Armchair quarterbacking is a well-known jest amongst passionate football fans, but what we really need a term for is armchair athletic directing.
Coaching searches are tumultuous periods for college football programs to begin with. Since Arkansas made the decision to fire head coach Sam Pittman before the halfway point of the season, the class is left with a substitute teacher for months, rather than weeks. With a long gap between now and the end of November, all we’re able to do until then is speculate when it comes to the future of Arkansas football.
Speculation got an upgrade to potential Sunday afternoon when Penn State football coach James Franklin was fired after reaching the halfway point of the season with a 3-3 record. The Nittany Lions entered the season ranked No. 2 in the nation and were considered top contenders for both the Big Ten and national titles. Instead, Penn State opened conference play with three consecutive losses to No. 8 Oregon, winless UCLA and unranked Northwestern. That was enough for PSU brass to pull the trigger on Franklin’s $49 million buyout, the second-largest in college football history.
One man’s trash is another Hog’s treasure.
Franklin immediately becomes one of the most interesting names on this season’s coaching carousel. He garnered the sarcastic nickname “Big Game James” for his frequent shortcomings when the lights were brightest (4-21 record vs top-10 opponents, 15-28 vs ranked opponents).
Yet the 53-year-old was a consistent winner throughout his tenure who, until late September, took care of business against the teams he was supposed to beat. Franklin took over a program still reeling from one of the biggest scandals in sports history, and won double-digit games in half of his 12 seasons in Happy Valley, with eight appearances in New Year’s Six bowls and four wins. Last season, the Nittany Lions made the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
The Langhorne, Penn., native is also a proven winner in the SEC, overachieving at Vanderbilt by leading the Commodores to three consecutive bowl games for the first and only time in school history. The 9-4 records he posted in both 2012 and 2013 remain tied for the best seasons in school history. His tenure wasn’t perfect, though. His final season was marred by a gang rape scandal that involved four of his players and some reported misconduct by Franklin in the subsequent investigation, though the coach was never sanctioned for his involvement.
Still, he doesn’t carry nearly as much baggage as other candidates who’ve been mentioned – namely Jon Gruden and Bobby Petrino. Sure, Franklin couldn’t get it done against Ohio State and Michigan. Nobody in Fayetteville is expecting Arkansas to suddenly usurp Georgia and Alabama. Most Razorback fans would kill for consistent winning seasons, and that’s exactly what Franklin has delivered wherever he’s been. Arkansas would be lucky to have Franklin as its head coach, as would 99% of programs in the country.
Whoever Arkansas’ next head coach ends up being, he will arrive with a laundry list of chores to take care of. The fanbase and NIL warchest will hopefully be rejuvenated by a new captain of the ship, but the Razorbacks’ losing culture and talent deficiencies won’t fix themselves.
The top item on that to-do list, however, has become crystal clear in this recruiting cycle.
The Great Arkansan Exodus
Last week, four-star running back Terry “TJ” Hodges out of Bryant pulled the trigger on a commitment to Missouri. Once again, Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz went down into the Natural State and plucked a top talent away from the vulnerable Hogs.
With Hodges hitting the exit gates, the Razorbacks now sit at 0 for 5 on the state of Arkansas’ top prospects, per 247Sports.
- DL Danny Beale (Cross County) – Oklahoma State
- OT Evan Goodwin (Bauxite) – SMU
- RB TJ Hodges (Bryant) – Missouri
- LB Jakore Smith (Bryant) – Oklahoma
- DL Anthony Kennedy Jr. (Little Rock Central) – Miami
Beale’s position is tenuous after the Cowboys’ decision to fire head coach Mike Gundy in September, but the senior still appears to be locked in to his commitment.
It’s not like Arkansas’ coaching change caused this out-of-state flight. All of these commitments were made well before the season started, with the exception of Hodges, and even he was considered a Missouri lean for months.
Bentonville wide receiver Dequane Prevo is the only in-state four-star committed to the Hogs, and he was transported in from the Texas side of Texarkana a few months ago, when he was already pledged to Arkansas. Excluding fellow transplant Tay Lockett, Arkansas has failed to land any of the state’s top 10 prospects.
Nobody’s going to claim that Arkansas is a talent hub on the gridiron. A Razorback football coach is never going to win much of anything fielding a team of exclusively in-state players. But before heading out of the state to hunt for talent, putting a fence around your own border is a must.
Offensive lineman Carius Curne and defensive back Omarion Robinson are both seeing the field as freshmen at LSU and Oklahoma, respectively. Quincy Rhodes, Charlie Collins, CJ Brown and Braylen Russell illustrate the impact these in-state talents can have when they stay home.
Franklin’s program-building abilities are unquestioned, but his penchant for recruiting may be his best weapon. He brought a top-25 class to Vanderbilt, of all places, and Penn State never finished outside the top 20 on the recruiting ladder under his leadership. In the last four cycles alone, the Nittany Lions inked a whopping 21 four-stars from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Keeping these talents inside the state will be of utmost importance for the next Head Hog. Fortunately, some predecessors have provided a blueprint for turning around a recruiting class on a dime.
Arkansas’ Recent History with In-State Flips
Bobby Petrino knows this all too well from his previous stint as Arkansas’ head coach. Upon his arrival after the 2007 season, Petrino was able to flip a number of in-state recruits who ended up starring for his incredibly successful teams in 2010-11.
He pulled Greenwood quarterback Tyler Wilson away from his pledge to Tulsa and, even more impressively, persuaded Little Rock speedster Joe Adams to back off his commitment to USC and stay home. He also convinced safety/linebacker Jerico Nelson to flip from Purdue to Arkansas.
Petrino was able to fend off a late push from Mississippi State to keep wide receiver Greg Childs. In the case of fellow Warren wideout Jarius Wright, Petrino pushed away Oklahoma and Texas Tech to retain the four-star talent, despite the best efforts of Mike Leach and Lincoln Riley.
Bret Bielema faced the same dilemma upon arrival in 2012. Blue-chip Pulaski Academy tight end Hunter Henry was receiving strong interest from both Alabama and Georgia, but Bielema was able to fend it off and keep the four-star at home. He ended up winning a Mackey Award, and is arguably the best tight end in school history. Wide receiver Drew Morgan, a late flip from Arkansas State to the Hogs, also ended up being a key contributor for Bielema.
Even Chad Morris was able to flip four-star defensive back LaDarrius Bishop from Mississippi State, and the Ashdown native was a multi-year starter for the Hogs. Pittman, too, made a strong push to flip four-star Morrilton quarterback Jacolby Criswell from his North Carolina pledge. He was unsuccessful the first time around, but those efforts played a big part in landing Criswell in the portal later on.
The next Head Hog will have the tall task of trying to pull off some similar last-second flips in this star-studded 2026 class. If it does end up being SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, like many are dreaming, Goodwin feels like a natural tag-along from Dallas to Fayetteville. Decorated quarterback Kane Archer, the top signal caller in the state, also has a great relationship with Lashlee and heavily considered the Mustangs before committing to UCF.
Even if the 2026 crop ends up being a lost cause, mending in-state relationships to keep these top talents at home will be a prerequisite for the future of the program – whoever ends up being the face of that rebuild.
If it’s Franklin coming to Fayetteville, that’s a box that can be checked off in Sharpie.
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Power Four Signees/Commits from Arkansas
2026
- WR Blair Irvin III (Bentonville) – Arkansas
- S Tay Lockett (Conway) – Arkansas
- WR Dequane Prevo (Bentonville) – Arkansas
- S Kyndrick Williams (Fayetteville) – Arkansas
- OL Tucker Young (HS Lakeside) – Arkansas
- LB Braxton Lindsey (Rogers) – BYU
- S Brody Jones (Fayetteville) – Cincinnati
- DL Anthony Kennedy Jr. (LR Central) – Miami (Fla.)
- RB T.J. Hodges (Bryant) – Missouri
- EDGE Matthew Nelson (Bryant) – Oklahoma
- LB Jakore Smith (Bryant) – Oklahoma
- DL Danny Beale (Cross County) – Oklahoma State
- OL Evan Goodwin (Bauxite) – SMU
- QB Kane Archer (Greenwood) – UCF
2025
- WR Antonio Jordan (Warren) – Arkansas
- WR Quentin Murphy (LR Parkview) – Arkansas
- RB Cam Settles (LR Parkview) – Arkansas
- QB Grayson Wilson (Conway) – Arkansas
- RB Monterrio Elston Jr. (LR Parkview) – Kansas State
- OL Carius Curne (Marion) – LSU
- RB Daniel Anderson (Bryant) – Northwestern
- S Omarion Robinson (LR Parkview) – Oklahoma
- S Marcus Wimberly (Bauxite) – Oklahoma
- DL Parker Meese (Fayetteville) – Purdue
- QB Garyt Odom (Fayetteville) – Purdue
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