Razorbacks must act fast to avoid another 2019 coaching stumble

Arkansas has waited since September to finish this search, raising doubts about interest, urgency and whether the Hogs can close the deal.

Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek yells at officials on the sidelines during game with the Texas A&M Aggies at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas has run out of places to hide.

The program has known since September that a coaching change was likely, yet the Razorbacks approach December without a signature on a contract. For a school that insisted interest was strong and preparation was solid, the delay says something different.

Either the interest was just kicking the tires, or Arkansas isn’t positioned to close when it matters most.

The selling point for weeks has been that the job drew attention from across the country. If that were the case, the Razorbacks wouldn’t be standing here with the SEC coaching carousel about to detonate.

A job that supposedly carried national appeal should not still be waiting for paperwork this late in the process. Something doesn’t add up. The only excuse would be a really big name prepearing for a playoff run.

The Hogs haven't been mentioned the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes or any of those other names. Everybody brought up in that tone has signed a new deal.

The echoes of 2019 are hard to ignore.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman during introductory press conference in Fayetteville, Ark., in December 2019. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Arkansas believed it had Kiffin secured, only to get outmaneuvered by Ole Miss. The Hogs misjudged timing, hesitated at the worst possible moment, and wound up scrambling to hire Sam Pittman.

That chapter was written because Arkansas didn’t push when it needed to. The similarities to this fall aren’t subtle.

A story by Michael Main over at Best of Arkansas Sports pointed out the Razorbacks reached a verbal understanding with Alex Golesh early in the week. But a verbal agreement is only as strong as the offer backing it.

If Arkansas truly wanted Golesh — and had the resources to finish — this deal would be complete. That it isn’t raises uncomfortable questions, including whether the program can actually keep up with the pace the SEC demands.

Meanwhile, the rest of the league isn’t waiting for Arkansas to get itself organized.

Kiffin just went 11–1 at Ole Miss and now weighs whether to stay or jump to LSU. That decision alone could reshape the entire hiring cycle before the Hogs even finalize their first move.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin walks off the field during a college football game between Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Kiffin dilemma exposes Arkansas’ slow pace

Kiffin’s choice is more than a storyline — it’s a warning.

If he stays in Oxford, LSU instantly becomes the biggest opening in the league, the kind of job that pulls candidates off other boards. If he leaves, Ole Miss becomes a high-powered vacancy that will move quickly and aggressively.

Plus the Rebels have more money in their NIL and from boosters than the Hogs have these days.

Florida already stepped aside, leaving the SEC’s tension point between LSU and Ole Miss. Programs with winning momentum and deep resources don’t wait around to see how the market settles.

Historically, both LSU and Ole Miss strike fast when they need a coach. The Hogs need only to look at their own past to remember how this goes.

Best of Arkansas Sports put it bluntly and correctly that Hunter Yurachek “would be wise to get ink on the paper with Golesh before this weekend’s impending chaos unfolds.”

That's just cold, straight reality.

If Arkansas waits for the SEC to move first, the decision may be made for them.

The Razorbacks insist they’re operating from a position of readiness. But ready programs don’t take this long after knowing for months a change was coming.

Ready programs don’t approach a high-risk SEC weekend without a hire. And ready programs don’t allow silence to become the story.

Why Hogs’ delay sends wrong message

If Golesh is the choice, Arkansas should already have the deal secured. If he isn’t, the Hogs should have pivoted long ago.

Floating in the middle — waiting for the rest of the SEC to trigger movement — is exactly the kind of approach that cost the Razorbacks their preferred hire in 2019.

The longer this drags out, the more it looks like the Hogs oversold how attractive the job really was.

Or worse, it may reveal a deeper issue of Arkansas’ inability to operate with the financial force needed to compete in the SEC’s top tier of coaching searches.

And the consequences of waiting are real.

Recruiting slows. Retention suffers. Assistants drift. Players hesitate. Momentum evaporates.

The Hogs need direction, not delays. They have spent months preparing. Now they need to prove they can execute.

If this search reaches the weekend without a signed contract, the conversation will shift from “Who is Arkansas hiring?” to “Why can’t Arkansas get this done?”

And at that point, the program won’t just be fighting the SEC coaching carousel — it will be fighting its own narrative.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas has had months to prepare, making the slow pace alarming and difficult to defend.
• If interest and resources matched the messaging, the Golesh hire would already be complete.
• Kiffin’s decision between Ole Miss and LSU could leave the Hogs exposed if they continue to delay.