Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas State is suffering from a case of coaching déjà vu.

Just one year following the hiring of Hugh Freeze as its 27th head coach, the Red Wolves once again find themselves in the uncomfortable position of looking for someone to lead their football program. Freeze was announced Monday as the head coach at Ole Miss.

Unlike last year an interim head coach, David Gunn, has been named to lead the Red Wolves during their time of transition. Gunn will be charged with overseeing the program as it prepares for the Jan. 8 GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Gunn, 48, has coached running backs at ASU since January 2002 and served as the director of player development since of the beginning of this year. He coached at Little Rock McClellan High School for five years before arriving at ASU.

“We’re going to go to Mobile and we’re going to win,” Gunn said. “We want to continue with the recruiting process that we have already begun. We have 17 commits. We feel comfortable in maintaining those commitments. I know many of them will have questions; we have already been on the phone with some of those guys and their parents reassuring them that everything is still OK at Arkansas State.”

But there are some challenges. Gunn might have only three full-time assistants to help him, including run game coordinator Darren Hiller, receivers coach Tyler Siskey and special teams coach Corey Batoon.

Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack and tight ends coach Maurice Harris are expected to join Freeze in Oxford and a source on the team says quarterbacks coach Grant Heard, defensive line coach Chris Kiffin and linebackers coach Tom Allen could also be departing.

Gunn said that the team has graduate assistants that will step into needed roles.

As for the coaching search, Lee already had list of 80 potential new head coaches Sunday night.

“As we move forward and look for candidates, I will rely on experts in the profession. I will have dialogue with individuals out there, AD’s, former AD’s, coaches who I consider to be experts and have values and opinions that I have great respect for,” Lee said.

ASU has enlisted the services of the search firm Carr Sports Associates to help in the search of the next football head coach after helping in the searches for basketball head coach John Brady and baseball head coach Tommy Raffo. Lee has high praise for the company’s leader, Bill Carr.

“Bill has been in the profession for many, many years and brings a lot of expertise and a lot of knowledge. He is currently completing the North Carolina search. He’s been involved in the UAB search as well.”

Lee said that if Gunn or any of the remaining assistants expressed interest in the head-coaching job, “obviously they can approach me.”

“One of the questions will be what is my timeline? We’re going to movie quickly, but we aren’t going to get in a hurry,” Lee said. “Having been in these searches before, they’re always an animal of their own. It could be something that could happen fast or it could be something that drags on longer than you might expect or want. But it will be something that we will be continuously working on.”

Now with the coaching search under way, Gunn and the Red Wolves look to GoDaddy.com Bowl against Northern Illinois on Jan. 8 in Mobile, Ala. Northern Illinois team went through the situation last year that ASU faces now. Under interim coach Tom Matukewics, the Huskies defeated Fresno State 40-17 in the Humanitarian Bowl.