Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Summers is headed back home, leaving the Razorbacks to take a similar position at Kentucky.
UPDATE (6:20 p.m.): Coach Bobby Petrino confirmed Summers’ departure with a statement through the athletic department Saturday evening.
“Mike and I have had a great seven-year run together and I appreciate all his hard work and dedication through that time,” Petrino said. “He’s got an opportunity to go home and be with his family, which is a priority I can understand. I want to thank him and wish Mike and his family the best.”
The story was reported on the Slophouse earlier Saturday by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette‘s Tom Murphy. Arkansas offensive lineman Matt Hall is also expected to leave the program, according to a source, but his transfer destination is not yet known.
Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Summers is headed to Kentucky, according to sources. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN)
Summers, a native of Lexington, Ky., began his career as an offensive line coach at Kentucky in 1979. His close connections to the area, along with head coach Joker Phillips, figured into his decision. Summers is also the son-in-law of legendary Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall.
Summers earned $225,000 a year at Arkansas, where he also served as assistant head coach.
Summers becomes the third coach to leave the Razorbacks since the end of the regular season. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino left for a similar position at Illinois in December, and defensive ends coach Kirk Botkin was reportedly dismissed Monday by Coach Bobby Petrino.
Arkansas hired Kris Cinkovich and Steve Caldwell to coach receivers and defensive ends, respectively, on Wednesday.
Tom Murphy will have more on this story in the Sunday edition of the Democrat-Gazette.
Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.
All of these coaching changes has me wondering of Petrino's long-term plan at Arkansas. When his own brother takes the exact same job at another school who's coach is on the "hot seat" (Zook), you have to wonder if he knows something that we don't about big brother. On the other hand, I think the 2 new coaches that we recently got are an upgrade in what we had. When you can get a guy who you wanted as your DC 2 years ago to agree to be the DLine coach, not to mention a former head coach (Smith) coaching your special teams, you've got quite a bit of experience and talent on that defensive coaching staff.
Let's hope all of the defections from the staff isn't a sign that the head coach is looking to jump ship after Mallet leaves for the NFL after next season.
Illinois is a step up for PP because he's a true OC there, whereas he was only a glorified position coach at Arkansas. To advance his career, he had to become a true OC and he had to get out of BP's shadow.!
Well, at least we won't have to play Kentucky next season, because that would really suck.
Eric – You are looking for something that is not there. PP left to prove himself to ADs that he is a able to call the plays run the offense. I assume he had several questions in his recent interviews for head coaching positions about the duty split between himself and BP.
Summers leaving was unexpected and is for personal reasons…closer to family etc. Summers went from UL to ATL to FAY with BP. If there were issues there he would not have moved with BP that many times.
Botkin was released due to unsatisfactory performance.
Somethings actually occur with a hidden meaning. I know Ark fan find that difficult to believe, but here is an example.
These aren't uncommon changes in a D1 college. Paul Petrino wants to be a head coach at a major school. He didn't call the plays here and I'm sure he heard about that during his interviews. He had to make the change to be considered. Botkin should've been let go due to lack of performance. Summers has state of Kentucky ties from the Louisville days. With the way we ran this year sometimes good sometimes not so much, this could go either way. I think the hiring of Caldwell is more indicative of the status of the program and how Petrino is viewed. These are good times for Arkasas football.
I suspect the hiring of Caldwell is an attempt by Petrino to position himself to replace Robinson if the defense doesn't improve measurably next season. Defense is really our Achilles heel right now, so the best coaches we can hire on that side of the ball, the better off we'll be. I can understand why Summers left, although I wish he would have stayed.
The fact that Mallett is staying for next year will give us more exposure and time to recruit his replacement, if Tyler doesn't turn out to be the answer at QB. We'll be a school that top QB prospects will look seriously at as long as Bobby Petrino is here.
It's never good to see assistants leave, but I do believe that Arkansas is better off. Steve Caldwell has 14 years of experience at Tennessee under Phillip Fulmer, Chris Klenakis knows the Pistol offense almost as good as anyone in the game. I give big Kudos to Coach Petrino on his new hires. The hire of Kris Cinkovich was great due to the fact that Paul Petrino and Klenakis have a lot of the same philosophies about coaching Wide Receivers.
Jon
http://www.razorbackyak.blogspot.com