The Arkansas coaching search is moving forward with all the usual intrigue. However, there’s another layer to this search that doesn’t get discussed as much. The money involved in the coaching makes the Arkansas job both incredibly attractive and uniquely complicated. But money like that doesn’t come without strings attached.​

Josh Pate laid out the reality of Arkansas’ situation on his show on November 16, calling it “the great catch-22 of head coaching searches at Arkansas.” He wasn’t being critical, just honest about what happens when you’ve got companies like Walmart, Tyson Foods, and JB Hunt in your backyard. 

“The Arkansas job could be a rocket ship if the JB Hunts and the Tysons and the Walmarts are on board,” Pate explained. “And that means fully infusing the program with cash. That’s what it means to be on board there.” Northwest Arkansas is home to the headquarters of all three corporate giants. It’s one of the most concentrated pockets of wealth in college football. 

Here’s where things get tricky, though. Pate spelled out the catch-22: “When big money invests in your program, they want oversight. They want ‘say so’ in your program.” It’s not an unreasonable ask, really. If you’re writing checks that help fund million-dollar coaching salaries and NIL operations, you want some say in who’s running the show. 

The problem, as Pate pointed out, is that these successful businesspeople “did not make their money by coaching football or being associated with college athletics in any way. They made it by selling chicken. They made it by building a trucking conglomerate. They made it selling things wholesale. They didn’t make it by coaching offensive lines. And yet they want input on people who are going to do such things.”​

Right now, Bobby Petrino, the interim HC, is easily the frontrunner in the coaching search. However, with these conglomerates involved in the decision-making and Bobby’s past ties to Arkansas, his chances might dwindle. Moreover, the donor involvement in Arkansas is already deeply embedded in how the program operates. The JB Hunt family established a non-profit NIL collective back in 2022 to help Arkansas athletes secure endorsement deals. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Tyson Foods Board Chairman John Tyson have also publicly committed to supporting the program through extensive sponsorships. 

Fans have even joked on message boards about flying Walmart flags in their yards if the retail giant would become a massive NIL donor. The infrastructure is there, the willingness is there, but as Pate suggested, the current search is likely “operating under those kinds of parameters where you’re asking for big money to be involved. Big money wants a say in who’s going to get hired here.”

Pate acknowledged the inherent tension without condemning anyone involved. “It’s not even unfair as a concept. Hey, if I’m giving you millions of dollars, I’m not just writing the blank check and saying, ‘Let me know how you spend it.’ So, I get it. I get it.” But then came the wistful part: “It’s just sometimes, in like a utopian college football sense, you wish people knew what they don’t know, but that’s not realistic.” 

That’s the reality Arkansas is navigating right now. It’s a tightrope walk, and the next few weeks will reveal whether Arkansas can pull it off or if the catch-22 will complicate things in ways that send their top targets elsewhere.​​

Pate’s Pick for Fayetteville

Josh Pate finally revealed who he thinks Arkansas should hire. After tweeting Friday that he had a candidate in mind, causing some to speculate he meant Ed Orgeron, Pate cleared the air. 

He said, “I was talking about Golesh down at South Florida.” Alex Golesh, the 41-year-old head coach who’s turned USF into a legitimate threat with his upset wins over Florida and Boise State this year. Pate’s been beating this drum for a while, and his reasoning goes deeper than just Golesh’s on-field success. “When I look at Arkansas, okay, my opinion of Arkansas is I’ve got to have someone with an edge. I’ve got to have someone who’s innovative. I’ve got to have someone who knows the league. I’ve got to have someone who has the ability to capture the imagination of the fan base and the donor base and someone who can attack Dallas in recruiting,” Pate explained. In his mind, Golesh checks every single box.​

The fit makes sense when you dig into Golesh’s resume. He spent two years as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. That SEC experience matters, especially when you’re trying to recruit against Texas, Alabama, and the rest of the conference’s heavyweights. 

But it’s more than credentials for Pate. “There’s an attitude that he carries himself with that I think would fit perfectly at Arkansas. There’s a level of offensive innovation. There’s an understanding of the league from his time at Tennessee. And there is a relentlessness in that I don’t think that guy would be denied until he got the infusion of donor support he needs there,” he said. 

That last part might be the most important. If the donors support Golesh with the money and also give him autonomy, then it’s just a matter of time before Arkansas is back on the map.