Phil & Tye if Lane Kiffin would be a good fit, Hunter Yurachek’s previous hires and more!
Lunney deserves interim job, expanded role of some type with new coach
It’s anyone’s guess who Arkansas will hire as its next football coach, but Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek has already made one smart move.
After announcing Chad Morris’ firing Sunday, he named Arkansas assistant Barry Lunney, Jr., the interim head coach.
It’s interesting that Yurachek, who has only been on the job about two years, figured out Lunney is the one guy on the staff who is capable of leading an embattled team the final three weeks of the season.
On the surface, it appeared to be an easy decision because the two coordinators, normally a choice to serve as interim, have been so lackluster that it wasn’t even an option.
Defensive coordinator John Chavis is ready to go fishing after a long, illustrious career as an SEC defensive coordinator, but it was easy to see he has lost his touch.
At 34, Joe Craddock showed his inexperience running the offense. He and Morris couldn’t figure out how to jumpstart a unit with the quarterback talent available. None of those signal callers got better.
So, Yurachek turned to Lunney.
Many remember him as a standout quarterback for the Hogs, and the pass he threw to J.J. Meadors to beat Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1995.
Lunney also played baseball at Arkansas and one year of minor league baseball. He has been a coach since then, serving as a graduate assistant under former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt and then working for former Hogs assistants Keith Burns at Tulsa and Fitz Hill at San Jose State.
After Hil was fired at SJSU, Lunney joined his dad Barry Lunney, Sr., who he played for at Fort Smith Southside, on the staff at Bentonville High School.
The younger Lunney served as offensive coordinator for a juggernaut of a Bentonville program from 2005-12. His experience as an offensive coordinator in the college ranks showed through and the Tigers were run more like a college program because of his influence.
In 2012, Bret Bielema hired Lunney to serve as tight ends coach and help with in-state recruiting.
He and Bielema re-evaluated several in-state recruits that former coach Bobby Petrino and interim coach John L. Smith had not offered.
One of the finds was Greenwood’s Drew Morgan, who had committed to Arkansas State. Morgan became a standout receiver for the Hogs.
When Morris replaced Bielema, he retained Lunney. All Lunney has done as the tight ends coach is make it the best position on the team landing and coaching up players such as Hunter Henry and now his brother Hudson Henry along with now-former player C.J. O’Grady, who is an NFL talent with a lackluster attitude.
Lunney has done everything asked of him.
However, he’s been underutilized. Bielema seemed more attentive to in-state recruiting that than Morris, but I’m not sure either coach gave him enough say-so in which players to offer.
I know they didn’t give him enough say so in regards to the scheme. There is only so much a tight ends coach can offer.
I’m certain if the experienced Lunney was running the offense and coaching the quarterbacks, this season would have been much different.
Now, Lunney has his dream position, at least for two games. I expect Arkansas to be more organized and unified against LSU.
The No. 1 Tigers are as good as they’ve been in a while, and to say beating them in Baton Rouge would take a miracle is an understatement.
But, the Lunney-led Hogs will play with heart and conviction, and you won’t see the division that has been apparent over the past few weeks.
It seems apparent no matter that the new coach is, Lunney will be on the staff. Yurachek, though, needs to make sure Lunney isn’t marginalized.
It may be too much to ask to have the new coach name him as the offensive coordinator, but that is what he deserves, especially if Arkansas plays well against LSU and Missouri.
Yurachek has recognized his potential naming him the interim coach, and that may be the first step.
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Fans all have their favorite to be Hogs’ coach, but Yurachek has the parameters
Anybody that would know who the next Arkansas football coach is going to be, they aren’t saying anything … and, as usual, the only ones jabbering don’t really know anything.
The guess here is Hunter Yurachek knows what he wants and he deflected that Monday.
“All will be considered,” he said.
He has the parameters he’s got to work within and most of us have no idea exactly what that is, but it’s a good guess he knows a lot more about what’s needed, who might be interested and what might work than anybody knows.
Most fans will trust his decision more than the last hiring process, which in hindsight looks more like a knee-jerk reaction based on a little too much urgency.
Shoot, even Gus Malzahn may be on the table right now. Tigers defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is the best coach at Auburn right now and it’s a good bet the powers that be down there might be willing to work out a deal just to get the Gus Bus out of town.
Whether he’s really a fit at Arkansas is not known. He has won with the Tigers, but he can round up better players there than he could in Fayetteville. Can he win games in the SEC coaching up two-star and three-star players?
Remember, just because a coach has had success somewhere else doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen at Arkansas, which is a unique place.
And right now there’s a lot of coaches that think it’s where coaches go to disappear.
All of that calls for the requisite listing:
You don’t really want these guys
• Mike Leach. Yes, he was able to recruit at Texas Tech, so he knows a thing or two about Texas, but he’s never really been able to win the biggest games when it counted.
For those of us in the media it would be fun times, but is he really the answer? I don’t think so, but that’ just my opinion.
• Lane Kiffin. There’s always a buzz about him but everywhere he’s left has been a path of destruction behind him. Sorta like what you see after a tornado.
Plus, does he really know anything about Arkansas? He was a toddler when his dad Monte was Lou Holtz’ defensive coordinator from 1977-79.
• Bobby Petrino. A lot of people want to just talk about his apology for getting caught in an inappropriate relationship after flying through the handlebars, but he was going to do a repeat of what just happened at Louisville.
Yurachek wouldn’t be bullied like Jeff Long was and the main baggage with Petrino had nothing to do with his relationship. Yes, he can draw up plays and call ’em, but he discovered in Louisville II he can’t bully the players any more, either.
• Jon Gruden. Please, not again
Intriguing possibilities
• Houston Nutt. He wants back in coaching, is a convert to a spread offense that is a lot like what Morris had and has won at Arkansas in the SEC. He also has a ton of support from former players and a lot of boosters.
But is he the right fit at this time for Arkansas?
• Sam Pittman. It’s not a very well-kept secret he would be interested in the job, can recruit like crazy and develop offensive linemen. But can he do the same magic at other positions on the field, build a staff and handle in-game decisions?
He’s at Georgia now which has managed to blow key games under Kirby Smart with incredibly bad sideline management. That’s not just my opinion, but what other SEC current and former coaches tell me.
• Barry Lunney, Jr. If you want a similar situation to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, it’s Lunney, not Chad Morris. Remember, Swinney was the wide receivers coach with zero coordinator experience when handed the keys to the Tigers.
And, don’t forget, he’s got the keys to the car to drive around for three weeks.
• Tim Horton. Another former player who has spent time at various college football coaching stops and knows the ropes about as well as anyone could imagine.
Whether he’s a viable candidate or not, there should be a place for him somewhere in the program.
The water-cooler favorites right now
• Mike Norvell. The Memphis coach has a lot of support, mainly because he puts an offense on the field that lights up scoreboards. His defense also lets the other time light up the other side of that scoreboard, but I’m not sure that matters after watching LSU and Alabama combine for 87 points in one game.
• Eliah Drinkwitz. Having an 8-1 success in his first year at Appalachian State, has ties to Arkansas and has worked as an assistant (with success) around the country.
But he’s likely going to come at a premium, which is what happens when you have big success in your first year, accomplishing what he’s done in his first year.
There’s at least a baker’s dozen of other names being thrown out there, but it’s hard to see any of them being a fit for Arkansas.
In the end, that’s the most important thing. Coaching the Razorbacks is unique, from just about every perspective you can think of.
It’s going to take someone different is the guess from here and, no, I don’t have the answer.
But I am pretty sure Yurachek has an idea.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye on Hunter Yurachek’s future, remedies for Tye’s cold, plus Nikki Chavanelle!
