Who is going to be our next head football coach?

Current Coach: none
Time left on Contract: n/a
Current Record: 4-8 Next Game: Sept. 2013

The Candidates:

Armani Ronnie Tier (the not a prayer tier)

Jon Gruden -- Current head of the FFCA, Monday Night Football color analyst. +'s are that he's a well respected offensive coach and QB guru. -'s are he hasn't coached in college in many years and is unknown how in tune he would be with the current recruiting landscape. Many Arkansas fans are praying that the university can attract a big name that will make waves and take the football team to the mountaintop.

Bobby Petrino -- Currently disgraced former Arkansas head coach who made remarkably bad and unprofessional decisions leading to his firing with cause. +'s He's CBMFP. -'s He's CBMFP. Many Arkansas fans are praying that we just re-hire the man at a cut salary with tough stipulations.

Butch Davis -- Current advisor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Former coach of the Miami Hurricanes, Cleveland Browns, and most recently North Carolina Tarheels. Davis is a former Arkansas player. +'s He is a great recruiter when he has NFL agents runner's working for him, is a defensive minded coach, has some panache that should help with recruiting. -'s He brings baggage from past coaching stops, he's got big money boosters backing him along with a certain Springdale church. He could be as devisive as Houston Nutt if things don't go well. Arkansas fans at Springdale First Baptist are praying that their preacher can get more sway so Gus will be brought in as coach soon.

Legit tier

Art Briles -- Current Baylor head coach. Career record of 63-58. Briles has been removed from the LeGit tier. I believe Baylor's commitment to new facilities has gotten a long term commit from Briles.

Pat Fitzgerald -- Current head coach of Northwestern. An All-American LB, and one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Div. 1 football. Career Record 47-39. Fitzgerald has done a very good job at Northwestern and has them trending upwards and competitive in the Big 10. +'s Young, energetic coach that has a bright future, doing more with less. -'s Has no real connection with the south, has a limited network in the profession, may have a hard time putting together a top staff. May not be ready for primetime that is the SEC. Fitzgerald only makes $800K at Northwestern so a $2MM contract would be a huge boost, but being an alum of Northwestern he might not be willing to ever leave.

Chris Petersen -- Current Head Coach at Boise St. Career Record 81-8. Arkansas has a history of hiring Boise St. coaches and they never should have hired that one. Petersen is everything you could ask for in a HC. Has proven himself time and time again on the big stage. Has taken Boise St. to ridiculously high levels. Arkansas could double his salary and give him resources he could only dream of at Boise St. +'s awesome in game coach, great coach of fundamentals, offensively minded, stoic family man. -'s Coached in a weak conference inflating his teams record and reputation. Could be another Boise bust that can't handle competing in the big boy conferences. Petersen would be the first serious call I would make if I were AD.

Charlie Strong -- Current head coach at Louisville. Career Record 23-13. Strong is a well thought of coach who is a great defensive coach and terrific recruiter. He's an Arkansas native without Razorback ties. I'm removing Strong from the Legit tier. I don't think he is emotionally connected to the U. of Arkansas at all, and will likely stay and build Louisville while he waits on S. Carolina.

Mike Gundy -- Current Head Coach at Oklahoma State. Current record 65-33. Gundy is presumed to be a lifer at OSU, but the dickwad AD Mike Holder refuses to give him a contract that ensures it, while giving a shite-tastic basketball coach a huge 10 year contract. +'s Gundy is a former QB that develops the position, and hires innovative OC's. He's a player coach yet is still a tough disciplinarian. Very passionate and emotional, obvious that he's invested in the players individually and gives his all to the program. -'s He just got a contract extension in Stillwater, so the wandering eye might not stop in Fayetteville. His defenses have been mighty pourus but their ability to create turnovers has made them into a very successful team. Turnovers may not comes as easy in the SEC. Arkansas fan base might not love him at first, but he's everything they want in a coach.

Space reserved for Gary Patterson.

horseshite tier

On Deck tier
(This is the pool of candidates that can quickly make it into the Legit tier)

Gary Patterson
Art Briles
Greg Roman
Larry Fedora
Troy Calhoun
Scott Linehan
Dirk Koetter
Rob Chudzinski

This post was edited on 12/2/12 at 10:56 pm