Let the Rumors Fly: Will Any Current (or Former) Hogs' Coaches Be in Annual Carousel?

With openings beginning, some current and maybe some Arkansas names will be in mix

Nothing fires up the rumor mill like coaching changes and now they're starting before Halloween.

Texas Tech joined the party Monday, firing Matt Wells after two-plus seasons and not a lot of wins.

The carousel has started and Ed Orgeron is riding the lead horse seeing who joins him.

LSU and Orgeron agreed last week to hire somebody else, but Ed could finish out the year. He promptly took the Tigers to Oxford (where he was dumped nearly a decade ago) and lost, 31-17. It wasn't that close.

Things didn't go well for Ed Orgeron against Ole Miss last Saturday :: Justin Ford/USA TODAY Images

Nick Rolovich at Washington State was fired last week, too, after choosing to not get the COVID vaccination.

The Red Raiders' vacancy has already dragged a couple of names with recent Razorback ties into the conversation.

Of course the first name floated out there was former Baylor coach Art Briles, who is not doing much this year. The NCAA basically cleared him of the whole mess in Waco, but he's probably never going to be a serious candidate for a Power 5 job again.

No, that's a debate for others to have.

His son, however, is one of the names that popped up in the rumor mill. Kendal Briles has no particular ties ties to the Red Raiders so unless he is what they have to settle for that's probably not going to happen.

Texas-San Antonio coach Jeff Traylor as running backs coach at Arkansas / Andy Hodges

The biggest names that pop into consideration are former Hogs running backs coach Jeff Traylor, who has gotten everyone's attention with a startling turnaround at Texas-San Antonio.

Traylor has deep ties to East Texas (he coached and won state titles at Gilmer) and that area has produced a lot of really good players for decades.

The other name that is obvious is SMU coach Sonny Dykes, the son of legendary Tech coach Spike Dykes.

Those last two guys might be the odds-on favorites. Dykes was the wide receivers coach for Mike Leach in Lubbock and, obviously, has some deep roots growing up there, then playing baseball for the Red Raiders.

But the guess — for now — is those are the first names being thrown at the wall.

It may be awhile before we see what sticks.

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