Arkansas explores multiple options in coaching search beyond James Franklin

James Franklin is reportedly a target for Arkansas to fill its head football coaching vacancy, but the school is keeping its options open, and several notable names are currently under consideration to take over the program.

Bobby Petrino hoped to be among that cohort, but his team has lost four straight games since taking over for Sam Pittman as the interim at the end of September, and the momentum he hoped to build has lost considerable steam in that time.

Aside from Franklin, the Razorbacks have cast a wide net in the effort to replace Pittman, including four of the most successful coaches in the Group of Five ranks this season, according to On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos.

Jon Sumrall

Tulane head coach

Sumrall is 16-7 overall in his two seasons at the helm with the Green Wave, and has already been connected to the vacancy at LSU, where he ranks second with a 16 percent chance to take that position, according to the prediction market Kalshi.

Predictably, Sumrall has maintained that his interest remains at Tulane, but with a 39-11 overall record with two successful stints in the G5, it’s expected he will be a target for some of the Power Four schools looking to make the right choice.

Alex Golesh

USF head coach

A former offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Tennessee, the 41-year-old Golesh is 21-14 in his three seasons with South Florida, entering this weekend with a 7-2 record after going 7-6 in each of his first two years.

Eric Morris

North Texas head coach

A former quarterback for Texas Tech, the 40-year-old has no SEC coaching experience, but was 24-18 at Incarnate Word as head coach, was offensive coordinator at his alma mater, and has North Texas at 8-1 entering this weekend after going under .500 in his first two seasons at the school.

Ryan Silverfield

Memphis head coach

Bettors have been more confident connecting Silverfield with the Arkansas position, in particular.

The 45-year-old currently places third among all candidates with a 12 percent chance to take over the Razorbacks, according to the latest Kalshi figures.

Silverfield is 50-23 in his seven seasons with Memphis, the only school where he has been a head coach, and that includes a 29-7 stretch the last two-plus seasons, and winning double-digit games the last two years outright.

Pat Fitzgerald

Former Northwestern head coach

Fitzgerald is looking for a job after following the settlement of his wrongful termination suit against Northwestern, which fired him before the 2023 season over hazing allegations, but won the suit he brought against the school.

His 109 wins and 64 Big Ten victories are both Northwestern records, he coached 9 winning teams over 13 seasons, and led the program to 10 bowl games in that time.

PJ Fleck

Minnesota head coach

There’s no word that Fleck’s job is on the line in his ninth season at the school, but he’s thus far failed to really separate the Gophers from the pack in the Big Ten.

Fleck is 64-42 overall with a 38-38 record in conference games, and has just one double-digit season in his tenure, in 2019.

(On3)