John & Tommy discuss recruiting spending, funny Eddy O comments, plus Richard Davenport!
Quarterback may be most intriguing competition in Hogs’ camp
Chad Morris has used just about every cliché in the coaches’ manual about how he wants players fighting every single day for playing time for Arkansas this fall.
That’s why practices that start Friday morning may have an interesting battle at the quarterback spot between a pair of graduate transfers from Texas schools in Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel.
Hicks is a fairly calm, low-key, guy who seems to always keep his cool, even with the media back during spring practices.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Starkel enjoys those energy drinks Morris has daily, reading a story by Tom Murphy at WholeHogSports.com on Wednesday.
Hicks played at SMU, a Dallas-based school that prides itself on a preppy atmosphere. Starkel played at Texas A&M, which is in College Station and was a military, guys-only, place less than 60 years ago.
Hicks played for Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock with the Mustangs for three years.
Starkel played for Kevin Sumlin and Jimbo Fisher, feels like he got screwed with the Aggies and knows the offense as well as Hicks.
The biggest difference is Starkel has a cannon for an arm while Hicks can fling it, but everybody has talked about the way the ball jumps out of his hand.
All of that means this may be one of the most interesting quarterback competitions in a long time on campus.
The guess here is Morris is going to not name a starter publicly until near the end of fall camp. I’m not holding out any hope we’ll be able to figure out anything in the 20 minutes of several practices the media will get to see.
Arkansas’ running game will probably be determined by how good the passing game is, especially early in games and the season.
If you’re expecting to suddenly go back 10 years in the way the world of college football has evolved and see the good ol’ running game set up the pass, well, it doesn’t work that way anymore.
The Razorbacks are going to have to throw the ball with a talented group of receivers that will be better than anybody’s guessing right now, at least in my opinion. The running backs may put up some pretty big numbers, but that will only be if the passing game opens up the running lanes.
Running backs coach Jeff Traylor talked Monday about how much he’s liking that he’s got the numbers this year. That’s why they welcomed T.J. Hammonds back to go along with a diverse group led by Rakeem Boyd.
Defense is going to be a question mark for the Hogs, so they may have to simply out-score some folks to win games.
How well they do that is likely going to depend on the quarterback.
And we probably won’t know who that will be, but the general thinking is Hicks will start the season and Starkel will take over sooner rather than later.
It likely is going to be interesting, regardless how it plays out.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Clay Henry
Phil & Tye discuss media access to Arkansas football, Clay Henry on Paul Eells, Bill King on a great Urban/Saban story and more!
Morris on Halftime talking fall camp, recruiting, prep coaching days
Arkansas head coach Chad Morris joined Phil & Tye to discuss fall camp, recruiting and more!
Razorbacks set two-game series with Utah for 2026, 2028
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas and Utah are set to play a home-and-home football series as part of the 2026 and 2028 seasons.
The Razorbacks will travel to Salt Lake City to take on the Utes on Sept. 12, 2026, in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
The Utes will make the return trip to Fayetteville on Sept. 16, 2028. The last time the Razorbacks played a member of the Pac-12 was in 2006 against USC and are 4-6-1 against current members of the Pac-12 all time.
Arkansas is set to open the second year under coach Chad Morris and the 2019 season at home against Portland State on Aug. 31 inside Razorback Stadium.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday
John & Tommy discuss excitement for fall camp, interview Hutch, and What’s Your Beef Wednesday!
Schaefer gets title to match what he’s been doing for Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors continues to retool his staff, announcing the promotion of Todd Schaefer to associate head coach Tuesday.
“Today’s announcement is simply a public recognition of what everyone in and around our program has known for the last three years,” Neighbors said. “None of our success would have been possible without Todd Schaefer being with us.
“Coach Todd has helped shape our identity on the court and has reinforced our culture off of it. He has had a major impact on every aspect of our program.
“The title associate head coach implies various things from program to program, but in ours, it displays the highest level of trust and talent. It is evidence that he has earned the confidence of coaches and players alike. The title here has been earned and is well deserved. He has been, and will continue to be, a highly sought-after head coach.
“We are thankful he, Lisa, Landon, Will, and Jake have made Northwest Arkansas their home to help us build pride around our women’s basketball program. Todd and I have successfully busted the myth that you can’t hire friends in this profession.
“After being friends for 17 years before working together, we continue to challenge each other daily to make sure we are getting it right, rather than focusing on who is right.”
“I strongly believe in what we are doing here,” Schaefer said. “I believe in our on-court philosophy.
“But more than that, I believe in the culture of trust between coaches and players we have built here at Arkansas. It’s really unique in this day and age, and it’s something I embrace. I love working in this office and for this program.”
The promotion of Schaefer comes after two seasons at Arkansas and three seasons serving as Neighbors’ right hand.
Through those three campaigns, the Neighbors-Schaefer combination has amassed an impressive 64 wins, including a 22-win showing in their most recent season together.
Schaefer was the only coach on the 2016-17 Washington staff that followed Neighbors to Arkansas.
Schaefer has become the go-to guy on Neighbors’ staff, helping with any and all aspects of the program, including scouting, recruiting and administration.
However, Schaefer is most well-known for his ability to develop talent, and the ways he uses player feedback and creative workouts to get the most out of those he coaches.
Schaefer, who grew up playing football, had to learn to play the game of basketball at a different level than more natural athletes in order to compete with them on the hardwood.
That ability to learn in his playing days, along with his longevity in the sport, has translated into an unparalleled ability to teach the game that he loves.
“Todd is unbelievable at developing talent,” assistant coach Pauline Love said. “He knows every mechanical detail, every drill, by heart. He is a genius in this game. He is smart to the point where he seems to have an answer for everything.
“And, if he doesn’t, you know he will do whatever it takes to figure it out.”
Schaefer combines his intellect and the trust players have in him into results.
All you have to do to see those results is look at some of the players he has helped mold during his time at Arkansas, Washington and his previous stop at Ole Miss.
This past season at Arkansas, the player development guru helped unlock Chelsea Dungee’s game in a season in which she shattered Arkansas’ single-season scoring record.
While at Washington, Schaefer helped shape Kelsey Plum, who would go on to become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer during Schaefer’s one-year tenure with the school.
Before that, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native helped build up Ole Miss guard Shandricka Sessom, improving her scoring output from 5.3 points per game as a freshman to 15.6 PPG the following year.
Other coaching stops for Schaefer during his illustrious career include Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Arkansas Tech, Christian Brothers University, Allen County Community College, Western Illinois and Greenbrier High School.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Schaefer earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English at Thomas More College in 1995 while working as a student assistant basketball coach and playing on the football team.
He and his wife, Lisa, have three sons, Landon, Will and Jake.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Bobby Portis
Tye & Brad Caldwell of River Valley Now hit on the coaches’ comments before fall camp, Bobby Portis and more!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John & Tommy discuss the Arkansas golf event, Musselman hiring his son, plus Tom Murphy!
Musselman hires son as director of recruiting for Hogs’ basketball
FAYETTEVILLE — Michael Musselman has been hired as the University of Arkansas men’s basketball director of recruiting, his father and Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman announced Monday.
Prior to Arkansas, Musselman spent one year (2018-19) as a graduate assistant at Nevada, helping the team win 29 games, win a Mountain West Championship and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.
Musselman previously served as a student manager at his alma mater, the University of San Diego. In his four years with the Toreros, he assisted the team in practice sessions, scouting reports, film editing and statistical analysis.
Musselman extends the coaching legacy that was started by his grandfather, Bill Musselman, and continued by his father, Eric Musselman.
Musselman received his bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in business administration from San Diego in 2018. He completed his master’s degree in educational leadership from Nevada in the summer of 2019.
Harris, Burks, Catalon get strong positives bouncing back from injuries
If you were expecting any bombshells at the annual golf outing Monday before fall camp starts, well, sorry, but there wasn’t anything.
Truth be told there wasn’t going to be anything good, so in a way it was positive. Everybody has made it through summer workouts without getting hurt. Remember, offensive lineman Ryan Winkel tore a pectoral muscle on his first bench press last summer and missed the whole season.
“We are in a much better spot this year than we were at this time last year,” strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll said on Monday.
He would know because he’s actually the closest thing to a coach around the players during the summer, not counting graduate transfer quarterback Ben Hicks, who is basically a graduate assistant coach in a uniform. Well within NCAA rules in case you’re questioning anything there.
Even the guys in the summer who were coming back from injuries apparently are doing fine and dandy, according to Carroll.
Senior linebacker De’jon Harris sat out the spring after foot problems forced putting a screw in and freshmen Treylon Burks and Jalen Catelon suffered knee injuries requiring surgery last fall.
All are good to go, according to Carroll … and making an impression.
“Scoota (Harris) is moving faster than I’ve ever seen him,” Carroll said Monday. “From an agility standpoint, he’s like, oh my goodness. It’s fun to watch.”
Burks has gotten Carroll’s attention, too.
“They still make him wear his knee brace when he does certain things just as a safety precaution,” he said. “But when he’s out there running routes and doing all of that, he looks really good. Really fluid, really fluid.”
Wide receivers coach Justin Stepp said Burks is fighting a natural wariness over the knee.
“There’s times when he doesn’t trust it,” he said Monday. “Once he gets more comfortable with the offense, he’ll be fine. He’s such a tough kid.
“He ain’t worried about nothin’ but playing football and fishing. We’re really excited about him and what he brings to our room.”
The biggest issue with Catalon is making sure he doesn’t wear himself out in the summer.
“He’s doing phenomenal,” Carroll said. “He’s one of those extra-work guys that’s going to be up there eight days per week. I really have to monitor his extra work to make sure he’s not running himself into the ground.”
Monday was simply a time to talk with the coaches in a fairly relaxed atmosphere, but nobody was going out on a limb.
You also got the idea last year’s season to forget is something they have all worked to avoid repeating this fall.
“It was very humbling,” defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said, adding it was the worst he’s endured in over 40 years on the field.
The process to erase that memory starts in earnest Friday. Here’s the workout schedule for August and who we’ll have for interviews (no freshmen will be available to the media until after they have played in a game):
• Friday, Aug. 2: Practice 1 (Chad Morris)
• Saturday, Aug. 3: Practice 2 (media day following practice)
• Monday, Aug. 5: Practice 3 (select players)
• Tuesday, Aug. 6: Practice 4 (Chad Morris)
• Wednesday, Aug. 7: Practice 5 (select players)
• Thursday, Aug. 8: Practice 6 (select players)
• Friday, Aug. 9: Practice 7 (no interviews)
• Saturday, Aug. 10: Scrimmage/practice 8 (Morris, Joe Craddock, John Chavis, select players)
• Monday, Aug. 12: Practice 9 (select players)
• Tuesday, Aug 13: Practice 10 (defensive assistants)
• Wednesday, Aug. 14: Practice 11 (Morris)
• Thursday, Aug. 15: Practice 12 (offensive assistants)
• Friday, Aug. 16: Practice 13 (No interviews/Kickoff Luncheon)
• Saturday, Aug. 17: Scrimmage/Practice 14 (Morris, select players)
• Monday, Aug. 19: Practice 15 (select players)
• Tuesday, Aug. 20: Practice 16 (Morris)
• Wednesday, Aug. 21: Practice 17 (Craddock, Chavis/first radio show)
• Thursday, Aug. 22: Practice 18 (Morris)
• Friday, Aug. 23: Practice 19 (no interviews)
• Saturday, Aug. 24: Beanie Bowl (Fan Day)
• Monday, Aug. 26: Game week press conference (Morris, Craddock, Chavis)
• Tuesday, Aug. 27: Practice (select players)
• Wednesday, Aug. 28: Practice (Morris pre-practice)
• Thursday, Aug. 29: Practice (no media availability)
• Friday, Aug. 30: Practice (no media availability)
• Saturday, Aug. 31: vs. Portland State, 3 p.m.
