There may not be a more loyal band of fans in the country than Razorback Nation, and they deserve so much more than they are getting. In fact, more than they have been getting since Bobby Petrino was fired.
They were close Saturday night. LSU played not to lose, and Ty Storey and Cheyenne O’Grady rallied the Hogs from 21 down to within 24-17 with 5:27 to play, but that was fool’s gold. The Tigers ran out the clock and walked away with the Golden Boot, again.
Petrino’s firing was because he told a lie, and the absolute best the University of Arkansas has been is mediocre since Petrino pulled his April Fool’s joke on the Razorback program with an ill-fated motorcycle ride with a female employee.
No doubt Frank Broyles spoiled the fans as both a coach and athletic director. While he wasn’t perfect, he always wanted to win. The man would leave football and basketball games, and walk miles and miles if his team was losing. His walks were to walk off stress and think about how he could fix it.
Then-UA Chancellor John White, with future UA Chancellor Dave Gearhart’s total support, needed to replace an aging Broyles and found Jeff Long, who shared a philosophy with the brass to raise money and spend it as fast as you can.
Long fired Petrino for lying to him, not for taking a female employee for a bike ride. Long’s idea of moving forward was to hire John L. Smith. That was one miserable year.
His next hire looked solid in Bret Bielema, who won three Big Ten championships, but Long never stopped to ask why would he leave Wisconsin and winning for Arkansas. He never asked Bielema’s boss Barry Alvarez, either.
Bielema rang the bell with the fans when he said he made the move to Arkansas to beat Alabama. He didn’t though, and he was fired days after Long, who would not fire his hire. Something Kansas needs to think about, especially after Long went to Twitter to gloat he does private searches for coaches.
Long’s record for hiring football coaches is a failing grade.
Now comes Chad Morris to try and fix a six-year problem, and this season on the field hasn’t given much hope, although his recruiting could be the best in school history if he can sign every commitment he has already secured.
Arkansas didn’t gain a football field of offense — 100 yards — until the fourth quarter in a 24-17 loss to LSU on senior night.
The Razorbacks went into Saturday night looking for its first SEC victory. They will go to Mississippi State with the same goal, and the Razorback Nation is getting impatient.
It deserves better than the hand that was dealt when Broyles retired.