When Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long announces the football program's plans for 2012, expect the head coach for this fall to be a familiar name.
All indications are that Garrick McGee — the one person from outside the program who could have seamlessly transitioned back into Fayetteville and led the program on a longterm basis — is no longer in the plans for this fall. However, that does not mean that he isn't one of the leading candidates for the permanent job once he completes his first season as UAB's head coach.
It appears that Long will undertake a thorough process after the 2012 season because the timing just wasn't right both for Arkansas and any other current head coach to leave his program this late in the offseason.
So once the Razorbacks complete their spring game Saturday, look for Long to announce sometime early next week that one of the team's current assistants will be interim head coach for this season.
Taver Johnson is the likely choice to keep the interim tag for 2012, as the players and staff have been surprisingly focused under his short time of leadership. Recruiting coordinator Tim Horton has an outside chance to land the interim gig as well, but it's unlikely that Long would switch the interim tag to another assistant with Johnson already having it.
If Johnson is indeed the choice, the Hogs will likely bring in another coach to fill the open assistant spot.
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