Malzahn-Sumlin matchup loser tied to Hogs

We have officially entered the time of year in college football that is, for some, the most fun … the coaching carousel.

Coaches with jobs don’t find it much fun. Most of the media loves it and fans either love it or hate it, usually coinciding with their view of their current coach.

For better or worse, Arkansas and Bret Bielema are right in the middle of all the talk these days.

Whether Jeffrey P. Long wants it or not, he’s getting a ton of advice on what to do. Of course, he’s off in Grapevine, Texas, helping decide what teams join Alabama to play for the national championship, but it would be interesting to know how much feedback he’s getting there.

Back here, the furor has subsided slightly. The biggest comeback in program history helped that. It will stay quiet for another week as the Hogs should be leading Coastal Carolina by 35 at halftime.

Arkansas should be sitting at 4-5 with three SEC opponents left and needing two wins to assure a bottom-feeder bowl berth. With the list of LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri the opponents it’s going to be a tough task.

Nobody knows (at least anybody that will say anything) about whether there is a number Bielema has to hit to keep his job. The win over Ole Miss really didn’t help the argument to keep him when you step back and really analyze it.

The Rebels are a dysfunctional mess. If the Hogs were really ready to right the ship, they wouldn’t have gotten down by 24 points in the first half and needed literal gifts to make their record comeback.

No, the reason Bielema’s seat is still hot there is not one single sign in the last year or so this program is headed anywhere near competing for a division title.

Now national pundits are weighing in with coaches coming to Arkansas … and Bielema hasn’t been fired yet.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports had Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin in the mix today.

Kevin Sumlin (35), Texas A&M. Yes, he could finish the season 9-3 – though that would require a complete reversal of recent November collapses. But regardless of record, it seems Sumlin’s time at A&M is done. The ugly fallout from that season-opening loss to UCLA pushed both sides to the breaking point. A guy with an 84-41 record and excellent recruiting ties in Texas will find another Power Five job. Wait for it.

Bret Bielema (36), Arkansas. The buyout is big, and Bielema began an attempted salvage of this season Saturday with a huge comeback to beat Mississippi. But the big man is just 11-26 in SEC play, 1-4 this year, and a losing season in year five might spur the Arkansas hierarchy to pay the money to start over. If so, this could be another potential landing spot for Sumlin.

Coming on the heels of speculation about Auburn coach Gus Malzahn being a candidate for the Arkansas job that is presently occupied, that makes this week’s matchup in College Station between the Aggies and Tigers interesting.

Is the loser the leader in the clubhouse to replace Bielema at Arkansas?

With Florida’s dumping of Jim McElwain over the weekend, the coaching carousel has started. Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen is rumored to be a candidate there, but that won’t happen.

Advertisement

Mullen and his family love living in Starkville, plus he’s expecting to have probably his best team ever next year. Everyone tries to invent reasons for Mullen to leave every year, but the fact of the matter is he’s getting $4.5 million a year to live in Starkville, Mississippi.

Expectations at both Auburn and Texas A&M are not being met. Whether they are too high or not doesn’t matter. That’s for others to decide.

At Arkansas, the expectations of most fans aren’t being met and there is absolutely zero evidence to suggest they will be met at any time in the near future.

All of that is why, at the very least, you want to catch the replay of the A&M-Auburn game this weekend.

There will be a lot of discussion about the loser being in the mix to come to Fayetteville for a job that’s not open.

At least not yet.