This has been a depressing football season for Arkansas. Not only was the Razorbacks' 3-9 season depressing, but there were several "What ifs?" that made it even worse. To recap:
-What if Gus Malzahn was Arkansas' head coach?
Malzahn left Arkansas after a 2006 season full of drama with Houston Nutt (I'll talk about him more in a bit). Since then, he's been extremely successful. Some fans say Arkansas should have hired him after John L. Smith. Instead, the Razorbacks hired Bret Bielema.
What did Malzahn do? He became the head coach at Auburn and led the Tigers to an 11-1 regular season record (with the help of a few miracles along the way), the SEC Championship and a BCS National Championship berth. They came within a minute of winning the national championship.
-What if Dorial Green-Beckham came to Arkansas?
One of the most sought after recruits in the class of 2012, Green-Beckham chose Missouri over Arkansas. It seemed like a dumb decision at the time, but hindsight is 20/20.
As a freshman, he caught 28 passes for 395 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore last season, he caught 59 passes for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Razorbacks' top two receivers in 2013 combined for 59 receptions for 846 yards and eight touchdowns. There's no doubt they could have used him this season.
Also, he helped lead Missouri to an 11-1 regular season record, an SEC East championship and a Cotton Bowl victory.
-What if Pete Carroll was Arkansas' head coach?
During the Super Bowl, Wally Hall (@WallyLikeItIs) tweeted, "Pete Carroll wanted the Arkansas job when it hired Houston Nutt, but Frank Broyles did not return his call."
I'm not sure if that's true, but it wouldn't be that much of a stretch. Carroll was a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 1977.
Assuming it's true, since he wasn't given the job, he found his way to Southern Cal, where he led the Trojans to a 97-19 record and two national championships (including the vacated wins and championships).
After conquering the college football world, he took the head coaching job at Seattle. In his fourth season with the Seahawks, he became the third head coach to win an NCAA National Championship and Super Bowl.
The other two? Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. Both of whom played at Arkansas and were assistant coaches at Arkansas, but neither were the Razorbacks' head coach.
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