Arkansas football is in the midst of a 2-9 season. After being blown out at home by Notre Dame on September 27, dropping the team to 2-3 on the year, Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman. Now, the Razorbacks are rumored to be zeroing in on their next head coach, looking to hire Alex Golesh from USF.
According to Trey Schapp of 103.7 The Buzz out of Arkansas, Golesh has accepted an offer to be the next coach of the Arkansas program. While it has not been confirmed by Golesh or the university, it seems the coach will be leaving the South Florida program and heading to the SEC.
Golesh has been the head coach of South Florida since the 2023 season. He turned around a program that had been struggling. USF was 4-29 in three years under Jeff Scott before they hired Golesh. The program had not made a bowl game since the 2018 season under Charlie Strong. Golesh is 22-15 in his time with the Bulls, and has been to a bowl game in each of his first two years, plus the team is bowl-bound this campaign.
This season has been one of the best in the history of South Florida. The team started 2-0 with upsets over Boise State and Florida. They are now 8-3 on the season, and could win nine games for the first time since 2017 with a win over Rice in Week 14.
Golesh has prior SEC experience, as he was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2021 and 2022. He followed Josh Heupel to Tennessee after spending time at UCF together. The Volunteers' offense instantly improved with Golesh, which led to him landing the job at South Florida.
Rhett Lashlee, the head coach at SMU and a former Arkansas quarterback, has been rumored as a potential target for the Razorbacks. It seems he will be staying with the Mustangs. Meanwhile, former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino has been the interim coach since Pittman was fired. He was 34-17 in his first stint with Arkansas, but is 0-6 as the interim coach.
Petrino will now have a new boss at Arkansas if Golesh keeps him on the staff. Meanwhile, Golesh will look to turn around Arkansas just like he did in South Florida, assuming he is confirmed as the new head coach.
