How about package deal? Hocutt, Venables for Hogs

As the search for an athletics director and football coach heat up, we’ve heard a LOT from a LOT of different folks.

We’re discounting some of the rumors as too ridiculous to even consider. Some folks think sitting high school coaches should be under consideration, but that’s not going to happen.

Well, now we’re at the point that Arkansas’ searches have gotten to the point that if Tennessee wasn’t almost inventing new ways to screw things up it would be getting more attention.

Maybe the most intriguing fact we had thrown at us Wednesday was Texas Tech athletic director being in the running for the athletics director spot and Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables for the coach.

Hearing them separately doesn’t raise much of an eyebrow, other than Hocutt is the chairman of the College Football Committee, where former Hogs athletics director Jeff Long is a voting member and past chairman.

Then you do a little research and discover that Hocutt and Venables were linebackers at Kansas State together back in the 1990’s. They reportedly were fairly close then and have remained so through their journeys.

A package deal?

One thing for certain is it removes the case of the AD and coach not wanting to work with the other one.

Could Hocutt be the choice?

We heard that former Razorback Foundation director Sean Rochelle was the leading candidate earlier in the week and others have touted a two-man race between Tulsa athletic director Derrick Gragg, who was the senior associate AD under Frank Broyles from 2000-2006, and former Hogs quarterback Kevin Scanon, who is on the Foundation board and has worked for Stephens Inc. for a number of years.

A decision on who will be the next AD could be announced this week.

The football coach situation is a little more complicated.

There’s no doubt Auburn coach Gus Malzahn is the frontrunner, but he does have the Tigers playing for the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta.

Some think if Auburn wins, then Malzahn is out of the picture, which may not be the case at all.

There are many that feel Malzahn could accept the Arkansas position after the title game and if the Tigers win, he could spend the next few weeks getting ready for the College Football Playoff and could be in the championship game January 8.

Traditional thinking says that’s too late for recruiting purposes. Well, that wasn’t doing well before Bret Bielema was dismissed last Friday and nearly every coaching change sees a downturn in the changeover.

Nick Saban didn’t accept Alabama’s offer until the Miami Dolphins’ season ended in 2006. He didn’t even meet with the Crimson Tide officials until Jan. 1, 2007.

Alabama ended up with a No. 12 recruiting class, which some say isn’t that bad, but it was catastrophic by the standards of that program, especially looking at what happened after that.

Don’t think Malzahn is not in play regardless of the outcome Saturday. He has said and we’ve heard for 10 years coaching the Hogs is his dream job. We’ll find out by Sunday how badly he wants to live out the dream.

If he says no, here’s what we hear the pecking order is:

• Brent Venables, Clemson. While the defensive coordinator of the Tigers has never been a head coach, he has produced highly-rated defenses and been a master recruiter. Right now, former defensive coodinators seem to be doing okay in the SEC (Kirby Smart at Georgia, Will Muschamp at South Carolina).

• Mike Norvell, Memphis. A lot of people are concerned because he’s only been a head coach at Memphis, but if you put his qualifications alongside those of Central Florida coach Scott Frost (another hot name), they are almost identical. Those two play each other in the American Athletic Conference Championship game Saturday morning.

• Chad Morris, SMU. Former offensive coordinator at Clemson and legendary high school coach in Texas, winning multiple state titles at different classifications. His knowledge of players there may be unmatched. Has built SMU from the ashes of where June Jones let the program slide. Put his record alongside that of Ken Hatfield at Air Force and they are almost identical at the same point.

• Charlie Strong, South Florida. Word started coming out Wednesday that Charlie himself has called, trying to get his name in the mix for the Razorbacks’ job, although that is completely unconfirmed at this point. It would be interesting, but you have to wonder if he’s a good fit for Arkansas (he wasn’t at Texas).

We told you it’s going to be a wild ride and that’s going all over the place. Search committees were put into place earlier this week to try and still the waters a little, but we’ve been told all they are doing is dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

That appears to be the case with only a $75,000 fee attached. For these firms to do a full-blown search that includes identifying candidates and the full research and initial interviews, the costs start at about $350,000.

Don’t be surprised to see some clarity on both positions as the week progresses.