Briles, Jefferson Reveal Whether They're Staying at Arkansas

Efforts to land one or possibly both at Mississippi State led to recent development

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jan 6, 2023 7:22 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a week of speculation that had at least one Mississippi State booster convinced they were about to money whip Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles all the way to Starkville and Razorback fans certain that half of what's left of the team was about to go with him, Briles put Razorback fans at ease Thursday night.

The numbers drifting out of Starkville were ridiculous. There was talk of making Briles one of the highest paid assistants in the country, which would have put him around the $2 million.

At least publicly, Briles did nothing to cool down the conversations, and why would he? Every coach these days has learned from the Jimmy Sexton playbook of letting talk get hot about leaving to go for a certain amount of money to some place their current school wouldn't want them to go, only to sign a deal for slightly less or the same to stay.

Houston Nutt used to make that an annual event in Arkansas.

While there's nothing official, Jefferson appears to have confirmed that the Razorback athletics department may have come with a strong financial offer to make sure that didn't happen.

Of course, part of the reason Briles and Jefferson had their highly public short conversation is because word started out that Jefferson was returning to Mississippi with Briles if he left. Rumors then expanded to include Raheim "Rocket" Sanders and AJ Green before it was done in an apocalyptic scenario that probably would have sent the program crashing down in its current condition.

That's the point where it became clear that either there was something extremely wrong in the offices in Fayetteville or fan paranoia over coaches and players leaving had just reached a new high.

While the record number of players hitting the transfer portal lends a bit of credence to the first idea, steps are clearly being taken to change that perception.

Traditionally, in most cases involving the Razorbacks, it will almost always be the second option.

While it may have made sense for Sanders and Green to follow Briles since there have been notable departures in the Mississippi State running back room, Jefferson going to Starkville never made sense no matter how close his mother's cooking may have been.

That talking point was blown out the water the second Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers popped onto screen following Mississippi State's emotional win over Illinois in the Reliaquest Bowl and confirmed he's coming back for another year.

Had that not happened, who knows whether the overtures would have led to Briles coaching against his former boss next year. However, Briles and Jefferson have always been painted as a packaged deal.

The relationship has always been so strong that it was hard to picture one leaving the other behind.

More, but limited, details will probably drift out in the coming days that will help fill in the picture of what was truly fact and what was fiction.

However, for now, fans can go back to worrying about what will happen if Jefferson gets banged up and tracking whatever mom-mobile Briles is driving on the recruiting trail.