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Delay on defensive coordinator adds to intrigue

New Arkansas coach Chad Morris hasn’t put a single coach on the defensive side of the ball, but says a big-time defensive coordinator is coming … who could it be?

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Arkansas has terminated the contracts of all the previous coaching staff except one — Barry Lunney, Jr.

That makes sense. It’s also what most new coaches do, replacing the entire staff, but keeping one holdover for some sort of continuity.

It also might be a good guess that Chad Morris has met Barry Lunney, Sr., at some point. He did spend time in Arkansas meeting with Gus Malzahn and the name probably popped up along the way.

Keeping Lunney, who is the key recruiter in the state and also has as good of a track record as anyone in developing tight ends, is probably a smart play.

Monday, reports began surfacing that Morris’ assistant head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor would be coming to Arkansas after the Mustangs quickly moved to hire Sonny Dykes to replace Morris.

And, of course, that came during a separate report that had Traylor in the mix to go to Missouri as offensive coordinator.

With the head coaching situations starting to be a little more resolved, now the assistant coach carousel starts spinning.

But the biggest question most Razorback fans has is who will be the defensive coordinator?

Could it be Brent Venables of Clemson in some sort of associate type position? That probably is a little far-fetched. It might be one of the other members of Clemson’s staff, however.

Or could Morris be talking to former Texas A&M, LSU and Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis?

Earlier today our friend Trey Schaap from The Buzz in Little Rock had a rather cryptic tweet:

Now that doesn’t exactly mean Chavis, but it could.

One thing that is interesting through all of this is how locked-down the hunt seems to be on the defensive coaches.

There aren’t the usual bevy of “sources” leaking anything about this, it seems.

But if it is Chavis, what’s the delay in announcing it?

It’s not like he’s tied up with anything else too pressing right now.

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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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