Old Man McEntire Manages Mentoring, Marriage, Making MLB Dreams Come True

Hogs' most veteran pitcher analyzes roster, rookies, Van Horn's change to offensive approach

Arkansas pitcher Will McEntire celebrates a strikeout against Louisiana Tech. / Walt Beazley - Razorback Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When veteran Razorbacks pitcher Will McEntire arrived at the University of Arkansas as a fresh face out of Bryant, Chad Morris was still the football coach, the Avengers had just taken out Thanos, Kofi Kingston was the WWE champion and every day Americans had no idea what the word COVID meant.

Cabot's Zach Morris, the last remaining Razorback to join the team in 2019 with him, will be two seasons removed from his last appearance as a Hog when Arkansas takes the field against Washington State this weekend. Now, in his sixth season with the team, McEntire juggles the responsibility of being a mentor, getting Hogs' coach Dave Van Horn his first national championship, planning a wedding and laying the foundation for a future as a professional pitcher.

At 24, he's the old man on the team. Seen as the wisened elder, McEntire told 103.7 The Buzz Wednesday morning he is constantly peppered with questions from younger players hoping to improve and stay out of Van Horn's dog house.

"There's one freshman on the team, Steele Eaves, I give him grief because he asked me so many questions," McEntire said. "So I try and tell him, you got one question a day. You better make it useful."

However, one advantage to being around the Arkansas program so long is getting the chance to see a lot of talented players and get a feel for what's good and what mix of talent isn't going to work. Having pitched alongside guys like Kevin Kopps and Hagan Smith, he has an especially keen eye for pitching greatness.

His assessment of the program echoes what Van Horn has been preaching all offseason. Razorbacks fans are going to like this team.

"Oh, yeah, I would definitely say that top to bottom, especially on the pitching side, because I spent so much time with the pitching side, might be the deepest pitching I've ever seen," McEntire said. "We've got 15 guys, 16, 17, guys that could all throw for us consistently. And the rotation this year is probably the strongest rotation I think is going to come out of this university."

Bring on Opening Weekend 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6wLOvxy6cu

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 12, 2025

And while he admits it's been a struggle over the years to remember the names of everyone on the team because of the revolving door created by the transfer portal, one thing McEntire says he certain of is the ingredients Van Horn has put together for the current iteration of the Razorbacks. They've made a strong enough impression on the veteran through preseason practices that he admitted he's been forced to know their names.

"We have a good mix of returners who know the culture and knows what is expected of them," McEntire said. "And then we got all these new guys who immediately bought into that culture. So I think we're gonna be really good."

Loaded with talent on the diamond 💎 pic.twitter.com/saQxb0H1ri

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) February 11, 2025

One thing that makes this team distinct from those from the rest of McEntire's tenure is a return to Van Horn's roots. Arkansas is working on skills to allow the Hogs to become a small ball team when needed so it doesn't have to rely so heavily on the long ball anymore.

"During scrimmages, it's sometimes been a point of the pitching staff to control the running, because that's their M.O. this year," McEntire said. "They're just gonna be aggressive on the bases. And then we we've had to field our positions a ton in practice, because guys are gonna be laying down bunts for a hit. It might be like a nice sacrifice from trying to get a guy from second to third, or first to second. And then I definitely have seen a lot more hit and runs put on this year."

As the season looms, two things stay front of mind — improvements needed to put him in the best position for the Major League draft and his upcoming fall wedding. Both going well are good things for Arkansas fans as it puts McEntire in the best physical and mental position to help the Razorbacks succeed.

"I would just say I attacked [the offseason] harder than ever just because going into this knowing this is my last year, I want to leave no doubts of what I could have done different," McEntire said. "... Definitely [focused on] fastball, fastball command. I'd say just toward the end of last year, the back half of the season, I kind of lost control of making hitters respect the fastball because I throw other off speed. So when they didn't respect the fastball anymore, they just sat on that off speed and it didn't end the way I wanted to last year."

As for the wedding, that is currently planned for November. While most Arkansas sports fans would see that as a red flag because of the difficulty getting people there during football season, McEntire has a bit of wisdom behind the decision. He's also contemplated television options at the ceremony should it come to that.

"The way a bunch of baseball players do it, because I always see it every year around that time of year, is like pro guys always get married in, like October, November, because that's like the off season for baseball players." McEntire said. "So, I don't know what my plans are after this, after this season, but you know pro ball is in the cards, and that's probably the best time to be able to go out there and get married."

So, even though his buddies may not be thrilled about it, a nice wedding right in the middle of the LSU or Texas football games is probably the wish of all Razorbacks fans. That would mean the wise old vet had a great season and is adjusting to a professional locker room playing the role of the rookie asking too many questions,

One good question a day.

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