What if famed booster made money no object in Hogs' coaching search?

Who would be best choice if Yurachek had option to bring almost anyone to Arkansas Razorbacks?

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino during practices at the indoor football center in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Welcome to what is probably going to be the most boring coaching search in the history of Arkansas football. Odds are high there won't even be a plane to track despite the fact that, overall, this will be one of the more wild coaching search seasons with as many as 25 projected openings

Right now, unless interim head coach Bobby Petrino bombs against Auburn, Mississippi State and Texas, Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek will simply call him down to his office for a few minutes and ask Petrino if he formally wants the job, then go back to his business.

So, with all the fun sapped out of the typical coaching search experience, there's no choice but to turn on a bit of the imagination to find enjoyment. In this case, the idea is what would this search look like if Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he feels bad about not being able to help in NIL these past several years because of NFL rules, so he wants to have a big impact on the Hogs' efforts in the coaching search.

Out of personal guilt and a mild high from his Cowboys trouncing the Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon, Jones agrees to front $120 million for the Razorbacks to use as part of a 10-year deal to whomever they deem a Frank Broyles in his prime level candidate. So, with a salary available that won't get this program laughed at in the SEC, unlike other coaching searches, here are the Top 5 candidates for the job.

#5 Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney during Clemson football 2025 practice at Jervey Meadows in Clemson, S.C. Wednesday, August 6, 2025. | Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arkansas gives Swinney a chance to get back to his roots. While former head coach Sam Pittman had developed the equivalent of a winnner four of the last five seasons and made winning bowl games a given, the Hogs haven't taken long to slide off into their old habits.

Losing is, once again, the norm in Fayetteville, and Swinney's specialty is digging a desperate, losing program out of the ashes into national prominence. The problem is he did it too well and the locals got too used to 10+ win seasons and runs at the national championship, so he became jaded at them being jaded.

While Hogs fans came to no longer appreciate winning seasons, it's hard to imagine them reaching the point Clemson fans have gotten for a long time. Plus, Swinney has made it clear he wants to build up another program and then come back and kick the snot out of the Tigers.

So long as that potential game is out there, the Razorbacks have a motivated coach with high end potential winning ability and a strong recruiting track record. Plus, he has done well at identifying assistants and keeping them around for long periods of time.

#4 James Franklin, Penn State (formerly)

Penn State head football coach James Franklin reacts to something on the sideline during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in State College. The White team defeated the Blue team, 10-8. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For some reason Arkansas fans have been incredibly arrogant and dismissive when it comes to Franklin. The man won 34 games in the past three seasons and won 10+ games in six of his last nine seasons.

However, you have to go back to the beginning of the Chad Morris era in 2018 to get a combined 34 wins in completed seasons for the Hogs. That's the entire coaching eras of the past two coaches combined over seven years to get what Franklin has done in three.

But the fans' real reason is Franklin just can't win big games. First off, what big games has Arkansas won?

Other than beating No. 4 Tennessee last year, name the last big game the Hogs have won? Texas doesn't count because that team was terrible, which was why everyone was asking why in the world Arkansas fans were storming the field.

Franklin won in the SEC at Vanderbilt when there were no tools to make that possible. He had the Commodores in a bowl game his first season and won nine games the following two.

In three seasons in Nashville, under the worst conditions possible, Franklin won 24 games with three bowl appearances back when that really mattered. There is no world in which Razorbacks fans should be looking down on him.

Even if Yurachek can sign Franklin in this imaginary world we're working with, he should do all he can to make it happen and ignore the fans' self-sabotaging.

#3 Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham high-fives wide receiver Malik McClain (12) during a game at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, on Aug. 30, 2025. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dillingham is a Gus Malzahn protege' without all the Malzahn baggage and considerably more youth. His stints as an assistant at Auburn and Florida State means knows the SEC territory, but he has been able to get up to the Pacific Northwest at Oregon and now the Southwest as part of the Big 12.

He is able to bring the best of all the conferences along with a dog mentality that makes him difficult to contend with as an opponent. He demands much and gets even more.

What's more is he is able to identify talent others overlook and lets them grow into stars and has experience across the entire country looking for them. Arkansas could use a Cam Skattebo on its roster at some point.

In just a couple of short years at Arizona State, he already has a Big 12 championship. It's worth seeing if he can win one in the SEC.

At the very least, he is going to be entertaining and he will get the most out of players who are going to bring that Grant Morgan energy Arkansas fans love so much.

#2 Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire looks on during a game against Oregon State, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

McGuire is a really good coach without resources and a great coach with them. Right now, no one knows if Arkansas will have resources next year, but he won an average of eight games per year in Lubbock before getting pocket books opened.

He knows Texas inside and out as a high school coaching legend there with his roots in the Dallas area. North Texas and East Texas students love Arkansas.

Despite locals throwing a fit about it, they are attracted to Northwest Arkansas like moths to a light bulb, bringing in tons of money for the university. That makes recruiting football players decidedly easier than getting them to pick up and spend the next four years stuck in Lubbock.

The point being is McGuire will have better players than he did at Texas Tech without resources. Just imagine what he could do if Arkansas fans would actually contribute $5 per month each to help the man out rather than complain that a handful of them go up a few games a year and buy a hot dog.

Razorbacks fans would love him. The question would simply be how much would they be willing to do to support him, although that goes for every man on this list.

#1 Brent Key, Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) and head coach Brent Key talk to a reporter after a victory over the Clemson Tigers at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

A lot of Arkansas fans must be wondering who in the world this Key guys is. He's the best fit for the program. Period.

He took a floundering Georgia Tech program that wins three games each season with no support and won seven games in each of his first two, including going eight overtimes against Georgia last season before finally falling. He has the Yellowjackets inexplicably at 7-0 so far this year and is in a good spot to land the ACC's bid in the college football playoff.

He got a pay raise last year that took him from a lowly $2.9 million up to what most suspect is around $4.5 million, so there is plenty of room to get him at a good rate and offer some of the remaining portion of the $12 million to supplement assistant coaches salaries.

It should be noted that Key has done this with essentially no NIL. It's all inspiration and getting guys to gut through close games.

Georgia Tech is 3-0 in one score games this season and were 4-2 last season. His team went 2-0 in his first full season, making Key 9-2 in close games, which should be a big deal to Arkansas fans.

Plus, he has a personality that would fit the Arkansas culture well, while also having an energy and relatability about him that makes him a draw for recruits. The best way to describe him is to combine Barry Odom and Lane Kiffin.

This one quote from this weekend regarding his time working under Alabama coach Nick Saban should say enough.

“Coach Saban use to tell us more people die on the way down from Mount Everest than on the way up and you can't relax," Key said.

The Hogs would be a winner quickly, although it should be noted Key is a former Yellowjacket. Georgia Tech has its own Clark Lea situation, which means it will be hard to drag him out of Atlanta.