McGee gets first mention

— Ryan Mallett didn’t waste any time endorsing Garrick McGee to be Arkansas’ next head football coach in the wake of Bobby Petrino’s firing on Tuesday night.

Razorbacks Athletic Director Jeff Long was still answering questions at a news conference announcing the firing when Mallett, Arkansas’ former record-setting quarterback who plays for the New England Patriots, had a post supporting McGee as Petrino’s replacement.

McGee, 39, was an Arkansas assistant the previous four seasons before becoming Alabama-Birmingham’s coach in December. McGee was the Razorbacks’ quarterbacks coach in 2008 and 2009 and added the offensive coordinator duties for 2010 and 2011.

“GM only coach Ark should look at if they wanna win now,” Mallett posted on his Twitter account.

Long said Taver Johnson, who was hired by Petrino from Ohio State on Jan. 15 to be Arkansas’ assistant head coach and linebackers coach, will continue to serve as interim head coach through spring practice, which culminates with the Red-White intrasquad game April 21.

Johnson, 39, has been Arkansas’ interim head coach since last Thursday night, when Long placed Petrino on paid administrative leave.

Long said Petrino’s firing is “so fresh” that he hasn’t had time to contemplate the best coaching scenario for the season, when Arkansas is expected to be ranked among the top 10 teams nationally with several starters back from an 11-2 team that beat Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.

“I will actually begin the search following the press conference tonight and we will maintain as we are through spring practice,” he said. “At that time, I’ll assess where we are in the search process and make a decision on an interim head coach going forward.

“We’ll have to conduct a search and determine if we can attract a head coach who can lead this program. If not, then we will go with an interim, then do a search following the season.”

Long said possible interim coaches for this season could be Johnson, defensive coordinator Paul Haynes or offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, who is Bobby’s younger brother and returned to Arkansas in December after being the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator in 2008 and 2009. Haynes was hired from Ohio State in December.

“I assure you we will seek a head coach that possesses the expertise, leadership skills and character to maintain Razorback football as one of the nation’s elite programs,” Long said.

Long said he met with the coaching staff Tuesday.

“I think all of them expressed to me that they believe they have a great situation here at the University of Arkansas, and have a great team,” Long said. “They were hopeful this staff will remain together, including Paul Petrino.”

Earlier this week Birmingham News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky wrote that Alabama-Birmingham Athletic Director Brian Mackin should be concerned McGee might be a strong candidate for the Arkansas job if Petrino were fired.

“If Arkansas finds itself in need of a new football coach in April, there’s no better person to fill that void than Mc-Gee,” Scarbinsky wrote. “Put aside his lack of head coaching experience. Having spent the last four years as an Arkansas assistant, he was a part of everything Petrino built to get the program to this point. Mc-Gee knows the players there. He knows the coaches and the administrators. He knows the program better than anyone that may be ready, willing and able to step into an awkward situation.”

Surfing the web

A sampling of headlines on notable national web pages:

SI/CNN.COM

Arkansas fires Petrino

FOXSPORTS ON MSN

Hit the road

THE SPORTING NEWS

Petrino sent packing

ESPN

Crash And Burn Notice

Sports, Pages 17 on 04/11/2012

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