Skip to main content
All Hogs

Outsiders Don't Understand What Razorback Football Means To Arkansas

Generations of winning part of Arkansas' tradition, years of losing has pushed fans, alumni to their limit
Jacob Davis|
Arkansas Razorbacks fans "call the hogs" during the third quarter of the game against the Portland State Vikings at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas Razorbacks fans "call the hogs" during the third quarter of the game against the Portland State Vikings at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. | USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While Arkansas men's basketball coach John Calipari came out with support of athletics director Hunter Yurachek on Thursday, notable fans are split on their feelings toward the planned "boycott" of the football program during its SEC opener against Georgia on Saturday.

The Razorbacks are slated to host the Bulldogs for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff that will be broadcast nationally on ABC. If this actually takes place, it would be a huge statement for an Arkansas fanbase that is tired of settling for a woefully losing product for the past 15 years.

Under the Yurachek administration, Arkansas is well on its way to yet another 2-10 season, which would be the fourth under his watch and a mark that is far from rivaled by a single regime except Otis Douglas in the 1950s.

Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on field before game with UAPB at War Memorial Stadium
Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on field before game with UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. | Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images

Outsiders believe the frustration two games into the season falls at the feet of Ryan Silverfield and his players, and that cannot be farther from the truth.

This is an institutional uprising because the fanbase understands what it takes to win, and that's NIL. With the head of the athletic department neglecting that from the very start, it put Arkansas even further behind in the arms race to such an extent that they remain dead last in its talent acquisition budget.

At one time, it was considered a bad year if Arkansas won less than six games in the regular season.

It was even unacceptable to finish under .500 or changes to a coaching staff were going to be requested by then athletics director Frank Broyles.

Most years it was Cotton Bowl or bust (12 appearances with a 4-7-1 record) with some Sugar Bowls sprinkled in. Even during the SEC days, winning was the expectation and anything less was considered failure with job security in question.

Winning Was Once The Expectation

For most of Arkansas' modern football history, winning wasn't an unrealistic standard created by an impatient fanbase, but it was simply what the program churned out.

There was a 46 season stretch over a 54-year span of Razorback football where five coaches in Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield, Houston Nutt and Bobby Petrino made the Razorbacks nationally relevant.

Those five combined to go 368-161-8, winning nearly 70% of their games and averaged roughly eight victories per season.

Broyles built a smooth foundation with a coaching tree unrivaled with the amount of branches, and went 144-58-5 over 19 seasons, including seven Southwest Conference championships and the 1964 national championship.

When he stepped away from coaching, he hired Holtz and the program didn't skip a single beat. He went 60-21-2 over the next seven seasons with a historic victory in the Orange Bowl with Oklahoma as heavy favorites.

After he left, Broyles hired Hatfield, who followed up with a 55-17-1 over six years, but was run out of town because his Arkansas teams didn't develop a passing game or win the big ones in postseason play.

While Jack Crowe brought Arkansas its first losing season in 22 years in 1990, it's incredible looking back at the run the program had from 1958 through Hatfield's departure. The Razorbacks had three coaches across 32 consecutive seasons win more than 70% of their games.

After Crowe and Danny Ford struggled to get things right, Broyles hired Nutt in 1998, and proceeded to go 75-48 over ten seasons, reached eight bowl games and took Arkansas to the SEC Championship Game three times.

Former Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino
Former Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Arkansas defeated Georgia 31-24. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Petrino followed with a 34-17 record over four seasons, culminating in consecutive 10- and 11-win campaigns and the program's first BCS bowl appearance. However, a motorcycle wreck on April Fool's Day 2012 revealed a major scandal that eventually led to his termination as head coach after lying about the whole ordeal.

Since then, Arkansas is settled for an administration that rewards raises and contract extensions for mediocrity. After going .500 with a "borderline erotic" win over the Texas Longhorns in the Texas Bowl in 2014, Bret Bielema was given a $4 million contract with major escalators — except he was never able to attain any of those.

The Pittman's eight-win regular season and a 4-4 record in SEC play was rewarded with a major pay increase only to go 20-23 from 2022 until his termination following a blowout loss at home to Notre Dame that gave Arkansas a leg up in the coaching carousel race.

Broyles probably knew the price Arkansas would pay once his program entered the SEC and discovered just how difficult life in college football's premier conference could be. Even then, sustained winning didn't disappear completely.

That's what makes the current state of Arkansas football so difficult for longtime fans to accept. Even those who are my age, 34-and-older, remember how fun it was to watch and compete for SEC titles and national recognition.

The winning standard wasn't created by only Broyles, but a long line of coaches who understood that it was win or else at Arkansas. The Razorbacks football program survived a handful of coaching changes, navigating through conference realignment, changes to recruiting territories and several different eras of the sport as it evolved.

But Arkansas always competed. Perhaps not every year was spent chasing a national championship, but they never went into a game without the expectation to win.

That winning tradition Broyles started spread to basketball with Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson.

Then, baseball with Norm DeBryin and Dave Van Horn.

Even the track and field program, across different coaches, has sustained itself as the best in the nation.

Why is football the lone exception now? It must be due to it costing more to be relevant as it was in the 2010s and beyond.

Some fans would probably rather put the death penalty on the football program rather than see it die in such a way. Razorback football is a way of life; just ask Miss Lisa.

Ask country music artist Joe Nichols whose first No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts was "Brokenheartsville" in 2003.

Longtime Morning Mayhem guest Mark May (formerly of ESPN) shared his displeasure with the state of Arkansas football this week, noting that "the talent just isn't there" to compete in the SEC.

Proud UA graduate and ESPN sideline reporter Taylor McGregor will be in town this weekend covering the game, and expressed the same sentiment as May.

The most popular country music radio show host Bobby Bones is a notable Razorback fan, and even he expresses his displeasure with how things are going on The Hill.

This isn't the Arkansas program anyone was promised nearly one year after the firing of Pittman.

The Razorbacks went from 17-49 in one score games from 2012-2025 only to be uncompetitive against a Utah team that reportedly has less resources. As the team enters SEC play — with a severe lack of talent and resources — it's easy to ponder what is next for the football program moving forward.

The possibility that thousands of seats around Razorback Stadium will be empty on Saturday will become the most visible representation of frustration that has been building across the fanbase for years.

Outsiders will call that unreasonable, or call Arkansas fans unrealistic or stuck in the past. But they don't understand that the frustration comes from generations of fans who expect more than being bottom feeders in the world of college football.

The Razorbacks aren't demanding $50 million to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but that sure would be nice. No, Arkansas fans just want winning to matter again.

Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Jacob Davis
JACOB DAVIS

Jacob Davis is the Publisher for Arkansas Razorbacks on SI, with a decade of experience covering college athletics. He has previously worked at Rivals, Saturday Down South, SB Nation and hosted podcasts with Bleav Podcast Network where his show was a finalist for podcast of the year.

Share on XFollow jacobdaviscfb
Home/Football