Possible Head Coach Candidates for Missouri State

The Mustangs averaged 416 yards per game this year, which was 36th nationally. They were exceptionally good at throwing the ball this year, coming in at 11th in the country with 283 yards a game through the air. Everyone basically knows he’s going to be a head coach soon, could this be the place?

Bobby Petrino

2025 Offensive Coordinator/Interim Head Coach, Arkansas

The most well-known coach on this list. He spent the second half of this year as the interim head coach at Arkansas (2-10) where things did not turn around. A good performance by him and he’d have likely been the next head coach there but that went to Ryan Silverfield. Petrino is a former Missouri State head coach where he coached three seasons and made the FCS playoffs twice.

Even his Arkansas team this year was top 25 and averaged 454 yards a game. It was on the defensive side they were atrocious. If you can handle the personality and baggage, he’s a known commodity and will get results. He offers a high floor, name brand, and offensive nous. 

Nick Hill

Head Coach, Southern Illinois

Hill is a coach who’s been mentioned in this search by a few reporters. He has been the head coach at FCS Southern Illinois, his alma mater, since 2016. Still only 40, he is an offensive-minded guy who fits the profile many teams are targeting in coaches.

He has made the FCS Playoffs three times in his tenure with the Salukis. His overall record of 55-61 is not eye popping, but that is coming out of the Missouri Valley Conference, widely regarded as the toughest in FCS over the last two decades. 

Tim Beck

Offensive Coordinator, Vanderbilt

I need to be clear, this is the Vanderbilt OC Tim Beck, not the former Coastal Carolina head coach who Beard was hired to replace. They are two FBS coaches with the same name. He has been a fantastic play caller and mentor to Diego Pavia, Eli Stowers and company. The resurgence that he has played a role in cannot be overlooked, in terms of team wins or individual wards of his players.

He is a former Division II head coach at Pittsburg State in Kansas, so is familiar with the area. He spent over 20 years at the school in a variety of roles. This could be his time to be a FBS head coach.  

Ben Arbuckle

Offensive Coordinator, Oklahoma

This might be a swing for the fences, high risk high reward hire, but I’d go for it if I was Missouri State. Arbuckle is one of the top young offensive coaches in the game, his offenses at Oklahoma, Washington State and Western Kentucky have lit up scoreboards and kept teams off balance in the passing game.

His time at WKU means he’s familiar with Conference USA, as well. I don’t know that he’d accept it, but it’s a place that the 2025 coach succeeded and used it as a stepping stone. Maybe Arbuckle wants to be a head coach and views this is a job he can replicate that move with.