Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Ron Calcagni

Sooner slayer

QB orchestrated one of Hogs’ greatest upsets

Ron Calcagni speaks at a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007, in Little Rock.
Ron Calcagni speaks at a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007, in Little Rock.

The 11th in a series profiling the 2015 inductees into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

The winning quarterback for one of the greatest bowl upsets in college football history will finally join the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on Friday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

Ron Calcagni is best known to Arkansas fans for helping guide the 1977 team to a shocking 31-6 upset of No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, which gave the Razorbacks an 11-1 record and a No. 3 final ranking.

Ron Calcagni glance

AGE 58 (born Feb. 6, 1957)

HOMETOWN Youngstown, Ohio

EDUCATION Chaney High School, Youngstown, Ohio; University of Arkansas (physical education, 1980)

FAMILY Wife: Carol. Children: Danielle, Chase

COACHING Arkansas State, Winnipeg (CFL), Houston, Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Pulaski Heights Middle School

NOTEWORTHY Posted 25-4-2 record as a starting quarterback at Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks to records of 5-1-1 in 1976 (before an injury), 11-1 in 1977 and 9-2-1 in 1978. … Named first-team quarterback on the 1977 All-Southwest Conference team and was an honorable mention All-American. … Appeared on the college preview issue of Sports Illustrated in 1978 with former Arkansas Coach Lou Holtz and running back Ben Cowins when the Razorbacks were selected as the magazine’s preseason No. 1 team. … Coached 15 All-America players during his coaching career. … Worked with Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware and Davey O’Brien Award winner David Klingler while on staff at the University of Houston. … Four-year letterman on Arkansas teams that played in the Cotton, Orange and Fiesta bowls.

"It's the game that, to this day, everybody wants to talk to me about," the 58-year-old Calcagni said. "The Orange Bowl was just so exciting for myself and my teammates and my family.

"It was one of the greatest upset victories in Razorback history and as the years go by, in my mind, one of the greatest upset victories in college football history."

That season, the first for Lou Holtz after succeeding the legendary Frank Broyles as the Razorbacks' coach, was the best at Arkansas since the 1964 national championship and no Razorback team has equaled it since. The Razorbacks had been picked to finish sixth in the Southwest Conference, but with Calcagni operating the split-back veer with precision Arkansas evolved into a national title contender as Calcagni earned first-team All-SWC honors.

"We felt like he had all the talent and ability that we needed to make this thing a winner, and boy we were right," said Larry Beightol, Arkansas' offensive coordinator under Holtz. "He made it a winner."

Harold Horton, Arkansas' defensive line coach at the time, said Calcagni is richly deserving of entering the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

"I tell you what, you can't say anything but good things about Ron Calcagni as a player or as a person," Horton said. "He paid his price and waited his turn, and when it came his time to play he was ready. We always marveled at what he did."

John Jenkins, an Arkansas defensive assistant in 1977, liked Calcagni's leadership and competitiveness so much that he hired Calcagni onto his staff at the University of Houston in the early 1990s. Jenkins said every player who is evaluated by pro scouts has a listing of his athletic merits, then a section that includes "ands" or "buts" to point out personality pluses or problems.

Calcagni weighed in only on one side.

"Ron Calcagni had nothing but a bunch of 'ands' attached to him," Jenkins said. "I can tell you all these things about him being a great player, and he was a great person, and he was a great leader, and his teammates rallied around him."

Calcagni joined Holtz and star running back Ben Cowins on the cover of Sports Illustrated's college football preview as the magazine's preseason No. 1 team in 1978. It marked the third time Arkansas had made the cover, following Harry Jones (1965) and Sidney Moncrief (1978).

Calcagni, a 2009 inductee into the University of Arkansas' Hall of Honor, could have qualified for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on the merits of that 1977 season alone, but his credentials are much stronger. His career record as the Arkansas starter for 2 1/2 seasons was 25-4-2, making him one of the winningest quarterbacks in school and Southwest Conference history.

Calcagni, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, followed Bo Rein, who had recruited him at North Carolina State, to Fayetteville after Rein came aboard as Broyles' offensive coordinator in 1975. Rein left after one season to take the head coaching job at North Carolina State, but the quarterback he coveted helped spur the Hogs' resurgence in the late 1970s.

"Coach Holtz and his staff, they believed in what we were doing," Calcagni said. "That's one of the reasons I came to Arkansas, because the offense we were running was suited to my capabilities and my style of play. I liked to run the option and I liked to throw the ball. It was a combination of luck."

Beightol said Calcagni's success revolved around more than luck.

"He'd study like crazy," Beightol said. "He'd get it down. He was just fantastic. Just a fantastic football player and a fantastic human being, and that's how he's been ever since he left the University of Arkansas. He's been all about wanting to help others."

After a three-year career in the Canadian Football League, Calcagni moved into coaching and the profession has taken him from the high school ranks to Arkansas State, back to Canada, Tulsa, Houston, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and then, in 2009, to Pulaski Heights Middle School, where he's still a successful head coach.

"I've coached on all levels, and this is a big fulfillment for me, helping these young kids become men and being a mentor to them," Calcagni said. "It's very rewarding to work with the youth. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to get back into the other arena, but I have been enjoying my time at the school."

Jenkins said he has followed Calcagni's entire career.

"If you want to say what's his legacy, what's his greatest impression, that's it right now," Jenkins said. "The job he's done there and the lessons of life that these young kids are learning from him at this time."

Calcagni's shining moment, however, will always be capping the 1977 season with the victory over Crossett native and former Arkansas assistant coach Barry Switzer's heavily favored Sooners in Miami. Calcagni had a rushing touchdown in the game as Arkansas racked up 315 rushing yards, including a then-Orange Bowl record 205 yards by Roland Sales.

"We were very much destined to win that game for how we stuck together with the adversities that we had leading up to that game," Calcagni said in reference to the suspension of three key offensive players and an injury that kept All-American guard Leotis Harris from playing in the Orange Bowl. "Beating Oklahoma 31-6, to have beaten them so decisively, that will always bring back memories for Arkansas fans."

Sports on 02/26/2015

Upcoming Events