Report: Bryan Harsin interviewing for Arkansas St. head coaching job

Been told that Texas OC Bryan Harsin is expected to interview for the ARK St head coaching job.

— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) December 11, 2012

Bruce Feldman is a very trustworthy source on college football and has a lot of contacts in that region.

In a way, this is reminiscent of Gene Chizik to Iowa State. The head coaching gig at Arkansas State is not the ultimate prize most Texas assistant coaches have in mind. That said, Arkansas State has been a common stepping stone to a job in the SEC, as those programs frequently play Arkansas State and are familiar with its staff. And because Arkansas State's roster is filled out with southern talent, success there implies strong recruiting in SEC territory.

If Harsin is indeed interviewing for the job, that would seem to suggest one of three possible explanations:

1) He would prefer to be in a school with a smaller spotlight than Texas.

2) Harsin feels ready to become a Head Coach and wants to make that vision a reality rather than waiting on a bigger university down the road.

3) He's trying to get the hell out of Dodge. Mack's management of the team bothers him, he's trying to protect his resume from disaster, or he fears that he'll be made a scapegoat for an impending disaster.

I think 2 or 3 are most likely and 3 more likely than 2.

On our end, the obvious solution is to promote Applewhite to OC (is that why he was in the booth against KSU?) and promote a graduate assistant or pay a veteran coach looking for a new job a huge pile of money to coach our runningbacks and potentially bring in a fresh perspective.

I don't think Mack is ready to handle another off season of massive staff turnover, particularly right before Legacy Reclamation Project: Target 2013. Keep your ear to the ground, Longhorn fan.