Arkansas has parted ways with Sam Pittman, and a search remains for a new and permanent head coach. USF head coach Alex Golesh’s name has repeatedly come up for the SEC job. Golesh has a familiar SEC background at Tennessee, and along with his 7-2 record this year, makes for an ideal candidate. But if the move doesn’t happen, CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello has touted another coach ready for the move.

Marcello appeared on the ‘Chuck and Bo’ show’s November 13th episode and spoke about North Texas’ Eric Morris coming to Arkansas. “Eric Morris at North Texas, just an incredible evaluator and understands talent. He identified Cam Ward brought him in at Washington State. John Mateer got him at Washington State. And now he’s got a quarterback at North Texas that’s breaking records that wasn’t even playing high school football just a few years ago,” said Marcello. Morris has an illustrious resume to back his case.

The 4o year old is in his 3rd season at UNT and has suffered just one defeat this season. That, too, against Alex Golesh’s USF. Despite that, Morris has bested teams like Washington State (59-10), Army, and most recently, Navy. Moreover, doing that with a freshman QB, Drew Mestemaker, is a huge feat in itself. As such, a job in Arkansas seems like the right step forward for Eric Morris.

The QB whisperer is also a proven offensive genius. Why? Morris was the one who recruited Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech as the team’s OC. The Littlefield, Texas native also brought 1st overall pick, Cam Ward, and current Oklahoma QB, John Mateer, to Washington State. The choices then pay off, too. Morris’s air raid offenses consistently rank in the top-10 nationally in yards/points.

That surely will benefit Arkansas, not to mention that the program will also get Morris’s deep Texas recruiting ties. Morris currently earns $1.4 million annually at North Texas after the program extended his contract till 2029 in October 2025. Since Arkansas was paying $6 million annually to Pittman, giving a much higher package to Morris should easily be the motivator to switch camps. That said, Morris’s not the only name Marcello highlighted.

Brandon Marcello highlights a controversial head coach for the Arkansas job amid Alex Golesh moves

Arkansas, right now, is under an interim head coach, Bobby Petrino. But Petrino hasn’t been able to turn around the season. The team has lost all its games since Pittman’s firing and sits with a 2-7 season so far. Moreover, with the Razorbacks yet to face LSU, Texas, and Missouri, a win seems quite unlikely. Turning around from the setback might need a familiar coach, someone who might still be quite controversial among Arkansas’ fans.

“I’ll throw a wild card out there that I’m not certain he even wants to be head coach anymore. And I know a lot of this will divide a lot of Arkansas fans. But I’d say Gus Malzahn, there he is. Because he’s an Arkansas guy. I think if you were to give him serious consideration, if he wanted to do it, I think he would pour his heart and soul into the place. He loves this place, and I think he would still do a very good,” said Brandon Marcello.

Arkansas fans have had a troubling history with Malzahn. Apart from playing for Arkansas as a wide receiver and coaching as their OC in 2006, Malzahn had no direct connection with the Razorbacks. But the fans had accused Malzhan of snubbing the Razorbacks job several times for getting Auburn raises, which still carries the bad blood. But since Alex Golesh, Arkansas’s favorite coaching candidate is also being eyed by Oklahoma State, the Razorbacks have thin choices.

“Would you believe me if I told you? I really don’t think it is. Like I’ve been so crazy transparent in every single aspect of our program. The only thing that we have talked about as a program is being right here, right now, like be where your feet are,” said Golesh, denying moving to another job wherever he is linked. So, can we see Malzahn back at Arkansas?

Currently, though, Malzahn is out of the head coaching world and is the OC for Florida State. But because of the bad blood, it may not come to fruition. That said, Malzahn has revived FSU’s offense, which is ranked 3rd nationally, accumulating 493.8 yards per game.