There were plenty of reasons Bret Bielema was unsuccessful at Arkansas. I’d add surprisingly, but not everyone agrees with me there.
Along with a sharp drop in quality of assistants and lack of recruiting, Bielema’s disdain for playing games at War Memorial Stadium stands out among factors that led to his demise.
Bielema finished 3-3 in Little Rock, but all three of those wins were against Football Championship Subdivision opponents.
The loss to mid-major Toledo in 2015 was one of the nails in his coffin. A Toledo team that was without future NFL star running back Kareem Hunt no less.
The other losses were an overtime loss to Mississippi State in 2013 and a blowout loss to Georgia in 2014 that was deflating to some who were encouraged by close losses to Texas A&M and Alabama.
The bellyaching coupled with the lackluster efforts that Bielema and former athletics director Jeff Long blamed on sparse WMS crowds, irritated the UA Board of Trustees and made it easy to send Bielema packing.
Long agreed with the former coach and planned to pull games out of Little Rock. After the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism began managing the stadium, Gov. Asa Hutchinson supported games in Little Rock and so did the BOT.
That left Long in a pickle and eventually with a pink slip.
So now enter new Hogs coach Chad Morris and athletics director Hunter Yurachek. Both have enthusiastically supported the idea of keeping with the long-standing tradition.
Are they toeing the company line?
Yes, but they see the bigger picture. They understand that games will be played at WMS every other year and the spring game the other years.
They don’t want any negative thoughts creeping into the locker room. They want to win as many games as possible for more than one reason.
“I cannot wait to go down to our home stadium at War Memorial there in Little Rock on a Saturday night,” Morris told the media this week. “I think it’s the first time since 1999 (well, there was a Thursday night game against South Carolina in 2003, but close enough) that there will be a night SEC game.
“We’re extremely excited about this. I know we’re expecting the atmosphere to be incredible. The tailgating will be outstanding. The weather will be fabulous.
“But we need you in the stands for kickoff. We need you loud, we need you excited and we need this place to be rocking on Saturday night at 6:30.”
Arkansas has lost five straight games despite showing improvement. Morris knows if his team is going to make a late-season run, they need to win Saturday night against an Ole Miss team that may be a little better than average.
The game is realistically winnable. It wouldn’t be smart for Morris to take the podium bad-mouthing the 70-year-old stadium knowing there is plenty of negative thoughts that could be creeping into his players’ minds.
Morris has shown a knack for keeping things positive which must be tough at times.
As we approach game day the UA ticket office confirms tickets are in short supply. Special things happen at the stadium at night.
The tailgating on the golf course is among the best atmospheres in college football. If Morris gets his first SEC win in Little Rock against Ole Miss, it will only add to the mystique and really warm the coach up to playing here.
Just because Long is gone, it doesn’t change the fact that playing at War Memorial Stadium doesn’t make economic sense or help recruiting with no official visitors that weekend.
But Yurachek wants to unite the state and include all boosters and fans. That was something mentioned before he was hired.
There are still fans that won’t travel to Little Rock for a game, but rotating every year and substituting a game with the spring game is a good compromise.
It shows forward thinking and a solution that Long probably never thought of.
Both men know that winning cures all. If the Hogs win often, it doesn’t matter where the games are played. Both stadiums will be full.
The foundation for winning begins by embracing playing games at War Memorial Stadium. That was something Bielema and Long never did.
