There were multiple reports Friday that Arkansas tight ends coach Jon Cooper is out and it just so happens a possible replacement that could fit is in town.
Warren native Chris Gragg, who spent last season as a graduate assistant working with wide receivers for Memphis, might be a good choice to take that spot.
It was also interesting to see he was apparently in Fayetteville this week.
On the hill for a few….
— Chris Gragg (@Gragg80) January 22, 2021
With Sam Pittman’s first requirement recruiting, Gragg knows the landscape in Arkansas and getting players. He also has first-hand experience playing tight end in addition to wide receiver.
In high school, he was a wide receiver and part of three Lumberjacks that Bobby Petrino rounded up in his first class in 2008 along with Jarius Wright and Greg Childs.
Gragg had 72 catches at Arkansas for 1,003 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
He was drafted by Buffalo and played three seasons there before winding up his career in Philadelphia.
Pittman has been juggling the staff with linebackers coach Rion Rhoades fired and replaced by defensive quality control staffer Michael Scherer.
Scherer was a linebacker at Missouri from 2012-2016. He chose the Tigers and Hogs’ defensive coordinator Barry Odom (then Missouri’s coach) out of high school from St. Louis Country Day.
He may have been Odom’s first choice to coach linebackers all along and part of the deal for him to back away from reported opportunities at LSU and Texas was getting his first choice as the linebackers coach.
Scherer was an on-field coach for the Hogs against Florida when Odom served as the head coach for one game while Sam Pittman recovered from covid-19.
On Friday, multiple media outlets reported Cooper was out as the tight ends coach.
That creates an opening Gragg could be a good choice to fill.
