At this point it’s hard to criticize Blake Anderson too heavily, especially against his predecessor coaches. The Red Wolves head coaching seat used to be a revolving door, with Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin all spending a single year in Jonesboro on their way to bigger opportunities.
Anderson is a local boy, having been born in the city, but he is not an alumnus with too much attachment to the campus. With two Sun Belt championships and a division co-championship last year, the Red Wolves have been consistently competitive under Anderson. They have gone bowling all five seasons with Anderson at the helm, and they are likely to at least match that again in 2019.
But if Anderson can get the offense up to speed, as they showed glimpses of doing this spring, the Red Wolves will likely be a favorite to take the Sun Belt West this season. Now seven years removed from their last 10-win season, getting to that threshold would be a huge boon for Anderson.
Arkansas State won’t ditch Anderson by any means even if they fail to reach a bowl game. But they could lose him this year to a bigger opportunity if he can string together some big wins, including a takedown of one or both of rising AAC middleweight SMU and College Football Playoff contender Georgia.