New Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek did not dodge contentious topics Wednesday when he addressed the Roy L. Murphy Razorback Club at the Lakeside Athletic Complex, the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reported.
Yurachek displayed his knowledge of the issues concerning Razorback sports fans, including the success of the football program, games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and Coca-Cola. He shared how he and new head football coach Chad Morris found equipment and trash strewed about the Fred W. Smith Football Center when they began in Fayetteville.
"I guarantee you if you walked in there today, there is not a speck of anything on the floor in that locker room," Yurachek said. "The kids pick it up and it is the culture of the program."
Arkansas hired Yurachek from Houston and Morris from SMU in December with both starting in Fayetteville within 24 hours of each other. Yurachek had high praise and has set high expectations for Morris.
"He is going to be successful," Yurachek said. "I wish you guys had a chance to hear him speak about it. He would energize you tenfold to what I am able to do because he is so excited and so energetic. He was drinking Red Bull while waiting to see if he could come tonight. He was fired up and ready to go, but we are going to have some success. I promise you that."
Morris was scheduled to speak at the event on Wednesday, but NCAA recruiting regulations restricted him from attending because it was held on a high school campus.
Arkansas will open its 2018 season on Sept. 1 against Eastern Illinois at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
"I would be shocked if we don't go to a bowl game and have significantly more wins this year than we had last year," Yurachek said. "Because we've got some talent. We've got some talent on that team.
"We don't have a lot of depth right now. We are going to work on our depth, but we've got some talent and we've got to build depth in here, especially on the offensive and defensive lines."
Yurachek said he expects a decision in the coming weeks to be made about the future of Razorback football games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. He said it would be an easy decision if it was based solely on finances, but he said he understands other factors are involved.
Arkansas loses about $4 million in potential revenue for each football game it plays in Little Rock instead of Fayetteville. The Razorbacks will host Ole Miss on Oct. 13 at War Memorial in the final year of the current agreement to play in Little Rock.
"I think you will see some resolution here in the next three, four or five weeks about the direction we are heading for that," Yurachek said.
Yurachek said the athletic department hopes to lower the cost of concessions. He also addressed the unpopular decision to switch from Coca-Cola products to Pepsi.
"Everybody thinks it was an athletic department decision," Yurachek said. "The athletic department is obviously part of the university in this regard. We like to be separate in most things, but that was part of a universitywide deal, the Coke vs. Pepsi. It was a seven-figure difference annually Coke vs. Pepsi."
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