Morris’ vision drew Ross to Arkansas from Dallas

Randy Ross spent 17 years coaching in the Southeastern Conference.

He loved it. Winning a national championship as part of Gene Stallings’ staff at Alabama in 1993 gave him a taste for winning in a league that has always been around the top of the powers in college football.

When Chad Morris was named the Razorbacks’ coach in December, Ross didn’t waste much time debating joining him in Fayetteville. He had been at Southern Methodist for 11 years, the last three with Morris.

“The three years with Chad were the most fun I’d had being in administration,” Ross said Wednesday, just a couple of days before players start reporting and the pace of life picks up dramatically.

“I believe in what he’s doing,” he said. “It was a chance to get back in the SEC.”

Ross went to work for Stallings at Alabama in 1990, spent four years on the sidelines and then moved into administrative roles until Nick Saban was hired in 2007 and basically cleaned house.

“I may have been a little naive, but I never thought I’d leave Alabama,” he said. “Retiring there was the plan, we got fired and redirected, but I’ve still got great friends there.”

Phil Bennett was at SMU when he went to Dallas and the Mustangs were still battling the effects of rebuilding after a two-year death sentence in 1987-88. That lasted a year until Bennett got fired and in came June Jones, hot off a stretch that put Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl after the 2007 season.

“It was seven years with June and we really enjoyed Dallas,” Ross said.

Then came Morris and Ross, like nearly everyone who’s been around Morris, bought in totally.

“He’s a visionary,” Ross said. “He has a plan for everything from recruiting, facilities and everything. I felt he plans and goals would work at a school that could support that.

“Plus, he’s the most consistent coach I’ve been around.”

Ross has always felt Arkansas could support that vision.

“When I was at Alabama, we came here seven times and once in Little Rock,” Ross said. “I always enjoyed coming up here. The fans are very passionate, the facilities are great and the pieces are here for success.”

With some in the media critical of Morris coming to Arkansas from SMU, their knock on the hire has been, well, he didn’t have highly-ranked recruiting classes there so he couldn’t do it at Arkansas.

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Maybe nobody is in a better position to compare the two schools, although Ross didn’t want it to be critical of SMU’s policies because he obviously still has a lot of respect for the school.

“You can’t compare the two,” he said. “It’s hard for a non-Power 5 school to get the same players you can get being in the SEC, but SMU is an academic school. Aside from the entrance requirements, the academic competition is very different.

“Players trying to keep up with students that have these SAT scores very high is tough. They do give athletes a little leeway to get in, but if you have an athlete that can’t keep up with these high-performing students in the classroom, the teacher isn’t going to slow up the class for one student.”

While going through the Smith Center for the interview, workers are everywhere with drop cloths and construction going on almost non-stop. Ross is the man making sure it’s all getting done.

“With the way things are changing, you’ve almost got to have a shovel in the ground 365 days a year,” Ross said. “As the staff has grown, we’re just doing some renovating on what was already a great facility and trying to get everybody situated.”

And there’s always the over-riding importance Morris wants for Arkansas football these days.

“It’s all about recruiting,” Ross said. “This staff is fanatical about the recruiting and everything we do is geared towards that.”

Even Ross. He makes sure everything is working on recruiting weekends and answers any questions the players or their families may have.

On game days, Ross is responsible for everything on the back end coming together. He is responsible for basically getting the team to the hotel and to the stadium on time.

“You have to prepare for anything,” he said.

During the games and at practices, you can see Ross close enough to the action to keep his old coaching instincts fed, but he’s not there to coach.

“When I first got out I missed it bad,” he said. “You always have it in your blood. In my role now, I think it’s a benefit for our staff to have someone who knows what they go through and can represent them when we are talking about getting things done.”

Every year makes not coaching a little easier.

“But as you get older the less you want to go back. I had someone tell me one time to write down everything you didn’t like about coaching and look at it every once in awhile,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone can remember the things they like, but it’s good to look at what you didn’t like.”

Now, though, at Arkansas it may be Chad Morris’ vision, but Ross is the one who makes sure it’s happening.

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“My goal every day is to make sure what (Morris) wants done gets done,” he said. “No matter what, inside and outside make sure it’s running like Chad Morris wants every day.”

It’s all part of building a winning program and Ross has been part of getting a national championship program put together and winning at a high level.

And that’s what he and Morris are wanting to build in Fayetteville.