Some new news and some recapping to get it all on one page:
Per various quality sources:
The committee is narrowing the list and could have a handful of AD targets by the end of the week.
Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt and Tulsa AD Derrick Gragg are two of the major players.
I have heard TCU AD Chris Del Conte mentioned, but I don't know how viable that is in terms of him leaving TCU.
I don't feel like Tommy Tuberville is an option, although I do know that people are still floating his name. I do feel Scott Varady and Kevin Scanlon are also being discussed, but I think it'll be a sitting AD.
Search committee member Bill Montgomery was in Dallas yesterday interviewing an AD candidate. Kirby Hocutt was in Dallas yesterday as part of the College Football Playoff Committee. Obviously Del Conte lives in Ft. Worth. I know this person does not have Arkansas ties. I believe Bill and some others want someone with ties to the state. I know that Chancellor Joesph Steinmetz wants a sitting AD, someone in that position at another school. I believe Hocutt is the top candidate and has been since the committee was formed.
If it is Hocutt, I'm not saying the coach would be Brent Venables, just that it would make sense if it were him b/c he and Hocutt were college roommates and are still very good friends.
I visited with someone who knows Gus Malzahn personally and they indicated that it was an extreme long shot for him to come to Arkansas, which I think is where most of us are right now on our feelings on that situation.
I feel pretty strongly about Memphis' Mike Norvell, SMU's Chad Morris, Auburn's Gus Malzahn and Clemson DC Brent Venables as being people who are, or at least were, being considered for the head coaching job. I am not saying those are the only candidates, those are the ones I strongly feel are candidates. Out of those, I would at this point say it is least likely to be Malzahn and next least likely to be Norvell. It could still be Norvell, but my gut says no. At the same time, there are others on this board, like hawgclucker, who I know has a strong source who believe it will be Norvell.
Another source on the east coast who is tied into these types of things says he thinks it's Malzahn, Morris, Venables or Norvell. These names keep popping up for me from three independent sources all with different connections.
Given that, I don't think anything is 100 percent done with either the AD or the coach. I have heard an AD could be named before the week is out, and I have heard it could be slightly longer than that.
Again, on the search firms, they are vetting ADs and assisting in the search for a coach. DHR was hired over the weekend to assist, not a pivot move on a Tuesday. I believe they are close on an AD, and I think it could be before the week is out, though I have heard some things to suggest it might be a tad later.
On another note, I ran into Jeff Long yesterday at the restaurant I was at. I was at the bar and saw him at a table but didn't want to interrupt him. He was eating with a couple associate ADs. He came up behind me and said hello and we spoke for a little while. He seemed in really good spirits, didn't look like a guy worried about his future. I told him I'm sorry things went down the way they did, and I absolutely am, but I didn't want to wear him out on something like that. Anyway, he said he really loved his job at the UA and said every place goes through transitions and he was confident things will work out in the end for Arkansas.
EDIT (12:04 pm) - Source inside the UA says to expect Malzahn to announce before the game that he is taking an extension with Auburn.
EDIT (2:06 pm) - Another source, who I'm not as for sure on just because they only told me in a roundabout way where their info comes from without naming names, tells me that something could happen with Hocutt as early as today. Another independent source that I do fully trust tells me that it feels like something could be happening in terms of coming to a decision as we speak on an AD. Though there is still a feeling from both sides that there is a lot of differing opinions on who it should be. Ultimately the choice is Steinmetz's. Also, the first source I mentioned said Mike Irwin's report that Malzahn has been offered is true and that they're basically waiting for him to say no to it, it just becomes a longer and longer long shot the longer it takes. The third source said Malzahn is expected to sign an extension with Auburn, as I put in the 12:04 update.
Per various quality sources:
The committee is narrowing the list and could have a handful of AD targets by the end of the week.
Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt and Tulsa AD Derrick Gragg are two of the major players.
I have heard TCU AD Chris Del Conte mentioned, but I don't know how viable that is in terms of him leaving TCU.
I don't feel like Tommy Tuberville is an option, although I do know that people are still floating his name. I do feel Scott Varady and Kevin Scanlon are also being discussed, but I think it'll be a sitting AD.
Search committee member Bill Montgomery was in Dallas yesterday interviewing an AD candidate. Kirby Hocutt was in Dallas yesterday as part of the College Football Playoff Committee. Obviously Del Conte lives in Ft. Worth. I know this person does not have Arkansas ties. I believe Bill and some others want someone with ties to the state. I know that Chancellor Joesph Steinmetz wants a sitting AD, someone in that position at another school. I believe Hocutt is the top candidate and has been since the committee was formed.
If it is Hocutt, I'm not saying the coach would be Brent Venables, just that it would make sense if it were him b/c he and Hocutt were college roommates and are still very good friends.
I visited with someone who knows Gus Malzahn personally and they indicated that it was an extreme long shot for him to come to Arkansas, which I think is where most of us are right now on our feelings on that situation.
I feel pretty strongly about Memphis' Mike Norvell, SMU's Chad Morris, Auburn's Gus Malzahn and Clemson DC Brent Venables as being people who are, or at least were, being considered for the head coaching job. I am not saying those are the only candidates, those are the ones I strongly feel are candidates. Out of those, I would at this point say it is least likely to be Malzahn and next least likely to be Norvell. It could still be Norvell, but my gut says no. At the same time, there are others on this board, like hawgclucker, who I know has a strong source who believe it will be Norvell.
Another source on the east coast who is tied into these types of things says he thinks it's Malzahn, Morris, Venables or Norvell. These names keep popping up for me from three independent sources all with different connections.
Given that, I don't think anything is 100 percent done with either the AD or the coach. I have heard an AD could be named before the week is out, and I have heard it could be slightly longer than that.
Again, on the search firms, they are vetting ADs and assisting in the search for a coach. DHR was hired over the weekend to assist, not a pivot move on a Tuesday. I believe they are close on an AD, and I think it could be before the week is out, though I have heard some things to suggest it might be a tad later.
On another note, I ran into Jeff Long yesterday at the restaurant I was at. I was at the bar and saw him at a table but didn't want to interrupt him. He was eating with a couple associate ADs. He came up behind me and said hello and we spoke for a little while. He seemed in really good spirits, didn't look like a guy worried about his future. I told him I'm sorry things went down the way they did, and I absolutely am, but I didn't want to wear him out on something like that. Anyway, he said he really loved his job at the UA and said every place goes through transitions and he was confident things will work out in the end for Arkansas.
EDIT (12:04 pm) - Source inside the UA says to expect Malzahn to announce before the game that he is taking an extension with Auburn.
EDIT (2:06 pm) - Another source, who I'm not as for sure on just because they only told me in a roundabout way where their info comes from without naming names, tells me that something could happen with Hocutt as early as today. Another independent source that I do fully trust tells me that it feels like something could be happening in terms of coming to a decision as we speak on an AD. Though there is still a feeling from both sides that there is a lot of differing opinions on who it should be. Ultimately the choice is Steinmetz's. Also, the first source I mentioned said Mike Irwin's report that Malzahn has been offered is true and that they're basically waiting for him to say no to it, it just becomes a longer and longer long shot the longer it takes. The third source said Malzahn is expected to sign an extension with Auburn, as I put in the 12:04 update.
