Phil & Tye on Chad Morris heading to Auburn, Clay Henry on Sam Pittman, plus some Hog news!
Razorbacks ranked in first swimming-diving poll after Mizzou Invitational
Fayetteville — Arkansas swimming landed in the Top 30 of the latest CSCAA/TYR poll, checking in at 26th in the nation heading into 2020.
The Hogs earned the spot inside the Top 30 with their stellar performances at the three-day Mizzou Invite in late November.
Anna Hopkin broke six records and posted the fastest 200 free in the nation along with the fifth-best performance in split history in the 200-medley relay.
Peyton Palsha set a new personal best in the 400 IM with the fourth-fastest time in the nation, and sophomore Molly Moore came in fifth in the 100 back, clocking a lifetime best of 54.14.
Arkansas finishes the calendar year with a total of 40 lifetime bests, and multiple NCAA ‘A’ and ‘B’ cuts.
The Razorbacks return to action at the Tennessee Diving Invite Jan. 3.
Gymbacks ranked No. 19 in preseason poll by WCGA; 14th straight year in Top 20
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas gymnastics will begin the year ranked 19th by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA), as the organization released its preseason poll less than a month from the start of the 2019 season.
It marks the 14th consecutive year the Gymbacks have been ranked in the top 20 in the debut rankings. Last season, Arkansas started the year at No. 12 and climbed as high as 10th in the WCGA poll.
Fifteen student-athletes represent this year’s Arkansas gymnastics squad, including junior Sophia Carter and senior Hailey Garner, who competed at the NCAA Championships last year on floor and beam, respectively.
It is the first season under head coach and Olympic & World Champion Jordyn Wieber and her staff of Chris Brooks and Catelyn Orel.
Arkansas will host five teams at Barnhill Arena over the course of the 2020 season, beginning with Denver on Friday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m.
The Gymbacks will also square off with Kentucky (Jan. 24), Georgia (Feb. 7), Auburn (Feb. 21) and Penn State (March 13) as part of their home slate.
The Gymbacks kick off their 2020 season on Friday, Jan. 10, at Florida, with the home opener slated for the following weekend against Denver in Barnhill Arena.
Hogs’ McFadden officially inducted into College Hall of Fame
FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas running back Darren McFadden was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame class of 2019 on Tuesday night in a ceremony in New York City.
McFadden is the 20th Razorback to earn a spot in the illustrious Hall and the 10th player to receive the accolade, including the first inductee chosen for his University of Arkansas playing career since Ronnie Caveness in 2010.
“Growing up in Arkansas, my dream was to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks,” McFadden said. “To be able to do that and now to be recognized with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame is something I couldn’t have imagined.
“I’m so grateful to my family, Coach Houston Nutt and my many other coaches, Dean Weber, my teammates and everyone in the Razorback Nation for supporting me throughout my collegiate and professional career.
“When I look at the others who have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, including many from the University of Arkansas, I am truly honored and humbled to be included in such a distinguished group.”
One of the most decorated players in Arkansas history and a two-time runner up for the Heisman Trophy, McFadden was the 2007 Player of the Year by the Walter Camp Foundation and The Sporting News.
He racked up 25 first-team All-America honors (six Freshman All-American selections), won the Doak Walker Award twice and is a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year. He is the only Razorback in program history to win multiple national awards in his career.
McFadden ranks second on the SEC career rushing list with 4,590 yards and averaged 120.8 yards per game during his three-year career, third-best in league history.
He rushed for 100 yards or more a school-record 22 times, and is one of only three players in SEC history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. His 321 yards vs. South Carolina in 2007 remains tied for the SEC record for rushing yards in a game.
He capped his Arkansas campaign with 41 rushing touchdowns, good for second-most in school history.
After his collegiate career, McFadden was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He played 10 seasons in the NFL for the Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.
Last year, he was named to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and was honored as an SEC Legend during the 2018 SEC Championship game.
McFadden and the other inductees in the 2019 class will be recognized at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10, 2019, at the Hilton Midtown in New York City.
Other members of the 2019 class include: Terrell Buckley, Rickey Dixon, Dennis Erickson, London Fletcher, Jacob Green, Torry Holt, Raghib Ismail, Jake Plummer, Troy Polamalu, Joe Taylor, Joe Thomas, Lorenzo White, Patrick Willis and Vince Young.
Razorbacks in the NFF College Football Hall of Fame
2019 – Darren McFadden (RB)
2017 – Danny Ford (HC)
2012 – Jimmy Johnson (DL/AC)
2010 – Ronnie Caveness (LB)
2008 – Lou Holtz (HC)
2004 – Wayne Harris (LB)
2004 – Tracy Rocker (AC)
2003 – Doug Dickey (AC)
2003 – Hayden Fry (AC)
2001 – Barry Switzer (AC)
2000 – Billy Ray Smith Jr. (LB)
1999 – Chuck Dicus (WR)
1997 – Bowden Wyatt (HC)
1992 – Loyd Phillips (DL)
1987 – Johnny Majors (AC)
1984 – Lance Alworth (WR)
1983 – Frank Broyles (HC)
1971 – Clyde Scott (RB/DB)
1967 – Wear Schoonover (WR)
1954 – Hugo Bezdek (HC)
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Pittman/Yurachek comments plus Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye react to Sam Pittman and Hunter Yurachek’s press conference, plus Nikki Chavanelle!
Malzahn hiring Morris as offensive coordinator one way to land QB
Gus Malzahn’s hiring of former Arkansas coach Chad Morris is one way Auburn can land a four-star quarterback.
Morris, who went 4-18 with the Razorbacks before getting fired with two games left in his second season, will be replacing Kenny Dillingham, who left to join Mike Norvell’s first staff at Florida State.
Morris was on Auburn’s campus with his son, Chandler, during the Iron Bowl on Nov. 30.
Chandler Morris is a 4-star quarterback prospect in the class of 2020, and is considering Auburn, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and others. He was previously committed to Arkansas before his father was fired in November.
Chad Morris had said before Chandler committed to the Hogs “he’s the only recruit that I can buy a car for him and his mother.”
Relax, it’s within the rules. Quite frankly if there are any other potential coaches with kids that are four-star recruits, newly-hired Hogs’ coach Sam Pittman should lock them down right now.
They have been close friends since their days coaching high school football (Morris in Texas and Malzahn in Arkansas). Morris adopted and adapted Malzahn’s offense in 2004 after the two met and shared ideas for nearly a week at Springdale High in Arkansas.
One thing it will do is likely mitigate some of Arkansas’ buyout to Morris. The last time he was a coordinator he was pulling down $1.3 million a year at Clemson. Considering that school is pretty much Auburn with a lake, the Tigers may be a little above that which could reduce the $2.45 million a year buyout he’s getting here.
But he will likely more than former coach Bret Bielema claims to be making coaching the defensive line for the New England Patriots.
Razorbacks’ Burks named to SEC’s second team as return specialist
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ Treylon Burks has been named to the 2019 All-SEC second team as a return specialist by the conference’s coaches.
It is the first return specialist award for the Razorbacks since De’Vion Warren in 2017 (All-Freshman Team) and Burks is the first to earn the honor as a first or second team designee since Joe Adams landed on the first team as a wide receiver and punt returner in 2011.
Burks, a freshman from Warren, Arkansas, saw action on both kickoff and punt returns this season, totaling 22 between the two. He returned 10 kickoffs for 226 yards, averaging 22.6 per play, while returning 12 punts for 130 yards for a clip of 10.8 per return.
He ranked sixth in the conference this season in kickoff return yards per game at 20.5 and eighth in punt return yards per game at 11.8. His top return game came against Mississippi State on Nov. 2, totaling 134 kick return yards, which were the most by a Razorback since 2017.
On top of his prowess in the return game, Burks also made an impact on offense, leading Arkansas in receiving yards with 475 on 29 receptions for a team-best 16.4 yards per catch.
He led all SEC freshmen during the regular season in yards per game (43.2) and receptions per game (2.6).
2019 Postseason Honors
Treylon Burks — Pro Football Focus All-Freshman Team (Honorable Mention)
Treylon Burks — Coaches All-SEC Return Specialist (Second Team)
De’Jon Harris — Associated Press All-SEC (Second Team)
Trey Knox — Pro Football Focus All-Freshman Team (Honorable Mention)
Ricky Stromberg — Pro Football Focus All-Freshman Team (Third Team)
Yurachek replaces nonsense of last few years with some sense
When Frank Broyles finally tired of Lou Holtz’ increasing lack of interest in finding players at Arkansas in 1983 and brought in Ken Hatfield, one of the sage old observers had a comment that jumped to mind today.
“We’ve replaced nonsense with sense,” someone said during Hatfield’s first spring practice, although it sounds exactly like something Wilson Matthews would have said nobody remembers for sure.
Hunter Yurachek didn’t hire Chad Morrs, but two years of watching what went downhill from the first game in 2018 to not even being that competitive against Western Kentucky was enough.
He had already gotten the aim steady for a few weeks before pulling the trigger.
After a flirtation with a flashy hire in Lane Kiffin, he quietly turned to likely what was needed desperately for the Razorbacks: an old line coach that just puts his head down and goes to work.
Enter Sam Pittman.
His infectious personality is probably what put him over the top in the entire hiring process. Plus he wanted to be the coach of the Hogs more than anybody since Houston Nutt rolled through a search committee and knocked Tommy Tuberville out of the way in 1997.
Yurachek replaced what has amounted to eight years of complete nonsense with a common sense approach to rebuilding a program that is the worst in the SEC.
“It’s time for our football program to no longer be at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference,” Yurachek said after introducing Pittman at what was, at times, an emotional ceremony in the indoor football facility.
Hiring a career offensive line coach puts somebody at the top that will know what the problem is with the Hogs inside and, maybe more importantly, what to do about it.
When he was here with Bret Bielema from 2013-15, Pittman was the chief architect of an offensive line that consistently made national headlines. They also opened up holes for folks and made Brandon Allen one of the top quarterbacks in the league, primarily by keeping people off his back.
It was interesting to note he didn’t mention Bielema by name a single time. They didn’t exactly remain fast friends when Pittman left in 2015, fed up with Bielema’s apparent lack of interest.
Pittman has been around some bad teams before. He was on John Blake’s staff the last two seasons he was at Oklahoma during a period of time Sooner fans would like to forget.
Blake couldn’t organize a one-car funeral and managed to tell so many different stories he actually started believing multiple versions of them himself.
But he’s also been around some winners, most recently at Georgia as the Bulldogs ripped off a 43-12 mark. That includes a 35-7 record over the last three seasons, a national title game appearance, an SEC title and three straight division titles.
Don’t give me the stuff about him not having head coaching experience. Success elsewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win at another place.
Especially these days. The trend has been hiring coaches with no previous head coaching experience. Three of the four coaches in this year’s College Football Playoff are in their first job at the top.
“Every head coach that is a head coach now wasn’t at some point,” he said Monday. “But at some point, someone’s got to trust you and believe in you.”
That was Yurachek, who has figured out that coaching the Hogs is a rather unique situation that doesn’t mean what works somewhere else will work here.
Pittman knows that. He was in the homes of recruits on Monday and will be going to visit Morrilton quarterback Jacolby Criswell in an attempt to keep him in Arkansas after he committed to North Carolina last fall.
Maybe the biggest indicator the current players are buying in is four-star cornerback Devin Bush taking his name out of the transfer portal. Pittman said it all starts with recruiting your current team and he can thank Morris later for keeping the redshirts on 17 freshmen.
It’s just more ammo for a coach that knows the state and has been a key part of a team winning division titles, league titles and playing for a national championship.
“With all my experience with different SEC schools and working with different people, it’s been a very great thing for me to learn from things I like and things I don’t,” Pittman said. “We’ll try to put them all together and be the best program that we can be.”
There were no slogans or catch phrases. Oh, he should trademark “Yesssirrr!” but there haven’t been any grandiose or rehearsed marketing slogans.
Just a plan to get back to playing tough and working hard … kinda the way other Razorback coaches that have been successful have done things.
Like someone said back in 1984, the Hogs are replacing nonsense with sense.
Pittman press conference: ‘You have to recruit the team you have now’
New Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman said in his first press conference after itroduction Monday the recruiting starts with the players currently on the team.
