Voice of Razorbacks shuts down talk of one high profile coach replacing Pittman

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The word coming out of the Arkansas athletics department, at least technically, is there is absolutely zero chance the Hogs are going to hire former Penn State coach James Franklin and it's possible no one ever took the time to write out a "Wanna be the coach of the Hogs? Check yes or no." letter.

Chuck Barrett, voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks for football and basketball, spends a good enough portion of his life in the athletics offices at the University of Arkansas to have a pretty good idea of at least a few definitive situations. Because of this, he carries more credibility than most when he takes to the airwaves and makes an emphatic statement.

Clearly fed up with misinformation and extreme misguided wishing by fans on social media, that's exactly what he did seconds into Friday morning's broadcast of the Chuck & Bo Show.

"Let's just cut to the chase," Barrett said immediately as the recorded show introduction stopped playing. "I mean, we'll get into lots of things this morning, but let's just cut to the chase on this that James Franklin is not going to be the head coach of the Razorbacks. I believe that, all along, he was never a candidate. It's always been wishful thinking. The stories about a bidding war between Arkansas and Virginia Tech were nothing more than AI generated stories or written by human beings who were poorly informed, and it's just not going to happen. No, it was never, it was never going to happen. So let's just put that one aside."

Just in case there was any confusion or thoughts of Friday morning sarcasm, Barrett doubled down.

"People started putting two and two together and getting five," Barrett said. "I mean, it was, — I understand reading tea leaves and 'all the signs point towards' and I get that part, and I get that 'I've been told' part too, but this one was never, ever, ever on the table."

Barrett went so far as to make sure Arkansas fans wipe any coaches off who might appear at the top of their list if it's someone casual college football fans might actually know.

"We all view coaching searches in different ways," Barrett said. "And I get that, but I think sometimes people get the idea that schools or teams pick one guy and all their eggs are going into that basket. We're going to go get that guy, even though we may not be the most desirable job out there, we're going to get ahead of the game and we're going to go get this guy.

"Now, some schools have the luxury of saying, 'Alright, this is our guy.' And you know that when you offer he's going to say, yes. We're not in that situation when it comes to the bigger names, the names people know, the guys everybody wants. We're not in that spot. So, you know, Franklin was, he was a pipe dream. I mean he was a pipe dream."

Not only did Barrett blatantly warn Arkansas fans to stop salivating over name coaches, he made it clear it's time to drastically lower expectations. History says the Hogs aren't going to be bringing in a Power Four coach.

"You've gotta look back at the way things have been before that," Barrett said. "That's generally a pretty good guide. We have hired one guy out of the Power Four over the last 30 years or so, you know, a sitting head coach, and that was [Bret] Bielema. Everybody else has either moved up or been someone that might have been on the backside. So that's kind of where we are. I think that's where we are now, and I think that's the path we'll go down again."

So, if the message isn't clear, for those who haven't already done so, it's time to dust off the old remote and set the DVR to record a lot of AAC and Conference USA games because that's the most likely place from where the next head coach is going to come.

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