From Hog to the Hall of Fame: QB made Arkansas home after Holtz time

After Kevin Scanlon struggled in a scrimmage shortly before the Arkansas Razorbacks opened the 1979 football season, Coach Lou Holtz had a talk with his fifth-year senior quarterback.

"Coach Holtz got me out of the training room, and he said, 'Look, you didn't play well today, but you're my starting quarterback. I feel you've earned that,' " Scanlon said. " 'But I don't know if you understand what it means to be the starting quarterback at Arkansas. So I want to explain it to you.'"

Scanlon said Holtz told him not to worry about earning All-Southwest Conference or All-American honors or whether he was picked in the NFL Draft, but to instead focus on team goals.

"Coach Holtz said, 'Kevin, just lead the team, take care of the ball and move the chains,' " Scanlon said. " 'If you help us have a great year and show the fans you're a competitor and a good person, you can live a great life in this state.' "

It was the first time Scanlon had thought much about the future.

"When you're 21 years old, you're not thinking about where you're going to live the rest of your life," he said. "You're thinking about where you're going that night.

"Those words Coach Holtz said to me nearly 40 years ago, I didn't really understand them at the time. But now with the clarity and judgment I have as a 60-year-old, I know what he meant.

"Because we won and we did what Coach Holtz told us to do, I found his words to be so true. Like a lot of Razorbacks, we enjoy great lives in this state because the people are so wonderful and so accommodating and so welcoming. That's why we chose to stay here."

Scanlon, a native of Beaver Falls, Pa., has made Arkansas his home since transferring from North Carolina State to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1977 and built a life for himself and his family.

It all happened after Scanlon helped lead the Razorbacks -- picked to finish in the middle of the SWC pack in 1979 -- to a share of the conference championship, a Sugar Bowl appearance and a 10-2 record.

Along with the team success, Scanlon enjoyed plenty of individual accolades.

Coaches voted Scanlon the SWC Player of the Year, and he was picked as SWC Offensive Player of the Year by The Associated Press. He was an honorable mention All-American, and the Los Angeles Rams picked him in the 12th round of the 1980 NFL Draft.

Scanlon's 1979 season is being recognized with his induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on Friday night.

The induction banquet will be held in Little Rock, where Scanlon has lived with his wife Vicki and helped raise the couple's three children since his football career ended in 1980 when he released by the Rams and had a brief stint in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Scanlon is executive vice president and director of the private client group at Stephens Inc., where he has worked since 1987.

"For me to be inducted into the hall of fame for my adopted home state, it's very humbling, because we love Arkansas," Scanlon said. "It's the absolute cap of my athletic career."

Scanlon said he's excited to share the honor with family members and friends, but especially his wife. They've been married for 38 years and met 41 years ago at North Carolina State.

"Vicki has been there for me every step of the way," Scanlon said. "She's been my best friend and my rock for 41 years."

Last July, Scanlon was inducted into the Beaver Falls Hall of Fame. His presenter was Joe Namath, another Beaver Falls native who starred at quarterback for Alabama and became a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

"Having Joe Namath be the person who inducted me into my hometown hall of fame was really cool," Scanlon said. "But to be honored by the state of Arkansas is even bigger."

Harold Horton, an Arkansas defensive assistant coach from 1968-80, said he never saw a player coached harder than what Holtz did with Scanlon.

"I'm really proud for Kevin to be going into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, because Coach Holtz demanded so much from him," Horton said. "Kevin couldn't have played any better than what he did for us."

Holtz said the way he coached Scanlon was in keeping with his philosophy of putting so much pressure on his quarterback in practice that he would be relaxed in the games.

"If he made a mistake in practice, the way Kevin was, I knew he'd correct it and wouldn't make that mistake in a game," Holtz said. "I wanted Kevin to feel relieved I wasn't on the field with him.

"That approach seemed to work out pretty good over my career, and I know it worked with Kevin. He was an outstanding quarterback for us."

Robert Farrell, a senior receiver for the Razorbacks in 1979, said Holtz understood Scanlon was mentally tough.

"Coach Holtz rode Kevin harder than some guys, but it was because he knew Kevin could take it and he saw the potential of what Kevin could do," Farrell said. "When we played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, Kevin came over to the sidelines a couple times and said, 'Coach, this play will work,' and Coach said, 'OK, run it.'

"To give a 21-year-old kid that freedom -- especially against Alabama -- shows the confidence Coach Holtz had in Kevin. A lot of that was probably gained in practice when Coach Holtz was riding him so hard and Kevin performed so well."

Scanlon originally signed with Holtz at North Carolina State in 1975. Holtz left in 1976 to coach the Jets. When Holtz returned to college coaching at Arkansas in 1977, Scanlon transferred.

"Coach Holtz held you to a high standard and he expected a lot out of you," Scanlon said. "Yeah, he was hard on me, but it was the right kind of hard.

"It was what I needed. He profoundly helped shape my life and I'm very grateful to him."

Scanlon completed 66.2 percent of his passes (92 of 139) in 1979 to set an Arkansas record he still holds -- breaking the mark of 62.5 percent by Jack Robbins in 1935 -- for 1,212 yards and 9 touchdowns. Those were impressive numbers in Holtz's run-oriented offense.

Bowl games weren't included in season statistics at the time, so Scanlon's passes in the Razorbacks' 24-9 loss No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl -- 22 of 39 for 245 yards -- aren't part of his 1979 numbers.

"We threw the ball down the field," Holtz said. "We could run the ball for 5 yards, so we weren't going to throw a 4-yard quick pass.

"Kevin was a very, very accurate passer and I had great confidence when I called a pass play that he would protect the football. He always made good choices."

Scanlon said he expected to complete a high percentage of his passes because that's what he did in high school -- when he broke several of Namath's records -- and he always worked to improve.

"When it came to practice, Kevin never went through the motions," Farrell said. "It was game day every day. He just carried himself in a very mature way.

"Whoever we were playing the next week, he knew what they were going to try to do against us."

Playing in Holtz's system for so long, Scanlon said, also was a plus.

"I knew the offense like the back of my hand," Scanlon said. "I was very familiar with the reads and Coach Holtz adapted the offense to my style where we threw the ball more."

Farrell said Scanlon did a lot of scouting of opponents to help his passing as well.

"Kevin spent a lot of time watching film, and that was a little different back then," Farrell said. "He really studied defenses. He looked at tendencies."

Scanlon wasn't known as a runner, but in 1979 he rushed 120 times for 246 yards and 7 touchdowns after bulking up from 180 to 195 pounds.

"I wanted Coach Holtz to feel free to call whatever play he needed to call, and I knew I needed to get North and South and take care of the ball," Scanlon said. "I carried the ball 120 times and I never fumbled. I'm very proud of that."

Jim Howard, a senior defensive end for the 1979 Razorbacks, said Scanlon was smart and had a strong arm, but those weren't his best traits.

"What I remember most about Kevin is his competitiveness," Howard said. "You hear about competitiveness a lot, but when you see it like Kevin had it day to day in practice, it really stands out. His ability to compete made the difference for us."

Holtz said Scanlon has excelled in life as he did on the field for the Razorbacks.

"When I look at an individual that had a great college career, the most important thing to me is how did he do after football?" Holtz said. "The work ethic, the integrity, the decision-making process, did he use all of that the rest of his life?

"Kevin did that. He not only was a great football player, but his success after college is even greater as a father, a husband and a businessman."

Sports on 04/02/2018