The SEC Coaching Carousel: Who Ended up Where (Update)

The College Football coaching carousel made plenty of turns on Tuesday, delivering new coaches the Northwest corner of Arkansas and the Plains of Auburn as both the Razorbacks and Tigers filled their coaching vacancies.

News of a new Razorback head coach had seemed imminent for what felt like weeks as Athletic Director Jeff Long had all the resources of the University of Arkansas at his fingertips. Flirtations occurred and offers were made, but when all was said and done, Long did not bring in Chris Petersen of Boise State or Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State as much anticipated, rather the hire came from Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema.

At just 42 years old, Bielema has already established as one of the nation’s top young coaches, accumulating a 68-24 record at Wisconsin, including 3 Big 10 championships in 7 seasons.

Shortly after the announcement at Arkansas was made, word spread former Auburn offensive Coordinator Gus Malzhan would be returning to the plains, this time to replace the man who had hired him in 2009, Gene Chizik. The announcement put to rest the concerns of Alabama fans, who had kept a close eye on the vacancy after defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had interviewed earlier in the week.

Malzhan heads back to Auburn just less than one year to the day he departed for the Head Coach position at Arkansas State. In his one season with the RedWolves he collected a 9-3 record and Sun Belt Conference championship.

With positions at Arkansas and Auburn filled, the lone vacancy in the Southeastern Conference lies in Knoxville.  However, speculation has been rampant that current Louisville head coach Charlie Strong could accept the position at Tennessee as early as Wednesday.

**Update: Mid Tuesday morning CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman reported that the Volunteers had actually offered Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy.  Shortly after the report, Jimmy Hyams, an afternoon drive host on The Sports Animal in Knoxville was no longer a candidate.

**Update: Moments ago ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported via his twitter account Louisville is working on extending Charlie Strong's contract; also noted that Strong did have an offer from Tennessee.

**Update (12/5/12; 6:38pm): Charlie Strong has officially turned down Tennessee.

**Update (12/7/12) Friday morning the Tennessee Volunteers named former Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones as its new head coach.  Jones has six years coaching experience, three years at Cincinnati and Central Michigan each) and has accumulated 50-27 overall record including MAC championships in 2007 and 2009.