Arkansas Football: 3 reasons Rich Rodriguez should be next head coach

With Arkansas football’s coaching search well under way, Rich Rodriguez is a name that should be kicked around the meeting room, and here’s why.

Rich Rodriguez isn’t a name that shot to the top of anyone’s leader board when talking about a possible hire to be the next head coach at the University of Arkansas. Considering what the Arkansas job is, that should be a call the Razorbacks administration make to see if he’s interested.

The question that needs to be answered by anyone involved in the hiring process is “how exactly do they see the job?”

Here are some facts about Arkansas: they haven’t played for a conference championship since 2006 and haven’t won 10 games since 2011. Arkansas hasn’t won a conference championship since they’ve been part of the SEC; their last conference title was when they were part of the old Southwest Conference in 1989 under head coach Ken Hatfield.

The high-water mark in the 21st century for the Razorbacks was the Bobby Petrino era. In his four years in Fayetteville, Petrino won 10 games twice played in three bowl games, and won the Cotton Bowl in 2011.

Arkansas is an out-of-the-way Power Five job. The state doesn’t produce a host of Power Five-level football talent, but when the Razorbacks are good, they can get into St. Louis, Memphis, Texas and Louisiana to get good players. Odds are you won’t win a national title at Arkansas.

On the balance of the SEC West division the Razorbacks will always fight Mississippi State and Ole Miss for the top of the bottom tier of the division. However, the Razorbacks can recruit well enough to go to a bowl game every year, and cycle up every four or five years to win nine or 10 games. That’s the job.

This isn’t the type of coaching job that will attract a sitting Power Five coach or an elite former coach in most cases. Matt Campbell won’t leave Iowa State for this job. Urban Meyer is every fanbase’s dream not named Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama or Oklahoma — Michigan, too, but for different reasons. Truth is, you won’t get Meyer.

Some might say well Bret Bielema left Wisconsin for Arkansas; he did, and realized the mistake he made. If he’d stayed put, Bielema probably is still there winning 9-10 games every year and going to the Rose Bowl.

Arkansas’ best bet is to go for a retread that’s looking to get back in the game. The Razorbacks could go with the young hot coordinator — there aren’t many — or the young Group of Five coach. Arkansas is so unique, however, it needs a coach who isn’t going to leave after their first nine or 10-win season for the elite Power Five job. They need someone who’s going to stay for a decade and establish something. They need to find someone like David Cutcliffe at Duke who has no desire to leave.

Even closer to Arkansas, someone like Jackie Sherrill who coached Mississippi State for over a decade.

This is why Rodriguez is a good candidate for the job and here are three more reasons.