Jeremy Peppas: Club Dub, Now Closed

By Jeremy Peppas

As the news broke Sunday morning Chad Morris had been fired as Arkansas’s football coach and Club Dub was no more, my mind wandered.

I already knew Morris was going to be fired.

It was fairly common knowledge on Saturday Morris was out the door after a shocking loss to Western Kentucky. The details came in on social media: Morris done. Barry Lunney Jr. to be interim coach. The $10 million buyout in negotiations.

Offered up as proof was that Morris skipped some Senior Day function on Saturday evening as head coach he would have attended.

The provenance of that note was in some doubt, but the general details were all out there. (Editor’s note: There was no Saturday evening event for Morris to skip.)

Being curious and armed with a Twitter account, I searched out amongst Arkansas media types, the ones who proclaim themselves as insiders and the ones who knew what was going on.

Mum was the word.

Not a single outlet, out of the couple dozen with people employed covering the Razorbacks, noted the Morris rumors or reported his job was in jeopardy.

Why?

The obvious answer is, for those in the media, you just don’t need to be right, you HAVE to be right. Pulling the trigger on breaking news and being wrong can be a career killer.

Of course, being right is a career maker and while there are young, and ambitious people on the Razorbacks beat, the dwindling of the media means there are fewer of those and more of the graying types, if they have hair, and they’re far more concerned with a fickle business model that requires less “telling truth to power” and more dedication to fan service.

There’s also concerns about losing access to the program.

Of course that access is pretty much limited to game coverage as the days of open practices and having the coach’s phone number are long gone.

Fun fact: I, in the late 90s, had Houston Nutt’s cell phone number. Anyone who covered a single Arkansas game did. Hell, it might have been printed in the media guide.

So there’s no access to lose and the media is all about getting those clicks, as long as they make fans happy.

And if the latter is the case, was there a strong contingent of Morris fans out there who were demanding he stay?

It doesn’t seem that way.

The counter argument is the media shouldn’t be in the speculation business. It isn’t their role. They are there to report the news in a fair and accurate way and opinion has no business being in a news story.

And that’s fair. A bit old school but fair.

But even those in the columnizing roles didn’t hit Morris on Saturday night.

No one did.

If you are one of those who think speculation has no business in the news, may I direct you to the acres and acres of coverage from media types speculating who will be Arkansas’s next football coach.

Sigh.

All that being said, it won’t be Mike Norvell, Arkansas will lose a bidding war to Florida State for him. It won’t be Gus or anyone in his coaching tree, so that includes Eli Drinkwitz, among others. It won’t be Petrino, Bobby or Paul.

So who?

If it were me, I’d hire Dowell Loggains.

Who? Wait, did he play for the Razorbacks? Seems like I remember that guy?

Yes! He was a backup quarterback and placeholder for the Hogs in the late 90s and early aughts and has been an NFL coach since 2005 when he joined the Dallas Cowboys staff. He’s currently the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. He had the same job for the Tennessee Titans and the Chicago Bears as well as being the quarterback coach for the Cleveland Browns.

Originally from Newport, he played high school football in Texas before coming back to Fayetteville to play.

His wife is also from Arkansas, and they come back on the regular.

He checks all the boxes:

>> Native Arky

>> Texas high school roots

>> Former Razorback player

>> Extensive coaching experience

>> Arkansas can afford him

His negatives are he hasn’t been a head coach and it is unclear how he could do on the recruiting trail but those positives make him the best choice.