When Bobby Petrino was named interim head coach for Arkansas football to take over for the fired Sam Pittman, it didn’t take long for him to begin a defensive overhaul. One of the positions he dismissed and needed a replacement for was the defensive line coach. Well, Petrino reportedly has his guy.
Chris Low reported on Thursday night that Petrino is adding long-time NFL assistant Jay Hayes to the staff as defensive line coach. Recently, Hayes has spent time in professional football outside the NFL, but has a long track record in the league. From 2003-2015, he served as the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive line coach.
Hayes moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2016 and 2017 in the same position. He was an assistant defensive line coach with the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
Before coaching in the trenches, Hayes was a special teams coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1999-2001. He was also in the role with the Minnesota Vikings in 2002.
He has college experience coaching in college at Wisconsin as the outside linebacker coach and special teams coordinator from 1995-1998.
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After Pittman’s firing, Petrino dismissed three key defensive assistant coaches. The Razorbacks moved on from defensive coordinator Travis Williams, co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson and defensive line coach Deke Adams.
The Razorbacks are off to a 2-3 (0-1 SEC) start to the season with losses against Ole Miss, Memphis and, most recently, Notre Dame. Arkansas led by 18 points late in the first half against Memphis before blowing the lead. Even then, the Razorbacks fumbled deep in Memphis territory with a chance to score a late game-clinching touchdown.
As a result, the university is moving on from Pittman as its head coach, with Petrino taking over for the rest of the season. Arkansas will conduct a search for a new coach, but Petrino is still an option to earn the job.
The Razorbacks have an open date this week before traveling to Tennessee on Oct. 11. Both teams will be coming off an open date and are in need of an SEC win. Tennessee will be looking for revenge from a season ago when Arkansas upset the Vols 19-14 in Fayetteville.
