OT: Unofficially Official - Peterson To Be Named Arkansas Head Coach

If true, this is pretty inexplicable IMO. Based on his resume, Chris Peterson has a guaranteed job in a power conference anytime he wants one, and to take on the Arkansas shitshow is not somethign I'd want to willingly go through.

BUT... at least it's not Auburn.

Dude knows how to get the best out of his talent...

Why would he hold out for Arkansas of all places?  Peterson's had plenty of other opportunities that were much better in my opinion.  If true, he must see some writing on the wall at BSU or perhaps he's just tired of trying to break into the BCS/new plus-4 stuff.

All I see when I search Chris Peterson and Arkansas are message board postings.  You may be right but until then I think he's still BSU's HC.

SEC West is not the place I'd be rushing to coach in. He could have had any open job the past 5 yrs and he chooses this one?

I would think he'd hold out for a prime job on the west coast, like Oregon if Kelly leaves.

But it would set up an interesting set of games with us.

Yea...not sure what Peterson would see in Ark...first and foremost having to recruit against Saban, Miles etc...can't be a fun thought.

If he wanted to go to the SEC and possibly win quickly it seems to be that  Tenn would be a better choice with some of the talent they have on offense.

Now Boise State becomes irrelevant.

I think this would have more to do with his talent pool decreasing at Boise than "holding out" for Arkansas. Maybe he feels it's the right time to jump ship.

Great hire for Ark.  I'll be interested to see what he does with 3/4/5 stars instead of 2/3 stars going forward.  Seems like one of the best Xs and Os coach out there.

I guess if he can possibly take some players away from Saban and Miles, go for it.

There are a few sites (including the one I linked here) which are saying that while Chris Peterson is the first choice for Arkansas, they are willing to go with James Franklin if Peterson says no to the position (link to another blog). Lots of rumor flying around, of course. Gary Patterson and Mike Gundy were supposedly apprached as well, but not a lot of evidence that they ever took it seriously.

Could be he hoped BSU would wind up in a better situation than it has: in the Pac-12, for instance. Now that it hasn't, he might be thinking more about greener pastures.

This is the biggest difference between the SEC and the Big Ten.  Arkansas is what, the 6th or 7th best program in that league?  The equivalent program in the B1G would never aim this high.  Only the historic powers (U-M, Ohio, PSU, Neb) would even dream of landing a guy like Petersen - and even then they'd probably low-ball him.  Well, maybe not Ohio.

This guy has been saying this on twitter for over a week. I'll be believe it when someone else far more credible than some random blog says so.

you'll never recruit better than LSU or Alabama and you'll have a very hard time keeping up with TAM and Auburn(assuming auburn doesn' get burned to the ground).  To say nothing of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee

He'd do better in the Pac 10 or Big 12 in my opinion.

Maybe Texas fans kinda hoping they lose tonight to Kansas State? They could force Mack to retire and back a truckload of money to Chris Peterson's house.

This could be true, but for me to believe it I'll need to see it on something other than a message board.  Why go there, especially with Cal (which was rumored to be a spot he'd consider) available and Oregon likely available.

It's Petersen everyobody.  With an "e."  I was going to correct the OP but it seems like everyone's misspelling it here.    

/english teacher rant

...this is the kind of thing that B1G schools need to start doing with their football programs.  About 5-10 years ago, the league started hiring a who's who for hoop coaches, and look where it is now.

When the Purdues and Illinois of the world go big and hire guys like Peterson instead of Danny Hope, that's when it will get back to being one of, if not the, best conference in the country.  With BTN dollars, schools certainly should be able to open the bank and give top coaches a virtual blank check.

Seriously, if Peterson was willing to go to Arkansas, why wouldn't Purdue go to him and say, "Name your price.  Ohio will be up there, but there's no reason we can't be a Wisconsin, and Penn State's headed toward irrelevance."  Now, there's certainly good reasons for a Peterson to pick Arkansas or Tennessee over a Purdue, but that shouldn't stop Purdue from trying.  Look at Arkansas.  They went after Miles, and while it was never going to happen, it was verified by Les as legitimate, which probably made the job a little more attractive.

So when Purdue gives Kevin Sumlin a $5M/yr. offer, and when TA&M matches it, it opens up the eyes of top coaches on the market.

I call BS, in part because Arkansas is designed as a classic pro-style offense. Peterson isn't a pro-style guy. 

There has to be talent on Arkansas, right? Or were they just total flukes last year? 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Peterson develops players, nails execution and calls great play combinations. Now we"ll see if he can recruit to keep up with LSU, TAMU, and Bama.