Jon Gruden's Arkansas Razorbacks football dreams are actually nightmares

In November of 2024, Jon Gruden signed a multi-year contract with Barstool Sports. However, it seems like the veteran NFL coach and Super Bowl XXXVII champ is looking for another coaching opportunity.

Although Gruden once turned down an offer to become the head football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, admittedly, his concern at the time was linked to the challenges of recruiting players in college football. But in his estimation, NIL removes those challenges, and, with those challenges no longer as barriers, he expressed that he's not only open to coaching college football but also at Arkansas.

Gruden appeared on X/Twitter on July 2, 2025, opening a large box of Arkansas Razorbacks merchandise from Sam Pittman, which caused many in Razorback Nation to become nostalgic about the potential of him succeeding Pittman.

In the nearly six-minute video tweet, Gruden, who reveals that he has had to wait "for a longggg time" to receive a box of requested Arkansas Razorbacks merchandise, enthusiastically unboxes the items and effortlessly shares knowledge about the Razorbacks, and he thanks Pittman and the Arkansas football department for this "INCREDIBLE package, GO RAZORBACKS BABY!"

Unless Pittman knows something we don't know, such as this is his last season as the Razorbacks head football coach, this was a clueless decision to send Gruden this package, given that this man could easily be viewed by even more fans, and most importantly, by Hunter Yurachek, director of athletics at the University of Arkansas, as, at minimum, a suitable, if not, the right replacement for him. Many, if not most, in Razorback Nation are ready for the Arkansas Razorbacks football program to be led by the same caliber of coaching as its basketball program possesses in John Calipari.

Even though Pittman's tenure as head coach leaves much to be desired, to say the least, Gruden isn't the right answer to succeed Pittman. If one believes Arkansas football is currently living a nightmare under Pittman, hiring Gruden as head coach would deepen it in more problematic ways.

Gruden would bring more problems to Arkansas Razorbacks football

Even though Gruden has a significant percentage of Hogs fans wanting him to become the next head football coach, as Arkansas sports journalist and Site Expert at FanSided's Razorbackers Austin Farmer reported, this longing for Gruden is misguided at best.

Each season, Arkansas faces a gauntlet schedule, as life in the SEC is becoming increasingly more challenging. No matter who is coaching the Hogs, navigating such a schedule is an unenviable task. However, if Gruden were to lead Arkansas football, he would dump even more vexing problems on the program than it currently confronts.

In 2021, while head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Gruden had to resign after emails surfaced exposing racist, homophobic, and misogynistic statements, as Tom Lutz divulged in The Guardian. Historically, since they were permitted to play at Arkansas, Black football players have had the most significant impact on the success of the program.

Imagine for a moment that even a quarter of Black football players stop joining Razorbacks football because of their perceptions about Gruden on race, not to mention how they might feel about those other discriminatory views expressed in the previously mentioned emails.

Razorback Nation must be reminded about how many years it took to reach a certain level of racial healing related to Nolan Richardson and the University of Arkansas' administration. In an already racially and politically charged America, far more than when Richardson was the head basketball Hog, Yurachek would risk all of that necessary healing and progress on Gruden. To be frank, Arkansas would show tremendous disregard for Black athletes by hiring Gruden as head football coach.

Gruden is unproven in college football

He has never held a major college coaching position. Therefore, to put it bluntly, he's an unknown quantity in college football. The last thing Arkansas needs to do is take another risk on a coach without a proven track record to lead the Razorbacks football team in the brutal SEC.

As previously noted, Gruden has won a Super Bowl and is a veteran coach. However, the college game, especially in the NIL/Transfer Portal era, is an entirely different beast from the NFL. Although he mentioned that NIL eliminated all of his original concerns about taking the Arkansas football job in the past, no one in Razorback Nation can be certain that he has what it takes to succeed as a college football head, especially not in the SEC.

While recently visiting the Georgia Bulldogs, Gruden passionately expressed his desire to be a college football head coach, specifically in the SEC. He said, "I'd die to coach in the SEC," along with some other statements containing expletives.

No one should be fooled, Gruden is campaigning for a prominent college football head coach position, preferably in the SEC. He knows a vacancy in the SEC is likely after this season, and he wishes for his name to be one of the leading names to fill that vacancy. To be even more transparent, he feels that the Arkansas head coach position will be available at the end of this season, especially given how unforgiving the Hogs' schedule is.

As Gruden continues to campaign to become an SEC head football coach, all in Razorback Nation, especially Hunter Yurachek, must be governed by reason. The Hogs don't have to settle for the first flashy name that surfaces, especially if it does not offer demonstrable promise for success in the SEC.

Arkansas must value and invest in itself to attract coaching candidates with proven championship and/or successful SEC experience to make the Hogs nationally competitive in football, as Calipari has built on Eric Musselman's work to position the basketball team to be legitimate national championship contenders.