photo credit: Missouri Athletics
A lot of uncertainty surrounds the Arkansas football program at the moment.
Sam Pittman is out and Bobby Petrino is in as the interim coach, but there’s no way of knowing who will be patrolling the Razorbacks’ sideline in 2026. There is even some speculation that Hunter Yurachek won’t get to make that decision because he could meet the same fate as Pittman — a la Jeff Long and Bret Bielema.
What is certain, though, is that seven games remain in 2025, starting with a road trip to No. 15 Tennessee on Oct. 11.
Petrino will still be calling plays on offense, but Arkansas’ defensive staff will look completely different with only one holdover (Nick Perry), two staffers promoted to on-field positions (Chris Wilson and Che Hendrix) and an open spot.
A former defensive coordinator at Colorado and Mississippi State, Wilson will take over play-calling duties on that side of the ball and have a say in who fills that last position on the temporary staff.
Arkansas Assistant Coach Candidates
On Monday, Best of Arkansas Sports brought up the possibility of Todd Grantham filling that spot.
He’s a bit of a controversial coach who’s experienced mediocre-at-best results at his last few stops, but he has an obvious connection to Bobby Petrino thanks to his time as the defensive coordinator at Louisville from 2014-16.
Those just so happened to be Petrino’s three best seasons in his second stint with the Cardinals, as they went a combined 26-13 with a pair of top-25 finishes. Their defense ranked in the top 40 nationally in scoring each year.
That isn’t Grantham’s only tie to the current staff, though. Since publishing our story Monday, we’ve learned that interim defensive coordinator Chris Wilson was the defensive line coach at Georgia in 2013 when Grantham was the defensive coordinator.
Arkansas may want to avoid the unsavory optics of bringing in someone who was fired as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator the same day Pittman was dismissed, though. If that’s the case, here are a few other names of coaches who have ties to Wilson and may be available to fill in for a partial season:
Geoff Collins: This is the biggest name on the list. The former Temple and Georgia Tech head coach was the co-defensive coordinator alongside Wilson at Mississippi State from 2011-12. He’s currently working at South Carolina, but only as a senior defensive assistant, so he may want to jump at the opportunity to get back on the field.
Ken Flajole: Another coach currently working in an off-field capacity, Flajole is a senior defensive analyst at Stanford. He worked with Wilson in Philadelphia, serving as the Eagles’ linebackers coach while Wilson coached the defensive line from 2016-18.
Jeff Smart: A former standout linebacker at Colorado, Smart returned to his alma mater first as a quality control coach before being promoted to inside linebackers coach on an interim basis following an in-season coaching change — one that ironically included Wilson being fired as the Buffaloes’ defensive coordinator. According to his LinkedIn, though, he is no longer in football and has been working in sales for four months.
Mark Smith: This name should ring a bell to Arkansas fans, as he was an assistant under Chad Morris. He coached cornerbacks with the Razorbacks, but was an inside linebackers coach at Colorado, where he worked under Wilson. However, he is currently a head coach and athletics director at a high school in Texas, so probably isn’t looking to jump to a college job mid-season.
Former Hog a Possibility?
Of course, we could be putting too much thought into all of this.
While each of those coaches have a linebacker background, which is presumably what Arkansas is looking for, Bobby Petrino didn’t rule out finding someone to help with the defensive line. In that scenario, Chris Wilson would presumably handle the linebackers — a position he has some experience coaching.
And a much more obvious option exists to help out up front and he would check more than one box: Alfred Davis.
A four-year letterman as a defensive tackle for the Razorbacks, Davis most recently coached the defensive line at Missouri. He worked for Eli Drinkwitz from 2021 until stepping down for personal reasons in May.
Not only was he a key piece of the Tigers’ staff from an on-field perspective, Davis was also a touted recruiter who played a major role in Drinkwitz strengthening his in-roads into the Natural State for recruiting purposes.
It helps that he was a contributor at Arkansas, playing three seasons for Petrino before becoming a team captain under John L. Smith in 2012. The Georgia native appeared in 49 total games, including 16 starts, and finished his career with 78 tackles. Then, before returning to his alma mater as a graduate assistant, Davis worked as a volunteer assistant at Fayetteville High. On top of that, he has family in Pine Bluff.
The exact reason for Davis stepping down is unknown, but he is back on the sidelines now as an assistant at Rock Bridge High in Columbia, Mo. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think he’d want to get back into the SEC, especially under his former coach and where he once played.
His addition could also serve a practical advantage for the Razorbacks when it comes to their season finale against Missouri. Even if it’s obvious by then that he won’t be the full-time coach, Petrino would probably like to go out on a high note with a win that could propel Arkansas into its next era, sort of like how it capped a 5-7 campaign with a dramatic win over LSU in his first season.
Davis would have an intimate knowledge of the Tigers’ defensive front and at least some familiarity with other position groups after going through spring ball. Coupled with any intel wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield could provide on his former teammates, that could give the Razorbacks a slight edge in the Thanksgiving weekend matchup in Fayetteville.
After all, the only time Arkansas has beaten its neighbor to the north over the last nine meetings was in 2021, when its defense was led by multiple former Tigers – defensive coordinator Barry Odom, linebackers coach Michael Scherer, defensive end Tre Williams and defensive tackle Markell Utsey.
Regardless of how the Razorbacks play down the stretch and who they hire as their next coach, a win over Missouri would give fans something to be excited about.
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Surprising Houston Nutt Admission
Something the former Arkansas football coach said on 103.7 The Buzz this week perfectly illustrates what the next coach – and next athletics director, if a move is made with Hunter Yurachek – must fix:
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