Arkansas State arguably might be the best job in the Sun Belt.
Yes, Louisiana-Lafayette has renewed its commitment to football with Billy Napier a flat-out coaching star on the rise and taking the Cajuns' program along with him at this time.
Yet Arkansas State, open now after Blake Anderson's accepting the Utah State job this week, is what three different college coaches, some with head coaching experience, said has emerged as one of the best jobs in the entire Group of 5.
“Their A.D. (Terry Mohajir) is impressive,” one college coach who's coached and recruited against the Red Wolves said. “He is extremely sharp, and he's invested a lot in facilities and folks have taken notice.”
With Mohajir leading the way, Arkansas State now houses its athletics offices in the gleaming, year-old Centennial Bank Athletics Operations Center. The center, with a price-tag in the range of $29 million per reports at its opening in August 2019, features perhaps the nicest locker rooms in any Group of 5 facility, the athletics programs' weight room as well as health, nutritional and training areas.
Another strong selling point for the Red Wolves program? Sure it's been a springboard for coaches to launch their careers into larger opportunities, but it also has been a consistent winner. The Red Wolves have posted a winning record in football in nine of the previous 10 years, slipping only to 4-7 this year.
We'll have a more in depth look at the candidates in the coming days; but in just the past 24 hours we have already heard of considerable, strong interest in the job.
Rhett Lashlee, the Miami offensive coordinator already on teams' wish-lists this fall, is an Arkansas native, has previous experience as the Arkansas State O.C. (in 2012, Mohajir's first autumn atop the program) and is on a definitive career path to be a head coach – with Lashlee being judicious in what opportunities he does/does not explore.
Multiple former SEC head coaches are interested in the opportunity.
Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and North Carolina play-caller Phil Longo are two other names to watch, according to a coach familiar with Arkansas State.
“That's exactly who they've hired in the past,” he said. “(Hugh) Freeze. (Gus) Malzahn. (Bryan) Harsin, Anderson are all OC types that played fast and on the edge of things.”
We'll circle back in the coming days when more is clear; but for now, congratulations to Blake and we look forward to seeing who Mohajir selects as the next head coach at Arkansas State.
In the meantime, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.