Is USF's Alex Golesh really heading to Arkansas as the Twitterverse claims?

After a tweet from @TreySchaap posted in the middle of Wednesday morning that Alex Golesh was leaving USF to become the head coach at Arkansas, there was only the sound of crickets from Fowler Avenue.

Despite the Twitterverse declaration, there has been no confirmation. No denial. No nothing.

Various other media accounts backed up the original report, but there was nothing official from Arkansas or USF. Interestingly, none of the truly plugged-in college football insiders has weighed in on this yet.

Part of me wondered if the wording of the tweet -- "accepted an offer" -- meant something. Accepting is not the same as signing, and, I suppose its possible USF officials were trying a last-ditch push to keep Golesh in Tampa.

After all, remember last spring when UNLV officials were celebrating that Bryan Hodgson had accepted the job as head basketball coach. Oops. Hodgson was actively working on an agreement with USF at the time, and chuckled at the UNLV move.

We can presume that interim coach Bobby Petrino has been told he is not in the running for the permanent job.

Let's assume, however, that Golesh is moving to Arkansas.

Perhaps that's the fate of all programs in the Guppy Six -- smaller fish destined to be swallowed by the Power 4 sharks.

If that's the case, then what Golesh said on October 28 -- less than a month ago -- could be taken as just more coach-speak. It wouldn't be the first time.

Responding that day to rumors about multiple power programs showing interest in him, Golesh responded with a shrug that seemed sincere.

"I didn't have nothing growing up. I've got more than I've ever needed. We're super, super happy here. My family's incredibly happy. To me, that's more important than any conference affiliation," he said.

"I've never, just never thought of it in the sense of, I gotta go chase a job. Just never have. I don't know. Maybe I'm different, maybe I messed up, maybe I should (have chased a job). And clearly, this profession is getting crazier by the minute."

Yes, it is. If his family was "incredibly happy" here, why move? He has repeatedly gushed about the USF athletic leadership's commitment and support, so why take a chance that Arkansas will be the same?

If and when the story is confirmed, things will have to move quickly at USF.

Does CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins have a Plan B to quickly fill Golesh's shoes? What happens to the highly regarded recruiting class Golesh and his staff have assembled?

How many current Bulls would stampede to the Transfer Portal? What does it mean for the future of quarterback Byrum Brown? Who would coach the Bulls in a bowl game?

Part of me thinks that if the story is not true, USF would have issued rapid denials. People who quote unnamed sources about college football coaching jobs have been known to be wrong (looking at you, Oklahoma State).

And part of me still wants to believe Golesh really is a different kind of cat.

If he is proven to be just another coach climbing the ladder, USF would still owe him thanks for rebuilding the Bulls in a remarkably short time. It wouldn't be hard now to find a capable replacement.

For now, we wait.