Report: Gus Malzahn to be offered his ‘dream job’ at Arkansas
By Keith Farner
Published:
Arkansas’ reported pursuit of Gus Malzahn has been rumored for weeks, but now that the opening is official, friends close to Malzahn have reached a “moment of truth” according to Mike Irwin.
Friends of Malzahn have told Irwin for years that the Arkansas job is Malzahn’s dream job, and if that’s true, its “about to be offered.”
The Malzahn-to-Arkansas chances have cooled in recent weeks following big wins over Georgia and Alabama, and if Auburn makes the College Football Playoff, they could be all but dead. With the Georgia win, it broke a six-game losing streak to top-10 teams that dated to 2014 for Malzahn who appeared to silence critics who said he was often out-coached in big games.
During a guest spot on The Paul Finebaum Show two weeks ago, Arkansas writer Wally Hall pegged the chances of Arkansas offering the job to Malzahn at 75 to 80 percent, if he’s not in the CFP.
“But he would weigh all those options,” Hall said. “I think Gus loves Arkansas, it’s his home. But he’s not going to have as many weapons to work with. Arkansas is automatically handicapped in recruiting. If the University of Arkansas takes more than eight players in-state, they’re having a bad year. The state does not produce many high D-I players, certainly not SEC caliber.”
“… But I think they have to consider Gus. His success speaks for itself. Homegrown guy. I think it’ll come down to the decision would be squarely in his corner.”
Friends of Gus Malzahn have been trying to convince me for 10 years that he's a Razorback at heart and will accept his "dream job" anytime it's offered. Well, it's about to be offered. We'll know in a few days if they know him as well as they think they do. #momentoftruth
— Mike Irwin (@MikeIrwinPTN) November 29, 2017
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
