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Dec 18th, 2007 12:23AM
by: whatsshakinbacon

Reconstructing Razorback Nation
Volume LXXXVII
December 18, 2007

At least five times I’ve begun to write about my disdain for the hypocritical treatment of new Razorback Coach Bobby Petrino from both ESPN and Atlanta alike.

Each of these times I’ve tried to craft my defense of the new coach and why his move here had everything to do with salvaging his family’s life as the Falcons’ ethical structure decayed around him.

And each time I’ve stopped.

Something else has been tugging at me, something so big that I can no longer ignore it. What, I didn’t know. And this afternoon I finally was able to put a finger on the pulse of what I’m really feeling.

I know what the pulse isn’t. It isn’t my view of Atlanta or ESPN. This story will be gone within a few days. One year from today the Falcons will continue to have problems of their own, and they’ll be looking for the scapegoat du jour. One year from today ESPN will be maligning someone new in the wide world of sports, tearing him apart limb by limb as he flails at center court, with no concern for he or his family. Once again they will tell the story in a sound-bite, ignoring important facts that might require thought on the part of their viewing audience.

No, the pulse I felt today was the fact that the Arkansas Razorback ship has been righted, and blood is now coursing again through these old veins. This is not some superficial dolled up face lift in the form of new buildings or empty promises, no this is real change coming from within.

All Razorback fans should take pause for a moment and reflect on our programs, all of them, and monumental changes that these programs have undergone in the last 12 months. Other than the Razorback logos on our uniforms and buildings, little else resembles what we considered to be our program just two short years ago.

This is bigger than football, though football appears to be the pinnacle of the reformation. This includes women’s basketball, men’s basketball and a rebuilt athletic department including incoming AD Jeff Long. About this time last year, with the Stan Heath era possibly coming to an end, I posed the question here on Hogville “what programs in the modern collegiate era have seen changes at head coach in football and basketball coupled with a new athletic director within the same year?” If memory serves me correctly, there were maybe just one or two similar situations, but these involved the ascension of a head coach to AD or assistant to head coach.

But what we have seen here at Arkansas is a total transfusion of leadership in all money sports and administration unlike any possibly ever before. To say this has been a long time coming is about as obvious as the smile on Carlton Salters’ face when Petrino was announced.

All three of the programs (men’s and women’s basketball and football) had reached the point where potential was maxed. Ticket sales and foundation revenues were either stagnant or declining for each. Coaches were mired in one or several of the following problems: lack of discipline on and off the field, graduation rates unbecoming of our institution, recruitment of talent levels lower than comparable programs, win-loss records showing little or no improvement from year to year, or off-field/court personal issues that disintegrated fan support.

Under the not-so-watchful eye of the administration these programs were all maintaining the status quo. The administration even embraced the continued mediocrity privately and publicly. To take it one step further, certain media outlets were swayed by the administration, including sports talk shows given inside information for towing the company line and coaches’ shows that allowed for no dissenting opinions.

This has been a miserable model for continued failure, a model that has evolved over the last 30 years. And as quickly as you can call the Hogs, this model slipped into the night hopefully never to be seen again. Seeds planted about this time last year have sprung up. Seeds of belief, of hope and of renewed passion. The fan base at Arkansas had enough, and the pressure for change came from all directions at our Board of Trustees and Chancellor White.

We’ll never know who made what decisions for change, but to whoever you are hear this: we as Razorback fans owe you mountains of gratitude. Unprecedented change in a short timeframe has occurred, and coaches who hate mediocrity now occupy the buildings we call home.

When we tuned in last Monday night to see AD in waiting Jeff Long introduce new football coach Bobby Petrino this new era of change was never more evident. The last time a football coach at Arkansas was introduced by someone other than Frank Broyles was 1958, the year Broyles took the job.

The winds of change have blown, with more subtle gusts to follow. It will likely take several years to redirect the course of Razorback athletics. New coaches were the first and largest steps in this movement. But if they are any indication of what the new face of our program looks like, winning is now the goal, not maintenance.

Razorback fans, our programs now mirror our spirit. Our coaches now embody great hope in all of the major programs at our school. Has there ever been a more exciting time to be an Arkansas Razorback?

Bacon out…