Jeff Purinton, Athletic Director Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics at Arkansas State, will find no shortage of suggestions and advice when interviewing candidates for the vacant head basketball coach position. He need only jump onto any popular social media platform to receive all kinds of wild recommendations. If he has any concern for his mental health, he’ll suspend his own accounts indefinitely.

My suggestion? Back off. This is Jeff Purinton’s moment. Winning The Hire is the most high-profile, publicly consequential aspect to the Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics gig. This is Purinton’s Super Bowl. The coach he ultimately chooses could very well alter the destiny of Arkansas State athletics forever. He doesn’t need chuckleheads like you and I to sully the process.

And we’ve seen some chucklehead recommendations, am I right? I’m not going to single anybody out. It’s not like I’ve offered genius-level counsel. But if you’re on the Twitter or if you listen to local sports radio, you know what I’m talking about.

Let’s just allow Jeff Purinton to do what Jeff Purinton was hired to do – lead us out of this winless wilderness where our sports have gone to die. I’m no insider, but I’m told he’s on the case; focused like a laser on delivering to Jonesboro a deliverer who can coach, recruit, and possibly do both without raising the ire of our prickly fan base.

Listen, there is enough pressure on Purinton right now that I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s crapping diamonds every morning. He’s going to put the work in this hire. This is Jeff Purinton’s first significant hire. This will be his guy. I have faith it will be a good guy.

Please relax everyone. Go put twenty bucks in the imPACKt Club. Maybe go get a massage. Purinton is paid to chug the Pepto.