Smoke or Fire? Coaches Who've Been Named in the Arkansas Coaching Search

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Arkansas is now on day 11 of their basketball head coaching search and several names have been reported as potential candidates for the job so far.

The questions no one, besides AD Hunter Yurachek and the board of trustees, has the answers to are: Who are the top candidates? Who has actually been contacted? Who has been interviewed? Who has either turned down or been passed over for the job?

A week into the search, there's been a lot of smoke and rumors, but there's also been a bit of credible info leaking out.

Last Updated: April 5, 2019, 11:30 a.m.

Fire: Marshall and the Shockers lost in the NIT Tuesday night, so he's now got the time to focus on his future and new job opportunities. That's really all we know here for sure so far, there haven't been any reports stating that Arkansas has for sure reached out.

Smoke: The only smoke here so far is that he'd obviously be a top candidate if interested. The search has been very quiet, so if Yurachek was targeting him heavily already it would make sense that we didn't hear much about him while the Shockers were still competing.

A lot of buzz started up Wednesday night and continued into Thursday about Arkansas contacting Gregg Marshall in some way but no one has confirmed that yet. A couple private flights from Arkansas to Wichita have been recorded in the last 24 hours but all the noise coming out of that has been negative so far, not positive, leading fans to believe Marshall is now not likely to take a deal with the Hogs.

Fire: We know Eric Musselman was/is another candidate contacted about the Arkansas job. Arkansas media was all over it, Nevada media was all over it. What we don't know now is if talks are proceeding or if they're over. Arkansas had a press conference stage set up as if they were near making an announcement but the roll has slowed since Tuesday afternoon.

Smoke: A plane from Arkansas flew to Iowa City, then Minnesota and finally landed in Reno Monday night, so a lot of talks are happening. Some say things have gone sideways with Musselman and he's no longer in the mix. We'll be able to confirm that they aren't moving forward with him as a candidate if more names continue to pop up and this thing drags out.

His wife told Nevada media Tuesday afternoon that he was in Reno and he doesn't have plans to leave, but this was after unconfirmed reports by Arkansas media that he was in town for an interview. Some have put out numbers on what a potential contract number would be, but again, can't confirm.

Musselman's name has started circulating again Friday with the rumors that Marshall is out.

Fire: Though we couldn't originally confirm Jeff Goodman's report from Tuesday night that Steve Alford is in the mix for the job, a source confirmed to HawgBeat that Alford was the fourth coach that Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek talked to after Musselman, McCaffrey and Pitino Monday and Tuesday. The source close to Alford's camp says the search has come down to two, Alford and another coach that has been talked to as well. The AD's communications with Alford's camp began last week.

Smoke: Alford's name hasn't been mentioned much since Wednesday so there's a good chance he'll only be considered after Chris Beard and Gregg Marshall hypothetically turn down the job.

Fire: Similar situation to Marshall. He's obviously a great candidate. If Yurachek hasn't reached out to his agent to gauge interest I'd be shocked, but the Red Raiders are still playing and in the Final Four, so I doubt we'd hear anything concrete until that run is either over or won. It's rare for a coach to go to a Final Four and then leave.

Smoke: Some fans are saying that he's the coach Yurachek wants most since the search is quiet and Tech is still playing. Most people in the know have said there's no way Beard leaves right now, so it seems like smoke that he's the top target. It would be smart to wait and negotiate if there is some interest, but not at the cost of missing out on another coach, so we'll see how fast things move.

It's now looking like the search will wrap up next week, giving the AD time to fully pitch to Beard, if that's his plan.

Fire: Iowa's Fran McCaffrey was named as a candidate along with Rick Pitino's son Richard Pitino at Minnesota. Flight records show a plane from Arkansas went to Reno, Iowa and Minnesota Monday.

Smoke: McCaffrey responded to whether he's spoken to the Hogs with a solid "no." So either he really hasn't spoken to them, or he did and he's no longer in the mix, or communication happened through an agent.

Fire: We know Sampson was a candidate to fill Mike Anderson's vacancy at Arkansas. Powerful Houston trustee Tilman Fertitta told media that they weren't going to let Arkansas out-bid them, confirming that he was contacted about the job, regardless of what Sampson said. The job opportunity caused Houston to pony up for a 6-year, 18 million dollar deal.

Smoke: We don't have any concrete evidence that the Coogs head coach was the number one candidate for the job. We've seen some well-informed, well-connected media members suggest that he was the no. 1 candidate after Yurachek fired Anderson but that info might never be confirmed by any close athletic department sources since he's now near finalizing the language of his new contract.

UPDATE: Sampson has signed his new contract with Houston.

Many fans have brought up former Ohio State coach Thad Matta, but there haven't been any solid reports that he's being interviewed or even interested, there have also been sources saying Arkansas has reached out to some lesser known, up-and-coming coaches like UNT's Grant McCasland.

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