The Arkansas Razorbacks’ coaching search is heating up after the school pulled the plug on Sam Pittman’s tenure in late September. Pittman’s six-year run in Fayetteville ended with a thud, with a humiliating 56-13 home beatdown against Notre Dame that marked their third straight loss. And now, according to On3’s Pete Nakos, the trending name in the market is a 40-year-old offensive mastermind who’s built something special down in Tampa.

Alex Golesh, the USF head coach, has his Bulls sitting at 6-1 and ranked 18th in the nation as of mid-October. What Golesh has done at USF is the story that makes you believe in coaching again. He inherited an absolute dumpster fire. USF was a program that went 1-11 in 2022 and had won just four games total over three years. And he somehow turned them into a ranked team sitting at 6-1 with upset wins over No. 25 Boise State and No. 13 Florida to start the season. 

Moreover, he’s doing it without Power Four money or resources. When Golesh signed his six-year, $2.5 million (annual) contract in December 2022, he made sure to ask then-AD Michael Kelly if they’d actually give him the resources to win. While they added $1.5 million to the assistant coach salary pool and bumped up the recruiting budget, USF still isn’t exactly swimming in cash. The athletic department has operated at a loss in two of the past five years, and they’re building their new on-campus stadium primarily through a $200 million loan they’ll be paying back for the next 20 years. 

But Golesh doesn’t make excuses. He just wins. That 34-7 beatdown of Boise State in Week 1 was a statement. His defense forced three turnovers and made a supposed playoff contender look completely outmatched. Then he followed it up by going into The Swamp and beating Florida 18-16 on a last-second field goal, proving the Boise win wasn’t a fluke. He’s done it by completely revamping the culture and installing the same fast-paced spread offense he ran at Tennessee when they led the country in scoring.​

Of course, Alex Golesh isn’t the only name floating around Fayetteville. The Razorbacks also have their eyes on SMU’s Rhett Lashlee. Lashlee is a Springdale native and former Arkansas quarterback who’s posted a 34-14 record with the Mustangs. He also led them to the College Football Playoff last season. Lashlee has the backing of Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner and Arkansas alum, whose family is pushing hard for the hire. 

Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield is another candidate getting serious consideration. He’s 48-21 at Memphis and has the Tigers rolling at 6-0 this season, though a recent loss to UAB dinged his stock a bit. And then there’s Bobby Petrino, who’s back as interim head coach after previously leading Arkansas from 2008 to 2011, when he went 34-17 before leaving in a scandal. Petrino has asked to be considered for the full-time gig, though his 0-2 start as interim hasn’t exactly strengthened his case.​

Lashlee takes himself out of the running

While the Arkansas coaching search has put names like Alex Golesh and Bobby Petrino on the radar, the one candidate most Razorbacks fans were hoping for seems to have shut the door before anyone could even knock. SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, the former Arkansas quarterback who looked like a dream hire on paper, basically told everyone to pump the brakes when he was asked about the job back in late September. 

“I don’t stand anywhere on speculation and hypotheticals,” Lashlee said during his weekly press conference. “I’m happy. I’ve got a great job. When your name gets linked to jobs, it means your team has done well, the program has done well, so it’s a compliment to what our staff, administration, and players have built over the last three-plus years.”

The 42-year-old coach wasn’t done there, either. He acknowledged the obvious connection to his alma mater but made it crystal clear where his priorities lie: “A lot of times there’s obvious connections; I mean, if it’s your alma mater, it’s easy to link names. But I haven’t given it any thought because there hasn’t been anything to give thought to. It’s a great and fair question. But I’m really excited about what we’re building here.”

That’s about as diplomatic a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ as you’ll hear in college football. Lashlee has built something special at SMU. But sometimes the prodigal son just doesn’t want to come home, and the Razorbacks need to move on.​