Arkansas interim coach Barry Lunney, Jr., met with the media Wednesday about his first few days after taking over for Chad Morris, who was fired Sunday, and updated some injury statuses.
Neighbors previews midweek matchup with Oral Roberts
Arkansas women’s coach Mike Neighbors talked Wednesday afternoon about the game Thursday night at Bud Walton Arena against ORU, who will provide a different matchup issue.
Musselman on positives, few negatives in win over North Texas on Tuesday
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman talked with the media after the 66-43 win over a deliberate Mean Green team at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night.
Whitt, Bailey recapping Razorbacks’ win over Mean Green on Tuesday night
Razorback players Jimmy Whitt, Jr., and Adrio Bailey talked about picking up the defense in the 66-43 win over North Texas on Tuesday night.
Fans all have their favorite to be Hogs’ coach, but Yurachek has the parameters
Anybody that would know who the next Arkansas football coach is going to be, they aren’t saying anything … and, as usual, the only ones jabbering don’t really know anything.
The guess here is Hunter Yurachek knows what he wants and he deflected that Monday.
“All will be considered,” he said.
He has the parameters he’s got to work within and most of us have no idea exactly what that is, but it’s a good guess he knows a lot more about what’s needed, who might be interested and what might work than anybody knows.
Most fans will trust his decision more than the last hiring process, which in hindsight looks more like a knee-jerk reaction based on a little too much urgency.
Shoot, even Gus Malzahn may be on the table right now. Tigers defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is the best coach at Auburn right now and it’s a good bet the powers that be down there might be willing to work out a deal just to get the Gus Bus out of town.
Whether he’s really a fit at Arkansas is not known. He has won with the Tigers, but he can round up better players there than he could in Fayetteville. Can he win games in the SEC coaching up two-star and three-star players?
Remember, just because a coach has had success somewhere else doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen at Arkansas, which is a unique place.
And right now there’s a lot of coaches that think it’s where coaches go to disappear.
All of that calls for the requisite listing:
You don’t really want these guys
• Mike Leach. Yes, he was able to recruit at Texas Tech, so he knows a thing or two about Texas, but he’s never really been able to win the biggest games when it counted.
For those of us in the media it would be fun times, but is he really the answer? I don’t think so, but that’ just my opinion.
• Lane Kiffin. There’s always a buzz about him but everywhere he’s left has been a path of destruction behind him. Sorta like what you see after a tornado.
Plus, does he really know anything about Arkansas? He was a toddler when his dad Monte was Lou Holtz’ defensive coordinator from 1977-79.
• Bobby Petrino. A lot of people want to just talk about his apology for getting caught in an inappropriate relationship after flying through the handlebars, but he was going to do a repeat of what just happened at Louisville.
Yurachek wouldn’t be bullied like Jeff Long was and the main baggage with Petrino had nothing to do with his relationship. Yes, he can draw up plays and call ’em, but he discovered in Louisville II he can’t bully the players any more, either.
• Jon Gruden. Please, not again
Intriguing possibilities
• Houston Nutt. He wants back in coaching, is a convert to a spread offense that is a lot like what Morris had and has won at Arkansas in the SEC. He also has a ton of support from former players and a lot of boosters.
But is he the right fit at this time for Arkansas?
• Sam Pittman. It’s not a very well-kept secret he would be interested in the job, can recruit like crazy and develop offensive linemen. But can he do the same magic at other positions on the field, build a staff and handle in-game decisions?
He’s at Georgia now which has managed to blow key games under Kirby Smart with incredibly bad sideline management. That’s not just my opinion, but what other SEC current and former coaches tell me.
• Barry Lunney, Jr. If you want a similar situation to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, it’s Lunney, not Chad Morris. Remember, Swinney was the wide receivers coach with zero coordinator experience when handed the keys to the Tigers.
And, don’t forget, he’s got the keys to the car to drive around for three weeks.
• Tim Horton. Another former player who has spent time at various college football coaching stops and knows the ropes about as well as anyone could imagine.
Whether he’s a viable candidate or not, there should be a place for him somewhere in the program.
The water-cooler favorites right now
• Mike Norvell. The Memphis coach has a lot of support, mainly because he puts an offense on the field that lights up scoreboards. His defense also lets the other time light up the other side of that scoreboard, but I’m not sure that matters after watching LSU and Alabama combine for 87 points in one game.
• Eliah Drinkwitz. Having an 8-1 success in his first year at Appalachian State, has ties to Arkansas and has worked as an assistant (with success) around the country.
But he’s likely going to come at a premium, which is what happens when you have big success in your first year, accomplishing what he’s done in his first year.
There’s at least a baker’s dozen of other names being thrown out there, but it’s hard to see any of them being a fit for Arkansas.
In the end, that’s the most important thing. Coaching the Razorbacks is unique, from just about every perspective you can think of.
It’s going to take someone different is the guess from here and, no, I don’t have the answer.
But I am pretty sure Yurachek has an idea.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye on Hunter Yurachek’s future, remedies for Tye’s cold, plus Nikki Chavanelle!
Lunney wins press conference, but he’s got to do more to be considered
Barry Lunney, Jr., may never win a game as head coach at Arkansas, but he won the press conference Monday and it’s been awhile since a head football coach has been able to do that.
“We’ve lost what it’s like to be Razorbacks the last few weeks,” he said Monday after being announced as the interim coach after Chad Morris was fired Sunday. “We’re going to do our best to pump that back into the players the next few weeks.”
The first sentence got the attention of a lot of a fan base that is exhausted. Poor old Eddie in Clarksville may even take the bag off his head during games … in his own living room.
Lunney delivered one sound bite after another that fans have been desperate to hear from a Hogs’ football coach. Morris, bless his heart, ran laps around questions with tired clichès and coachspeak.
Maybe the biggest difference with Lunney is he played for the Hogs, he’s coached at the highest level of Arkansas high school football, had college experience elsewhere … and he’s been in this spot before.
“Twenty-seven years ago I was thrust into a similar situation,” he said Monday. “Joe Kines took over in 1992, and he said at that time, ‘We’re all interim.’ I told the players last night that I saw firsthand what it was like.”
He also was part of some big-time turnarounds for the program. In that 1992 season when Frank Broyles hauled off and fired Jack Crowe after an opening-day loss to The Citadel, Lunney was a freshman.
Nobody gave them much of a chance that first year in the SEC and they appeared to be proving that to be prophetic.
Lunney, maybe as much as anyone connected with Razorback football right now, knows exactly how much it means to play for the Hogs.
“You’ve got to understand the history and the heritage of this program,” he said.
That alone could be the defining statement for a lot of Hog fans. Never mind the fact he actually DID it on the field, leading the team to a win over No. 4 Tennessee as a freshman, then hitting a touchdown pass late to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
During Lunney’s time as a left-handed quarterback, he pretty much was a prototype for Bear Bryants comment that, “you can never tell about left-handed quarterbacks and left-handed crapshooters.”
He proved he would figure out a way to win. Even when he started a couple of those seasons as the backup after missing spring practice playing baseball, he didn’t gripe or complain … he just won the starting spot back a couple of games into the sesaon.
“I’m a believer in what has been done before can be done again,” Lunney said. “What one team in history can do, another can do.”
He knows, though, it’s not going to be a traditional path and he wants to keep a talented group of freshmen together.
“There has to be a perfect storm of events,” he said. “Sticking together is going to be important.”
Nobody is picking Arkansas to beat LSU. That would be too much to really expect. But there is talent on this team and it was not playing at the level of that talent, which is why Yurachek kicked Morris to the curb.
“There is plenty of talent in this locker room,” Yurachek said Monday. “It may not be Alabama-type talent, but there is talent.”
Enter Lunney. He’s trying to stay focused on what he’s got to work with and that’s an off week before going to Baton Rouge for that game, which will be at 6 p.m. on ESPN, then closing out against Missouri in Little Rock.
“We have to play with more heart,” Lunney said. “If our guys don’t believe they can win, it doesn’t matter. That’s what we’ve seen the last few weeks. We lost some heart after the Kentucky game.”
Yurachek didn’t rule out Lunney having a shot at getting the job on a more permanent basis.
“We will look at head coaches, former head coaches and others,” Yurachek said. “All will be considered.”
Don’t get carried away. It’s unlikely Bobby Petrino or Houston Nutt are coming back. The truth is that of those two, probably the latter has a better shot than the former. Yurachek wouldn’t let The Great Playcaller operate without adult supervision like Jeff Long did.
“Being the head coach at Arkansas is a dream of mine,” Lunney said.
He knows what has to happen for him to even get any type of serious consideration.
“My sole focus is getting our players to play their best game when we go to LSU,” he said. “I just want it to be the best we’ve played. That is my sole focus.”
Which is, when you look at closely, is exactly what it should be.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Connor O’Gara
Phil & Tye on who will be the next Arkansas football coach, plus an interview with Connor O’Gara!
