Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Reports are hitting that Urban Meyer is stepping down at Florida. Yes, we've heard that one before. He should have stayed retired last December, instead of coming back the very next day. If Meyer is now truly gone from Gainesville and doesn't unretire tomorrow, this will start the coaching carousel spinning in the Southeast.

This now makes sense why Dan Mullen might not have jumped at Miami immediately. And it may explain a cryptic comment we heard this week involving Gus Malzahn's future.

We figure Florida won't hesitate to hire Mullen away from Mississippi State. He knows the ceiling at Starkville, and he knows Meyer's program, having been the offensive coordinator. He also knows the Cam Newtons are going to Auburn or Florida before they'd seriously consider Starkville.

But then that opens up a spot in Starkville for another up-and-comer like Mullen. And who would be more of an assistant on the rise than Broyles Award winner Gus Malzahn? The Fort Smith native, who was in Little Rock Monday to receive the Broyles Award as the nation's best assistant coach this season, has coordinated the offense at Auburn the past two years and took Newton and produced big numbers for the unbeaten SEC champion Tigers this season. Before that, he took Tulsa to the top of the NCAA offensive categories for two seasons before getting Gene Chizik's attention and joining Chizik on the plains in Alabama.

We didn't hear this directly, but we trust the source who says that on Monday, Kristi Malzahn was willing to hint that purple might be in the Malzahn family's future in 2011. Something about "everywhere they go," it ends up being that year's color, and next year's color is purple. "And I don't mean LSU," she reportedly said.

Mississippi State, of course, is maroon and white. Maybe that's just close enough to purple for Kristi.

These coaches know what jobs are coming open. This would make sense for Gus Malzahn, who said Monday he's "not in a hurry" to land a head coaching job, but when he did move he would want it to be the right job in the right conference, a place where there would be a chance for success. Under Mullen, Mississipp State's fan base is significantly energized, and Malzahn surely could maintain that momentum. Mullen and his staff have been kicking tail in recruiting the Magnolia State, overwhelming chief rival Ole Miss and Houston Nutt in the past several months.

Now, Malzahn could stay at Auburn as a coordinator and enjoy a hefty raise to $1 million. But this guy is going to be a Division I head coach - as new Arkansas State coach Hugh Freeze said, "Gus Malzahn has 'it'" - and he may not even be able to say no to destiny, even if it starts in Starkville.

How fascinating this would be if it all came to pass, and we had Gus Malzahn as head coach at Mississippi State going up in the Egg Bowl against Houston Nutt at Ole Miss. Imagine the drama, as if we haven't already had plenty involving the two: both native Arkansans, Malzahn the offensive coordinator for Nutt in that controversial 2006 season that produced 10 wins, Nutt's best record, before Nutt made Malzahn and his former Springdale High players feel totally unwelcomed. You know the rest of the story.

Now, it's more than likely Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino's name may briefly surface as a Florida job candidate in the coming hours, but Florida will have to pay a hefty buyout clause to get Petrino.

The current NCAA head coach that seems ready for the step up to the top rung is Mullen and he's available at an affordable price, and he knows Gainesville and the Florida program and helped build what eventually reached the pinnacle twice this decade.

Meyer's and the Gators' offense hasn't been the same since Mullen left for Starkville. Gator power brokers are well aware of that.