Social Media Craziness Has Razorback Fans Thinking Coach Off Board for Job Not Open
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Well, it didn't take long for the Arkansas non-coaching search to dive off the deep end.
Monday night, Arkansas fans started adding Razorback athletics director Hunter Yurachek to a post put out by Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. Now, it might seem odd that Hog fans would bother someone as important as the AD with such an innocuous Tweet, but based on the first several reactions to the tweet, Chadwell apparently had his location settings turned on and it showed Starkville, Mississippi.
Now, it's not hard to do the math here. Chadwell is on a short list of hot names for a few jobs out there, including Mississippi State, which all SEC fans know is in Starkville, and also part of a wish list for some Arkansas fans should that job come open in the next few weeks.
The first two replies to a post made by Jame Chadwell Monday night.
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Now, even if Arkansas had an opening and Chadwell was under consideration, it's highly unlikely this means he's going to be the next coach at Mississippi State and is off the table. In fact, his location showing Starkville makes it less likely.
It appears some people think this works like trying to get a job down at the local Cracker Barrel where you have to show up in person and do an interview. Anyone who follows football coaching searches knows the first time a coach actually steps foot in the town where he's hired is usually within hours at most of being announced.
All that garbage you see online from the wife of your best friend Jeff's cousin who handles real estate sales in Austin and has a friend who was showing Nick Saban homes on off of FM 2222 is exactly that. Total garbage. Coaches aren't parading around a town where they might get a job one day.
If Chadwell were to actually interview for the job, he'd rent a mom-mobile and make a big deal about driving around West Alabama filling it up with elite recruits to haul back to Liberty. Then he'd make a showing with a photo or two outside of area high schools before high-tailing it to some Mississippi State booster's house to meet discreetly with Zac Selmon, and then, say he'll think about it before checking into a hotel room with an adjoining room where he meets with a representative of another university. And according to some responses, at least a few Arkansas fans hope it's Yurachek.
The most likely explanation is Chadwell was using one of his recruiting days to see if he can scoop up a couple of guys out of the inexplicably deep well of talent that seems to develop over in Mississippi. Did he possibly go out of his way to drive by the stadium and see how the facilities are looking?
If he was, indeed, in Starkville, then that wouldn't be the worst idea in the world considering there is some level of interest from people tied to the Bulldogs. However, the odds that he walked around that small of a town in the midst of a coaching search and met with school officials without word or photos getting out that it took place is not only borderline impossible these days, it would be considered malpractice on the part of both Selmon and Chadwell.
Odds would be greater he's meeting with a different team, if anyone at all, while in Starkville. The momentary location slip-up would be great cover if that were the case. However, that's a level of thought and brilliance that is rare when it comes to coaching searches that would require its own documentary if something like that ever went down.
So, if there are Arkansas fans hoping for Chadwell to be a prime target in the Razorbacks' non-coaching search, there's no need to be sad. He's still theoretically available for that job that isn't.
