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Arkansas Football: 5 potential head coach replacements for Bret Bielema

By Connor Muldowney

OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Mike Norvell of the Memphis Tigers reacts during the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Mike Norvell of the Memphis Tigers reacts during the first half of a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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It didn’t take long after Friday night’s loss to Missouri for Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema to learn he was fired as head coach.

Sometimes coaching college football is a tough business. Actually, scratch that, coaching college football is always a tough business. It’s also a business that can be cold as ice, just ask former Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema.

As he was walking off the field on Friday evening with a loss to Missouri under his belt to end the season, he was informed that he’d no longer be the head coach of the Razorbacks. He had just finished with his second-worst season in his five-year tenure and had been on the hot seat for weeks leading up to the firing.

Leaving Wisconsin and three straight Big Ten titles for the SEC turned out to be the wrong move for the head coach, but hindsight is 20/20, right?

With Arkansas now looking for a new head coach, here are five guys to keep in mind who could replace Bielema in Fayetteville.

5. Jeremy Pruitt, Alabama defensive coordinator

One of the best defenses in college football, arguably the best, has been Alabama’s for the past decade since Nick Saban has been in charge. No, Arkansas isn’t going to be able to reel Saban away from Tuscaloosa, but they could go after one of his assistants.

Jeremy Pruitt has led that incredible defense over the past two years and before that he led Georgia’s defense as the coordinator. Where was he before that? Helping to lead Florida State’s defense to a national title in 2013.

Pruitt is a winner and he would continue to be such in Fayetteville. Would Pruitt hold out for a more prestigious opening elsewhere or would he jump at the first opportunity for a head coaching job with Arkansas? Hard to believe he was a high school coach just 11 years ago.

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