Kendal Briles indicated he'll return to Arkansas, saying in a tweet he looked forward to running it back with Hogs quarterback KJ Jefferson again next season.
The 40-year-old was a candidate for the open offensive coordinator position at Mississippi State.
Looking forward to 2023 with @kj_jefferson2 ‼️ #Runitback @RazorbackFB pic.twitter.com/7oXScOIfDV
— Kendal Briles (@kendalbriles) January 6, 2023
Briles had worked at five schools in five years when he arrived at Arkansas in 2020.
The 2016 campaign was the last of a 9-year run on his father Art's staff at Baylor. He spent 2017 as the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic, 2018 at Houston, 2019 at Florida State, and 2020 at Arkansas.
Arkansas enjoyed a rare level of stability through Sam Pittman's first three seasons: the Hogs retained offensive coordinator Briles, defensive coordinator Barry Odom, and special teams coordinator Scott Fountain through all three campaigns.
The defense will look different in 2023 after Odom took the head coaching job at UNLV and brought linebackers coach Michael Scherer with him. Pittman hired Travis Williams away from UCF to lead the defense, and hired Marcus Woodson away from Florida State as co-defensive coordinator.
On offense, Briles will look to improve on offensive numbers that were consistent, but also stagnant. The Razorbacks averaged exactly 6.37 yards per play in 2021 and '22.
A third season with the same offensive coordinator and quarterback tandem will hopefully do the trick.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.