Last night, Arkansas dismissed their football coach Bobby
Petrino after his motorcycle incident and other activities while in
Fayetteville. This leaves the Razorbacks
looking for a new coach and a name that appeared quickly on the rumor mill was
Coach Skip Holtz (Bruce Feldman among others mentioned his name would be on the
short list of candidates for the position).
For those who don't know about Holtz's connections to
Arkansas, it all starts with his father, Lou, who was the head coach for 7
years and took the team to an Orange Bowl and ranked them in the AP top 11
several times during his tenure. Skip
actually went to junior high and high school for several years in Fayetteville
and graduated from high school there.
So would Skip leave USF?
For one, Arkansas has the money to increase his salary, has a loaded
team, is centered in a strong recruiting area and the allure of the SEC could
persuade him, if Arkansas picks up the phone.
If Skip were to leave, he would owe USF $500,000 to opt out of his
contract (per Auman) and would leave USF hurting. It would force Doug Woolard to begin a
coaching search in April, not the most ideal situation for anyone.
Arkansas will have plenty of options for the new head coach
as they begin their search (could go to interim coach for the season, but may
not want to do that). Other names like Gus
Malzahn will emerge in the search and Arkansas will go after the coach they
feel can take them to a BCS bowl.
The Bulls will have a practice today as they prepare for the
upcoming spring game on Saturday and the question about Arkansas is bound to be
asked during his interview. Holtz has
always been good at diffusing the rumor mills and will so again, but we will
all be watching the coaching search to see which path Arkansas may go.
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