Well, now what?

Gus Malzahn, who was most definitely Arkansas’ top head coaching prospect, decided Sunday evening to stay at Auburn.

Razorbacks fans were getting excited about the possibility that Malzahn might leave the plains to return back to his roots. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.

But all is not lost for the Hogs. There are plenty of quality coaching candidates Arkansas could look to next.

One that comes to mind immediately is Memphis head coach Mike Norvell.

Norvell led the Tigers to a 10-2 record this season and a spot in the AAC Championship Game on Saturday. The Tigers gave undefeated UCF all it wanted before falling 62-55 in an overtime thriller.

Last year, in Norvell’s first season, Memphis went 8-5.

The name may be familiar to many people in the Natural State. Norvell played wide receiver for Central Arkansas from 2001 to 2005. He also served as a graduate assistant at UCA in 2006.

Perhaps even more importantly, Norvell developed ties while coaching at Tulsa from 2007 through 2010. That could be a key pipeline for the Razorbacks, as Tulsa is only about a two-hour trek from Fayetteville.

Some other names that could be on the Hogs’ radar — Lane Kiffin, Brent Venables and Chad Morris.

Norvell, though, seems like the perfect fit.