Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas' Bobby Petrino was already trying to juggle preparing for a bowl game with recruiting and now he has another duty as well.

Petrino is having to replace all three of his coordinators. On Tuesday, he filled the offensive coordinator spot with Paul Petrino. He still has to find coordinators for defense and special teams.

Arkansas begins practicing today for its Jan. 6 date in the Cotton Bowl against Kansas State. Petrino and his staff have also been busy recruiting. Arkansas will play host to three recruits this weekend after hosting two last weekend.

The Razorbacks won 10 games this year after going 10-3 last season. A win over Kansas State would give Arkansas its 11th win of the season something Arkansas hasn't done since joining the SEC in 1992. This is the first time the Razorbacks have won 10 games in consecutive seasons since joining the SEC.

The Razorbacks are starting to see the results of the two very successful seasons. Arkansas has 20 commitments, but continues to recruit numerous players. It wouldn't be a shock to see Arkansas at least eight more recruits to this class despite the fact on paper they only have five spots.

First, two or three of the current commitments may not academically qualify. In addition, some of the current commitments could flip to other schools. Nothing is official with the recruits until they sign and fax their scholarship papers to the school on signing day in February.

Despite having four recruits committed at wide receiver, the Razorbacks are continuing to pursue more athletes there. The Razorbacks do lose three seniors that have caught a lot of passes the past four seasons and they will need to be replaced.

Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest 5-star Dorial Green-Beckham (6-6, 220) is the obvious prize at wide receiver. 247Sports has him rated the No. 2 player in the nation. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas appear to be very high on his list of schools.

Arkansas will play host to a pair of wide receivers this weekend. Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton's Javon Williams, (6-5, 185) and Roseville (Calif.) Sierra College's Courtney Gardner (6-3, 215) are both big, fast receivers that Petrino's seeks for his offense. Gardner is a heavy lean to the Razorbacks and could commit this weekend.

On the offensive line, Arkansas has commitments from Pottsville 4-star Jeremy Ward (6-4 ½, 285) and Memphis (Tenn.) Ridgeway's Cordale Boyd (6-3, 300). Arkansas hosted Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College offensive tackle Mark Beard, 6-5, 294, last weekend. He is a midterm recruit who will have three years to play three at the next level. He will visit Mississippi State this weekend and then follow up that with a trip to Georgia.

Arkansas is also heavily involved with a pair of 4-star offensive tackles from the high school ranks. Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman's Ronnie Stanley (6-6, 285) and Chicago Simeon's Jordan Diamond (6-6, 290) have the Razorbacks among their favorites. Stanley took an official visit to Arkansas for the Auburn game. Diamond will be at Ohio State this weekend.

It's on the defensive side of the football that Petrino has got to continue to significantly upgrade the talent. While there's no doubt many of Arkansas' problems on defense this past season were due to the scheme it's also clear the Razorbacks need more talent.