be the top target of certain Arkansas factions.
A poster named "RyanMalletsScantron" posted this to Arkansas 247 (HawgSports) on Sunday:
"Pittman is out as HC at the University of Arkansas. Malzahn is the leading candidate to replace him and maintains a strong support from boosters. Announcement should be soonish."
It's now a 35-page thread on that message board and there are countless more posts about Pittman rumors and Gus possibilities everywhere else, including the Arkansas Rivals site.
Arkansas fans seem to regard "RyanMalletsScantron" as being connected to the inner workings at Arkansas. He did later indicate that nothing is a done deal, but added that Gus "is 100% the leading candidate and has booster support at the moment."
Other posters in that thread seemed to vouch for "RyanMalletsScantron's" credibility and others chimed in that big money boosters, namely those connected to a pair of chicken producers, Tyson and George's Inc., are fully on board in getting Gus to Arkansas and are promising to donate on behalf of NIL if he is hired.
On top of the message board rumors, Mike Irwin, a longtime Arkansas media personality, also tweeted that the pro-Gus donor camp is lobbying to get him to Fayetteville. But he also posted that Gus may not want the job.
So anyway, we're entering that crazy season. I really can't speak to Gus' motivations, but I do believe Arkansas would be a dream job for him. He grew up in Arkansas, went to Arkansas, had his first college coaching opportunity at Arkansas. Yeah, he could have left Auburn to go there in 2017 but the Tigers backed up the Brinks Truck for him.
If Arkansas eventually comes calling, that might be difficult for him to turn down. He'd be back in the SEC and in his home state, plus would have greater NIL resources.
Or maybe Gus follows through and decides to make UCF his last job - I do believe that was his intention when he came here. If his name continues to be linked to outside jobs and he decides to stay, that would send a pretty big message he's 100% committed.
One could argue the path to the Playoff could perhaps be easier at UCF in the Big 12 (though you could also argue the future CFP will be loaded with SEC teams).
I don't really think this a money thing. He's set for life from his Auburn buyout and is being compensated quite nicely in his new UCF contract.
Anyway, it's kind of silly to even be writing this as Arkansas hasn't even made a coaching change but does seem clear to me this chatter is calculated and deliberate by certain Arkansas-affiliated folks.
So that's where we are. It's still basically message board rumor stuff, but that could change in a hurry if Arkansas does make a change. Even if these rumors weren't already popping up, anybody could tell you Gus would be on everybody's Arkansas Coaching Candidate Hot Board.
The question is whether their AD Hunter Yurachek has come to the same conclusion as the fanbase that Pittman needs to go. He does come with a $16M buyout. And is Yurachek on the Gus Bus? ADs don't like being told who to hire, but if Gus has considerable donor support that may bring some influence since NIL has totally changed the game.
It could be an interesting next few weeks.
