Most likely candidates for Arkansas’ next offensive coordinator
It has been a little over one month since Dan Enos was fired as Arkansas offensive coordinator.
With Hunter Yurachek confirming that Sam Pittman’s job is safe for at least one more season, he is, once again, tasked with making the most crucial hiring decision of his head coaching career. It’s a familiar position for Pittman to be in after the Hogs needed to fill both coordinator positions last offseason.
Following the dismissal of Enos, Kenny Guiton was promoted to interim offensive coordinator after serving as wide receivers coach the past two seasons. There was a lot of momentum to remove the interim tag and give Guiton the job after Arkansas went into Gainesville and beat Florida for the first time in program history.
However, that momentum has largely evaporated after the Razorback offense put up just 10 and 14 points, respectively, in their final two games against SEC competition. Sam Pittman has to make a splash with this hire to rejuvenate the fanbase and get some momentum for the program. Promoting Guiton wouldn’t accomplish that.
With Guiton likely being out of the running, here’s a list of names that fans should keep an eye on going forward. It’s very possible one of these guys could be Arkansas’ next offensive coordinator.
Buster Faulkner - Georgia Tech offensive coordinator
Faulkner, 42, was mentioned quite a bit last offseason, and is being linked to various job openings once again. The pique in interest comes after Faulkner’s one year running Georgia Tech’s offense and the team taking a huge leap in statistical output from last season.
In 2022, the Yellow Jackets averaged 324.8 yards of total offense (115th in FBS) and just 17.2 points per game (125th in FBS). Under Faulkner, they’re averaging 429.1 yards of offense (34th in FBS) and 31.2 points per game (43rd in FBS).
Before taking the offensive coordinator job at Georgia Tech, Faulkner was a quality control assistant at Georgia under Kirby Smart. It was widely believed that if Georgia’s offensive coordinator Todd Monken ever left, Faulkner would’ve been his replacement. Unfortunately for Bulldogs fans, Monken didn’t leave for the NFL until after Faulker was already at Georgia Tech.
Faulkner has pretty solid connections to the state of Arkansas as well. He served as a quarterbacks coach at Central Arkansas in 2009 and was offensive coordinator at Arkansas State from 2016-2018 under Blake Anderson. Given those connections and experience in the state, Faulkner should be considered one of best candidates for the job.
Brennan Marion - UNLV offensive coordinator
One of the most popular up-and-coming coaches in all of college football is Brennan Marion. Marion, 36, is the mastermind behind the “Go-Go Offense” and has had success with it everywhere he’s been so far.
The “Go-Go Offense” is an uptempo offense designed to run the ball using spacing and tempo to get favorable match-ups. It creates a lot of one-on-ones for receivers, which can easily be taken advantage of. The signature of Marion’s offense is something we saw Arkansas try for a play against Missouri on Friday – the quarterback lines up in shotgun with two backs to the same side of the quarterback.
Marion was hired as UNLV’s offensive coordinator by Barry Odom this past offseason following Bobby Petrino’s two-week stint in Vegas. This season, UNLV averaged 424.3 yards of offense (40th in the FBS) and 35.6 points per game (19th in the FBS).
While he doesn’t have direct connections to Arkansas or Pittman, landing Marion would be getting one of college football’s brightest young minds to run the offense and could be exactly what the Razorbacks need.
Willy Korn - Liberty offensive coordinator
Another popular up-and-coming name in college football coaching circles is Willy Korn. Korn, 34, is a former quarterback at Clemson and has 11 years of coaching experience, including five as offensive coordinator.
Korn has followed head coach Jamey Chadwell everywhere Chadwell has gone – from Charleston Southern to Coastal Carolina and now to Liberty. At Coastal Carolina, Korn and Chadwell helped put the Chanticleers on the map and built them into a juggernaut Group of Five school from 2020 to 2022.
This season at Liberty, Korn’s offense is one of the best in the country. The Flames are averaging 498.5 yards per game (5th in the FBS) and 40.1 points per game (6th in the FBS).
Korn doesn’t have any connections to Arkansas and has spent his entire career in the southeast – never straying further west than his playing days at Clemson. On top of that, as mentioned previously, he’s followed Chadwell everywhere. With Chadwell being a popular name in head coaching searches for Power Five jobs, Korn may just choose to wait and follow him again.
GJ Kinne - Texas State head coach
Kinne, 34, is another up-and-coming coach who is widely considered one of college football’s rising stars. He landed the head coaching job at Texas State this past offseason after leading FCS-level Incarnate Word to a 12-2 record in 2022.
Kinne is from Gus Malzahn’s coaching tree. He played under Malzahn at Tulsa and then was hired by Chad Morris, another Malzahn disciple, at SMU in 2017. Kinne actually came to Fayetteville as an offensive analyst for Morris’ first year as Arkansas head coach in 2018. Though, he would leave for a job in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles that offseason.
Running a Malzahn-esque spread offense, Kinne’s Texas State team is averaging 470.8 yards per game (10th in the FBS) and 36.0 points per game (16th in the FBS) in just his first year at the helm. He also completely reinvented the Bobcats’ roster through the transfer portal in the offseason, which shouldn’t be overlooked in today’s college football.
Given his connections with Arkansas, Kinne would make sense, but would he take a demotion in title? That’s unlikely, even it came with a significant pay raise or promises of being the head coach later on down the road. If Pittman were to land Kinne, though, it would be just the home run hire many fans were hoping for.
Bryan Ellis - Georgia Southern offensive coordinator
Bryan Ellis, 35, is a name that Arkansas fans might not remember but they should. Ellis was the offensive coordinator for Western Kentucky in 2019, when the Ty Storey-led Hilltoppers came into Fayetteville and embarrassed the Razorbacks, 45-19.
Under Ellis’ watch, Western Kentucky touted one of the most prolific offenses in the country until his departure in 2022. Ellis left the Hilltoppers to become Georgia Southern’s offensive coordinator under Clay Helton. Over the past two seasons, Ellis has made significant strides in improving the Eagles’ offense.
This year, Georgia Southern averaged 422.5 yards per game (43rd in the FBS) and 30.9 points per game (44th in the FBS). Ellis’ scheme is similar to Kendal Briles’ RPO spread offense and prioritizes tempo to wear down the defense. He’s said in interviews that he strives to run around 80 plays per game and wants to maintain a healthy balance on the ground and through the air.
If Pittman wants to go the route that made Arkansas’ offense successful in 2021 and 2022, then Ellis is a good hire in that regard. Even if he doesn’t end up as the next offensive coordinator, Western Kentucky beating the Hogs in 2019 ended the Chad Morris era in Fayetteville. Razorback fans can thank him for his role in that, at least.
Sean Lewis - former Colorado offensive coordinator
Sean Lewis, 37, is a name that has been brought up by numerous Razorback fans on social media. A big reason for that is because from 2018-2022, Lewis was the mastermind behind one of the most creative and innovative offenses while serving as Kent State’s head coach.
His offensive scheme is a more aggressive version of the modern spread, RPO-heavy offenses. It’s similar to the offense that Arkansas ran with Kendal Briles but with a more evolved and, again, aggressive spin.
Following the 2022 season, Lewis joined Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado as offensive coordinator. In a move that perplexed many across college football, Sanders demoted Lewis to an analyst role halfway through the season. That move came despite Lewis’ offense averaging 32.1 points per game and scoring 40 points in four of their first eight games.
Lewis is not just a name that Razorback fans have mentioned, he’s one of the hottest commodities across the country. His name is being attached to potential head coaching vacancies, meaning he might not be interested in just a coordinator position.
Also, Lewis has only coached at midwestern programs and primarily in the MAC, a far cry from coaching in the south and in SEC territory.
Bobby Petrino - Texas A&M offensive coordinator
Come with me as we enter dreamland.
In an alternate universe, one such as dreamland, Bobby Petrino would be a perfect candidate for the vacant offensive coordinator position. University bylaws that could prevent a return aside, he checks all the boxes of having an innovative and creative offensive philosophy, vast amounts of head coaching and SEC experience and has a history with the Arkansas program.
Unfortunately, Petrino’s history with Arkansas is exactly why this reunion will never happen. His infamous dismissal in 2012 began a decade-plus worth of headache and heartbreak for the football program.
Even then, one search of social media and Petrino’s name is still popular among a large segment of the Razorback fanbase. Whether it’s for an assistant coaching vacancy or a potential future head coaching vacancy, his name is one of the first to come up. The reason for that is simple, the 62-year old still knows how to orchestrate a high-powered and effective offense at the highest level of college football.
What more fitting of an ending could Razorback fans dream up than this: the man responsible for the program’s last decade of struggles, makes a triumphant return to help right this sinking ship once and for all.
It’s a fantasy fit for Hollywood and will remain that way barring some legal, and divine, intervention. But if the sports world has taught us anything, it’s to never say never.
