ESPN’s Chris Low talks with Paul Finebaum about what Alabama head coach Nick Saban is thinking heading into the season.
Family statement on Frank Broyles’ passing
John Franklin Broyles
(Dec. 26, 1924 – Aug. 14, 2017)
Frank Broyles always said he lived a charmed life, and it was true. He leaves behind a multitude of legacies certain never to be replicated. Whether it was his unparalleled career in college athletics, as an athlete, coach, athletics administrator and broadcaster, or his tireless work in the fourth quarter of his life as an Alzheimer’s advocate, his passion was always the catalyst for changing the world around him for the better.
He felt he was blessed to work for more than 55 years in the only job he ever wanted, first as head football coach and then as athletic director at the University of Arkansas. An optimist and a visionary who looked at life with an attitude of gratitude, Broyles lived life to the fullest for 92 years, almost 60 of them in his adopted state of Arkansas. To all who knew him, including thousands of Razorback fans who never met him, he was Coach Broyles, ambassador to the Razorback Nation and the state of Arkansas. To countless others, he was an advocate for caregivers around the world.
Coach Broyles, 92, died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, on August 14, 2017. A man of faith and a true Southern gentleman, Coach Broyles was a native of Decatur, Ga., but adopted Arkansas as his home in December 1957, when he became the head football coach for the University of Arkansas. He leaves an unmatched legacy of more than five decades of service to the University of Arkansas, the Razorback athletic program, and Arkansas.
Born Dec., 1924, to O.T. and Mary Louise Solms Broyles in Atlanta, Broyles was the youngest of five children and was a three-sport athlete throughout high school and college. He received a B.S. degree in industrial management from Georgia Tech University in 1947, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball and set numerous records as quarterback of the Yellow Jacket football team. He led the Yellow Jackets to four football bowl appearances, was twice All-SEC and was the 1944 SEC Player of the Year.
He joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1942 just prior to his 18th birthday. While still at Georgia Tech, he was activated in early 1945 and served until the spring of 1946. In 1945, he married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Day, who remained his sweetheart until 2004, when she died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Coach Broyles and Barbara had four sons, Jack (Janet) Broyles, Hank (Mary Bassett) Broyles, Dan (Debra) Broyles and Tommy (Tisha) Broyles; twin daughters, Betsy (David) Arnold and Linda (Jim) Mayes; 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. In December 2005, Broyles married the former Gen Whitehead of Fayetteville, doubling the size of his family to include Gen’s seven children, Bruun (Kim Willis) Whitehead, Kathleen (George) Paulson, Eric (Jennifer) Whitehead, Joan (John) Threet, Ruth (Kevin) Trainor, Ted (Kelley) Whitehead and Philip (Kamron) Whitehead, as well as 13 grandchildren. Additionally, he is survived by his sister, Louise Broyles Ferguson of Cornelia, Ga., and numerous nieces and nephews. Broyles was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers (O.T. Broyles Jr., Charles Edward Broyles and Bill Broyles).
Following his graduation from Georgia Tech, Broyles was drafted in three sports, baseball, basketball and football, but he turned down professional offers to become an assistant football coach for Bob Woodruff at Baylor. After three years in Waco, he moved with Woodruff to Florida. A year later, Coach Bobby Dodd hired Broyles as the offensive backfield coach at Georgia Tech, and the team promptly rolled to a 31-game winning streak. In 1957, Broyles was named head football coach at the University of Missouri where he served one season before receiving an offer from UA Athletic Director John Barnhill to come to the University of Arkansas.
Broyles arrived in Fayetteville in December 1957, beginning a more than five-decade affiliation with the University of Arkansas and the Razorbacks as a coach and athletics administrator. In 19 seasons (1958-76) as the Razorbacks’ head football coach, Broyles amassed a record of 144-58-5, seven Southwest Conference (SWC) titles, 10 bowl bids, 20 All-Americans and 88 All-SWC selections.
In 1964, Broyles led the Razorback football team to an undefeated season that culminated in a 10-7 win over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl. The National Championship was awarded to the Razorbacks by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) following the bowl games. The Cotton Bowl was part of a school record 22-game winning streak launched in the final game of the 1963 season and ending in the 1966 Cotton Bowl.
In 1973, Broyles was named UA Director of Athletics, a title he balanced with his head coaching duties until 1976 when he retired as Razorback head coach. Soon after his retirement from coaching and while still serving as athletics director, Broyles made a move to the broadcasting booth working alongside legendary sports announcer Keith Jackson with ABC’s college football coverage for nine years.
During his 33½ years as Athletic Director (1976-2007), Broyles transformed the Razorbacks from a program competitive primarily in football to one of the most successful all-sports programs in the nation. His vision and leadership was the driving force behind the University of Arkansas moving to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1990. The move set the stage for the program’s growth and future success while dramatically changing the landscape of intercollegiate athletics.
Arkansas won 43 national titles, 57 SWC titles, and 48 SEC titles, and the football team went to 22 bowl games during his tenure as athletic director. Broyles worked tirelessly to build and renovate athletic venues including Bud Walton Arena, Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Baum Stadium at George Cole Field, John McDonnell Field and the Mary B. and Fred W. Smith Razorback Golf Center. Following his tenure as athletic director, Broyles continued to serve the program at the Razorback Foundation (2008-14).
Broyles garnered numerous prestigious awards throughout his career and was inducted into more than a dozen Halls of Fame. A member of the inaugural class of the UA Sports Hall of Honor, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. He is also a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame, Gator Bowl Hall of Fame, Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, Orange Bowl Hall of Fame, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame, SWC Hall of Fame and the State of Georgia Hall of Fame among others.
Broyles was honored by the National Football Foundation as the 2000 recipient of the John L. Toner Award for outstanding achievement as an athletic director. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette named him the most influential figure in athletics in the state during the 20th century. Broyles was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, including serving as its chairman from 1971-73 and later being named as a Lifetime Trustee of the organization.
In 1996, the Broyles Award was created in recognition of his long-standing history of developing successful assistant coaches. The Broyles Award is given annually to college football’s top assistant coach. In 2007, the field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium was dedicated as Frank Broyles Field.
In 2013, a bronze statue of him was dedicated in front of the Broyles Athletic Center, the athletics administration building which also bears his name.
In 1982, Coach Broyles chaired the “Campaign for Books” at the University of Arkansas, and more than 100,000 volumes were added to the University Libraries. He was co-chair of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century that raised $1.046 billion for the university and has been a generous personal benefactor to the university’s academic programs. In 2015, Broyles earned an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Arkansas.
Broyles was an avid golfer and a member of the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., for more than a half-century. Seven times Broyles hosted the awards ceremony at the Masters, including presenting the coveted “Green Jacket” to such legendary golfers as Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. In 1982, Broyles appeared in the TV miniseries “The Blue and The Gray.” Broyles played the doctor who pronounced President Abraham Lincoln (played by Gregory Peck) dead after being shot at Ford’s Theater.
Beyond his professional career in athletics, Broyles’ second legacy is his personal commitment to improving the quality of life for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and their loved ones. In 2006, Coach Broyles established the Barbara Broyles Legacy, later becoming the Frank & Barbara Broyles Legacy Foundation.
From 2005-10, Coach Broyles appeared before governmental agencies in Washington, D.C., and served on the White House Council on Aging. He spoke throughout the country at countless events and seminars on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association, as well as private eldercare organizations.
In 2006, he turned his energies toward the publication and national distribution of a guidebook for caregivers, entitled “Coach Broyles’ Playbook for Alzheimer’s Caregivers” which is based on his family’s personal experience caring for his first wife, Barbara Day, in their home. To date, more than one million copies of the playbook have been distributed.
A private family burial will be held at Fairview Memorial Gardens in Fayetteville. A public celebration of his life will be held on the University of Arkansas campus at a date to be determined.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions may be made to the Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation (BroylesFoundation.org) or Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville.
Long commenting on loss of Broyles on Monday
FAYETTEVILLE — The following is a statement from Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long on the passing of longtime Arkansas coach and athletics director Frank Broyles.
Broyles passed away in Fayetteville on Monday.
“The Razorback Family has lost its patriarch and Arkansas has lost one of its most beloved figures. Coach Frank Broyles was a legendary coach, athletics director, broadcaster and a tireless advocate for those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. In his more than 50 years of service to the University of Arkansas and intercollegiate athletics, his vision and leadership allowed the Razorback program to flourish and in turn enrich the lives of thousands of young men.
“In the process, he brought unprecedented national attention to Arkansas. His passion for the Razorbacks was infectious, his spirit was indomitable and his vision helped transform a program, a university and an entire state. His legacy in our state is unmatched.
“I will forever be grateful for the generosity, graciousness and unwavering support he extended to me when I came to the University of Arkansas. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Razorback nation are with his wife Gen, his children and the entire Broyles Family.”
Scrimmages designed to favor offense
FAYETTEVILLE — If you want the truth, we know very little more then we did a month ago about what this Razorback football season will include.
Saturday’s scrimmage provided, once again, few clues as to what this season will look like. Nobody with a brain will be making or changing predictions based on what we saw Saturday.
The scrimmages are not designed to truly tell us how good the defense is at rushing the passer. Both open scrimmages have included several plays that would be sacks in an actually game, but were not blown dead by practice officials, probably at the request of Bret Bielema. That is because if your quarterback is getting fake sacked very often, you cannot get much work done with your offense.
So when you read in the paper Ty Storey completes a long pass to set up a touchdown, what you were not told is that a Razorback defender ran right by the quarterback, something that would probably result in a sack in a real game against a real defense like Alabama or LSU.
Believe what you want, it is very easy to get sucked into cocoon of blind optimism when you are only paying attention to one team during training camp.
In my view, these Razorbacks have not given me the evidence to pick this as a eight or nine win year.
But then again, nobody with a brain can make predictions based on what we have seen so far in training camp.
Again, we don’t know what we don’t know about Hogs
Bret Bielema only let the media (and fans showing up early for Fan Day) see the second half of practice.
That meant no Austin Allen and very little of the No. 1 offense and defense, often mixed with second and third-teamers.
We still don’t know what we don’t know.
The backup quarterback spot is still wide open. Cole Kelley got credit from many afterwards, but apparently they didn’t notice the defensive rush that would have sacked him on some big passes he connected on.
That’s likely to be an ongoing problem and the biggest issue with quarterbacks as tall as Kelley’s 6-foot-7 stature. Their delivery tends to be very, very long and it’s the same story with Kelley.
Bielema said later Kelley had a better day today … but Ty Storey had the better week of practice with the No. 2 offense. Storey’s motion and deiivery is much faster, but in Arkansas’ offense, it’s never featured quarterbacks that got rid of the ball as quickly as they should, in my opinion.
So we’re right back where we started.
Kelley and Storey. Storey and Kelley. The guess is the decision will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Let’s face it, under Bielema the No. 2 quarterback doesn’t see an awful lot of playing time.
Sooner or later, the chicken in that game comes home to roost. It’s only a matter of when, not if.
When meeting with Bielema afterwards, he talked about how well Allen played along with the first-team linebackers.
“They were very productive, very dominant in the first half,” Bielema said of starting inside linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Scoota Harris.
Of course nobody saw that.
In the second half they weren’t that dominant. Oh, there was the occasional play made by both sides, which is the norm for a scrimmage.
But there wasn’t domination on either side of the line of scrimmage.
There were several plays that would have been quarterback sacks, except they weren’t calling many of those in the second half of the scrimmage. Whether that was because the fans in attendance were more interested in offensive big plays than defensive plays of any variety.
Maybe the biggest highlight, once again, was running back Chase Hayden, who is looking every scrimmage like someone with the ability to make big plays.
At least against the Hogs’ backup defense.
The real question will be if he can make those big plays against SEC defenses like Alabama, LSU and others.
Which is why we still don’t know what we don’t know.
Kingsley signs contract in Europe for Belgium team
FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas All-SEC standout Moses Kingsley has signed a professional contract to play for the Antwerp Giants in Belgium.
Kingsley landed in Belgium on Saturday and the club announced his arrival as the team’s starting center for the 2017-18 season.
He played for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas before signing to play in Belgium.
The Abuja, Nigeria, native finished his collegiate career with 1,200 points, good for 25th on Arkansas’ all-time list of leading scorers.
He became one of the most versatile big men to ever wear an Arkansas uniform and stands alone with Razorback legend Oliver Miller as the only players to reach 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 blocks.
He finished with 24 double-doubles during his four-year career and his 256 blocks are good for the third-most in program history. His 93 blocks as a senior also marks the third-highest total for a single season as a Razorback.
Kingsley helped lead Arkansas to the seventh-most wins in program history in 2016-17 with a record of 26-10 that included a trip to the SEC Tournament championship game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Sibley scores twice in Hogs’ exhibition win
FAYETTEVILLE — Redshirt junior Reid Sibley scored two first half goals Thursday night to help lead the 17th-ranked Razorback soccer team to a 3-0 exhibition win over Omaha at Razorback Field.
Sibley appeared in 23 games with one start last season and is one of 14 letterwinners returning from last year’s 18-win team. Her first goal broke a defensive stalemate in the 24th minute after receiving a nice ball in the run of play from Stefani Doyle before finishing with the right foot from 15 yards out.
10 minutes later, Sibley doubled the lead, this time on a header from the right side of the box. It was one of three shots on goal in the first half for the Razorbacks and seven shots overall.
Arkansas controlled much of the pace throughout the night, holding Omaha to just three shots, with none making it one target. Omaha had a couple of chances on set pieces midway through the second half, but each time, Arkansas was there to turn them away.
As a team, Arkansas led the shot category, 19-3, and corner kicks, 6-0.
In the second half, freshman Parker Goins added to Arkansas’ lead with her lone goal of the match in the 54thminute. The Razorbacks were able to force the Omaha turnover near the middle of the field and got the ball to Goins down the right side. Goins was able to beat the last defender before placing one past the keeper for the score.
After regulation, both teams participated in a practice penalty kick shootout. Both the Mavericks and the Razorbacks alternated for 10 kicks each with both teams scoring five times.
Now Arkansas gets to focus on its 2017 season opener which is set for Friday, Aug. 18 at SMU. First kick is slated for 7 p.m.
The Razorbacks will be on the road for their first two matches of the year before returning home for its first official match of the year at Razorback Field against perennial Big 10 power, Penn State on Aug. 25.
Bielema updates status of fall camp Wednesday
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema met with the media Wednesday to deliver an update on a wide range of issues and brought Briella.
Rhodes on Greenlaw’s return, defensive performance
Defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes talked about the progress of the defense in a far-reaching session with the media Wednesday.
Enos on battle for backup quarterback position
The Hogs’ offensive coordinator said the team would be confident with either Ty Storey or Cole Kelley if they stepped in.
When it comes to ‘cheating’ is anybody clean?
As we begin to wind down the “talking season,” the subject of cheating in college football has jumped into the news cycle.
CBSSports.com did a survey of 26 coaches and asked how many schools they thought were cheating. It was anonymous, but they said 80 percent of the SEC was doing it. Nobody named names.
That works out to 11 of the 14 SEC schools are allegedly knowingly cheating, according to an anonymous survey.
The problem with the survey (other than being anonymous) is asking coaches. No, seriously, they are the LAST people you ask that question to.
Doing a radio show one time with Jackie Sherrill, I made the off-hand remark that, “all football coaches lie … when do they learn that?”
“That’s the main thing they learn being a graduate assistant,” was Jackie’s quick reply.
The bottom line to the whole cheating thing is every single school in the world of college football does it in one form or another.
And not a single coach knows any of the details. If they do, then they should be fired for stupidity.
All of that pretty much ended just a few years after SMU was handed the death penalty in 1986. Coaches realized they couldn’t be directly involved.
The people doing it has to be small, they have to be close-mouthed and they have to be very, very smart. Some groups have people doing it who have never been to the school they are helping and most in the group don’t know how it happens.
They just know it costs money. And they know the coach better win games because there is no amount of money to get a five-star recruit to go to a doormat school, no matter how much money is involved.
There are schools that get players nobody believes they can get, but the coaches aren’t handing anybody money or even discussing terms. There hasn’t been a single NCAA charge of a coach directly telling a recruit, “You come play for me and we’ll give you this much money.”
Not one charge.
According to former coaches, the blue-blood programs don’t pay to get players. Recruits are made aware, though, they will be well taken care of if they choose that school.
The head coach seldom even has a clue who’s doing it and how much or what is involved. I don’t care how many say they want to know everything that’s going on.
I can tell you with 100 percent certainty even Nick Saban doesn’t know everything that’s going on with his players.
The NCAA has created an impossible situation for them to monitor. Without any legal power whatsoever, the standard practice of dealing with them is to say absolutely nothing.
Or lie. There’s nothing they can do about it.
And, with the Nevin Shapiro legal case with Miami’s mess a few years ago, now the NCAA has to have solid evidence of wrongdoing.
For example, Laremy Tunsil of Ole Miss said on national television the night of the 2016 NFL Draft he got money from coaches. That was only a lead for the NCAA and not proof of anything.
All Ole Miss had to do was produce records it fell within the guidelines of what a school can legally give a player to help with whatever expenses are allowed within the rules. How hard do you think that is to comply with?
The thing is, none of this is new.
It’s been going on since Notre Dame had money routed to players through the Catholic church as far back as 1919. It still goes on and if you don’t believe it’s happening at your favorite school then you are, well, living in a dream world.
Now if you’re school isn’t winning, then blame the evaluation process.
“It doesn’t matter if you pay players that aren’t any good,” said one former coach.
Let’s face it, most of you reading this have likely committed an NCAA recruiting violation yourself if you’re a Razorback fan.
Don’t believe it?
Have you ever just casually mentioned to a good high school player he should be a Razorback? Or sent a message via social media to that player encouraging him to go to Fayetteville?
If you did that and have ever bought a ticket to a game or a piece of legally-licensed merchandise, you have committed an NCAA violation. You could be banned from attending games and the player declared ineligible.
Considering nobody has ever been charged or even cited for a violation that minor should tell you how ridiculous the NCAA rules are.
There is — and likely always will be — cheating in the world of big time college athletics under the current rules. Not a single school in the SEC is completely clean.
Blame the egg heads and lawyers. They are the ones making the rules.
Which is actually a bigger crime than anything a school has ever done.
