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Arkansas shifting its focus with news that Gus Malzahn is staying at Auburn
By Cody McClure
Published:
Well, now what?
Gus Malzahn, who was most definitely Arkansas’ top head coaching prospect, decided Sunday evening to stay at Auburn.
Razorbacks fans were getting excited about the possibility that Malzahn might leave the plains to return back to his roots. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.
But all is not lost for the Hogs. There are plenty of quality coaching candidates Arkansas could look to next.
One that comes to mind immediately is Memphis head coach Mike Norvell.
Norvell led the Tigers to a 10-2 record this season and a spot in the AAC Championship Game on Saturday. The Tigers gave undefeated UCF all it wanted before falling 62-55 in an overtime thriller.
Last year, in Norvell’s first season, Memphis went 8-5.
The name may be familiar to many people in the Natural State. Norvell played wide receiver for Central Arkansas from 2001 to 2005. He also served as a graduate assistant at UCA in 2006.
Perhaps even more importantly, Norvell developed ties while coaching at Tulsa from 2007 through 2010. That could be a key pipeline for the Razorbacks, as Tulsa is only about a two-hour trek from Fayetteville.
Some other names that could be on the Hogs’ radar — Lane Kiffin, Brent Venables and Chad Morris.
Norvell, though, seems like the perfect fit.
So Malzahn stays at Auburn which makes sense for him. Expect things to start moving rapidly for Arkansas tomorrow.
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) December 3, 2017
Arkansas can shift their focus to Mike Norvell now that Gus Malzahn got his new deal at Auburn.
— Patrick Schmidt (@PatrickASchmidt) December 3, 2017
Dont think its a secret, but my understanding is that with Gus Malzahn off the market, I expect Arkansas to move fast on Memphis’ Mike Norvell
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) December 3, 2017
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
