Brett Favre suggests interesting name for Arkansas head coaching job

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre doesn't have any ties to the Arkansas football program, but he does have thoughts on the Razorbacks' coaching search.

Favre tweeted Monday that he felt former NFL Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden would be a good choice for Arkansas, noting, "Wouldn't be surprised to see him land somewhere like Arkansas. I could see Gruden being a spark for that program."

I’ve always said Jon Gruden is one of the sharpest minds in football. His energy, passion, and love for the game are a perfect fit for the SEC...

Wouldn’t be surprised to see him land somewhere like Arkansas. I could see Gruden being a spark for that program.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) September 29, 2025

Arkansas fired Sam Pittman on Sunday, five games into his sixth season leading the program, after a one-sided 56-13 loss at home to Notre Dame dropped the Razorbacks to 2-3 for the season and Pittman to 32-34 for his tenure (including a 14-29 SEC mark). Pittman's 9-4 mark in 2021 was the program's most wins in a season since 2011.

Arkansas named former head coach Bobby Petrino, who was the coach of that 2011 team that went 11-2, as the interim head coach, and it's possible he keeps the job beyond the interim tag. Petrino, who moved quickly to fired three assistant coaches already, was 34-17 in four seasons as Arkansas' head coach from 2008-11 before being fired for having an affair with a former Arkansas volleyball player who worked on the football program's support staff.

Petrino returned as a head coach in 2013 at Western Kentucky for a year before moving on to Louisville for his second stint there and then to Missouri State. He's 137-71 all-time as a head coach.

Gruden, meanwhile, has not coached in college since he was the wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh in 1991. As head coach of the NFL's Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders (two stints) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gruden went 117-112, won a Super Bowl with the Bucs and led the Raiders to the AFC championship game in his first run there.

Gruden's time with the Raiders ended in controversy in the wake of an NFL investigation into the Washington franchise, which revealed emails between Gruden and then-Washington general manager Bruce Allen in which Gruden used racist, misogynistic and homophobic slurs. Gruden is suing the NFL, alleging the league leaked those private emails publicly.

While he's never been a college head coach, Gruden's name has often come up in high-profile coaching searches, especially in the SEC.

Favre's endorsement aside -- again with no affiliation to the Razorbacks -- there's no telling if Gruden is on Arkansas' list of potential candidates for the position, but the fun of college football coaching searches is all the buzz and fodder that comes with it.