All Hogs

Remember That Guy Who Used to Coach Razorbacks?

Without Musselman popping up on social media every day, former Hogs coach all but forgotten in Arkansas

Kent Smith

Former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman reacts to a mistake made against the Kentucky Wildcats.
Former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman reacts to a mistake made against the Kentucky Wildcats. / Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It's been a bit odd since former Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman left for USC.

Perhaps it's because once he left, it's as if he got erased from existence in the Razorbacks' community. No one asks about him, nor did anyone seem to fret that he was gone of his own free will despite being the most successful coach since Nolan Richardson.

There was a picture of him and his family on a plane and, poof, he dusted away. Some of that has to do with how the final season went down and the dramatic turning of the page to the John Calipari era, but it still feels a little off.

There is the factor of all of his recruits going elsewhere, many with Musselman to the West Coast where basketball games are presumably played before March, just at a time where the rest of the country doesn't see it. However, they aren't missed because they were never here, nor truly felt committed to Arkansas.

There's also the wiping of the entire roster outside a late addition of Trevon Brazile, who played sparingly the past two seasons. All that contributes to the feeling Musselman no longer exists because fans checked out halfway through his final season and there's nothing left behind to tie him to the program.

However, there is one telling ghost that can't be overlooked that adds to the feeling to an even greater degree. Musselman loved attention.

Summers were filled with dozens of names trickling out that Arkansas had a theoretical interest in by way of contacting anyone who could breathe in the portal. In addition, every day came with a new photo of Musselman with a different celebrity, usually while out having a good time on the West Coast.

Add in pool parties, music videos with McDonald's hamburgers and boat rides and he was in fans' faces on social media at all times. There was little one could do to escape Musselman during the offseason other than go to an actual basketball court.

And there's the difference. Musselman's actions were tracked by players listing contact schools and photos in various stadiums and establishments as he traversed seemingly anywhere but Arkansas and the recruiting trail.

Meanwhile, there are players committing to Arkansas who sometimes slip by until it happens because Calipari is so quiet in what he does. To find out who he is after and what he is up to, Razorback fans and the media alike have to keep an eye on the sidelines of major basketball tournaments.

Whether it be in various locations across the U.S. or over in Europe, there doesn't seem to be a moment when he's not recruiting outside of his appearances on national television. The videos that go out are of him coaching his newest signees, taking care to drive home points of what they need to work on without beating them down by going 100 with the intensity in early summer.

Calipari has more than his share of celebrity friends, but it's not popping up on Instagram and Twitter every other day. What does show up is a photo of him every now and then having dinner with a former player and that player's family.

There's a quiet confidence around Razorback basketball now. Musselman is a great coach and what he did to help rebuild the Arkansas brand is appreciated by fans, but they have moved on. Without him popping up in their social media every few minutes like a chainsaw massacre jump scare in a haunted house at Halloween, he's just been forgotten.

That's not likely to change during the season either. Most Arkansas fans have never seen a USC basketball game, and those who have only saw one once when the Razorbacks played the Trojans back in 2007.

There's a chance Musselman has his guys in the NCAA Tournament and the selection committee will do its best to find a way to manipulate the seedings to pit the Hogs and their former coach against one another for ratings sake, but beyond that, it's doubtful he crops up in fans' minds again for a long time. The saying out of sight, out of mind is true, and no place has traditionally been more out of sight when it comes to college basketball than the West Coast, especially USC.

HOGS FEED:

• It's time to stop making allegations against Calipari that aren't true

• Are Arkansas’ football facilities good enough to win?

• Did SEC leave itself an opening to add teams for future additions in pretty simple way?

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Kent Smith

KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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