After a month of firing Sam Pittman, Arkansas finds itself competing against a group of fish on a small pond, especially now that Florida and LSU are in the hunt, too. For now, their interim head coach Bobby Petrino remains their only confirmed candidate to take over the full-time role, but losing back-to-back games hasn’t exactly strengthened his case. In the midst of all that, Razorbacks also lost a key HC candidate for a contract extension.

After leading his team to a 5-3 record and the college football playoffs last season, Rhett Lashlee was grabbing a lot of eyes from other teams. But SMU made sure that Rhett Lashlee stayed hooked on the program. Even if it means taking a hit to the wallet. As per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger’s update, X: “Rhett Lashlee and SMU are finalizing a 2-year extension and raise to make him one of the top-10 highest-paid coaches in the country, sources tell @YahooSports. In his fourth season, Lashlee is 34-15 and led the Mustangs to the CFP last season. He’s fielded interest from other jobs.” Looks like Arkansas has to wait much longer than they expected.

Well, the push to get Rhett Lashlee makes sense, as this man first came into SMU in 2021 after they lost Sonny Dykes to TCU, after which Lashlee led them to back-to-back 11-3 seasons in 2023 and 2024. Last year they were the 12th-ranked team in the AP poll. That success with his ties with Fayetteville makes him a perfect candidate for Arkansas. After this contract extension, he’s not just tied with the Mustangs till the 2032 season but also cannot join other programs.

For now Lashlee is the no. 64th-highest-paid coach in college football, and this year he’s set to earn $2.47 million, not including bonuses. So, after the contract extension, the numbers might go up even more.

This isn’t the first time a program signed an extension with their coaches to keep them tied with them. Especially after teams like Arkansas, Penn State, LSU, and Florida are all looking for one. First Nebraska signed a contract extension with Matt Rhule, and then the Indiana Hoosiers even signed a long-term deal with Curt Cignetti so that he doesn’t look for other options. Now, SMU did the same with Lashlee.

But even he denied the rumors of him joining Arkansas completely. “I don’t stand anywhere on speculation and hypotheticals,” Lashlee said. “I’m happy; I’ve got a great job. I think when your name gets linked to jobs, it means your team has done well and the program has done well. So it’s a compliment to what our staff and administration and players have built over the last three-plus years. Then a lot of times there are obvious connections. 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.”

Now, after Rhett Lashlee’s denial, James Franklin becomes Arkansas’s ultimate choice.

Arkansas making push towards James Franklin

After a 2-6 record in the league, Arkansas doesn’t just need a head coach; they need a person who can turn the program completely. Now, many names keep surfacing from South Florida, from Alex Golesh to Tulane Sumrall and North Texas’s Eric Morris. But one hot name among them is James Franklin, whose elite recruiting ability and 128-60 overall record show consistency.

So if they get James Franklin on board, Arkansas knows exactly what they are getting: 8-10 wins, big-time bowl trips, and a total culture reset. And Franklin’s track record speaks for itself, as he has won double-digit games in half of his 12 years at Penn State and has taken his team to 8 New Year’s Six Bowls, winning four of them.

Before that, he did wonders at Vanderbilt, leading them to back-to-back nine-win seasons, which became a dream for them until Clark Lea took the reins. But despite all this success, the only concern remains his 4-21 mark against top 10 teams, which ended his career with Penn State.

Yet reports suggest that Arkansas booster Tyson Foods’ John Tyson is making a serious push for Franklin, and just so you know, they already tried getting him once back in 2012, but this time he might finally say yes to the role. Let’s wait and see if Franklin actually makes his way to Arkansas or another coach takes over the reins.