QuoteAfter some speculation that a Kentucky reunion could be in the cards for Kenny Payne, the expected became reality on Thursday night. John Calipari is getting the band back together. Payne is staying in college basketball and will join the Arkansas coaching staff.

Hard to say that this move is a surprise at the end of the day.



Arkansas is hoping that a return as an assistant coach under John Calipari will lead to some good things in Fayetteville.

Payne was an assistant for a decade at Kentucky under Calipari. The staffer owns a national championship ring and was a member of each Final Four team under Calipari. The No. 1 assistant left Lexington after the 2020 season and that is when things really started to unravel under Calipari. Arkansas is hopeful some of that decade magic at Kentucky will translate to Arkansas.

Calipari is getting the band back together. New Kentucky head coach Mark Pope is still in the beginning stages of assembling his first full staff in Lexington.

Payne will not be a member of that staff.

Quote from: Hog007 on Today at 01:25:53 amYea definitely need a another DL. Our depth is horrible. Ian Geffrard our biggest DL 6'6 394 looked like charmin in the spring gm. Would not be surprised if he transferred after this yr. Hopefully he can stronger during the summer and contribute but i doubt that happens.

Quote from: arktrav on Yesterday at 08:24:53 amGreat place to be from, though I wouldn't want to live there now because I'd probably starve. Or maybe not, given the ability to work from home, which I do these days as an online editor even though I'm only about 5 miles from the office.

My 10-year high school reunion back in 1987 was a non-alcohol event held in a deer camp near Lewisville. Whites-only, of course, even though we desegregated in 6th grade.

Some things you just can't make up.

Quote from: Pigasaurus on April 17, 2024, 09:34:28 pmTheir ham sandwich was the bomb 😋

QuoteThe ultimate football legacy has had a quiet Texas career. Perhaps fittingly, his most headline-worthy moment so far was his decision to opt out of being in the new EA Sports college football video game.

Despite what many speculated about Manning's career outlook as it related to Ewers' starting status, I didn't see it as a negative at all that the post-spring takeaway was that the decorated 5-star freshman was staring at a redshirt season.

Now, though, things have changed.

He's not QB1 entering Year 2, but Manning's role is significant as Ewers' understudy. That's why it's fair to expect progress from him Saturday in Texas' spring game.

Steve Sarkisian set the stage for that.

QuoteSarkisian admitted he considered replacing Nick Saban at Alabama after the 72-year-old coach retired in Tuscaloosa.

For the record, it wasn't very long.

"Naturally, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it," the Texas coach told ESPN. "But it took me all of about 60 seconds to say, 'Yeah, I'm not doing that.' I had an awesome two years at Alabama and loved my time under Coach Saban, but ultimately you want to reap what you sow."

Sarkisian spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons in Tuscaloosa as Saban's offensive coordinator.

"We've poured a ton into this program for three years, and we're on the cusp, I think, of going on a run that will be epic," Sarkisian said. "I believe that. Our staff does, and our players do, too, just the support we have and the culture we've created here. Why leave something like that?"

Sarkisian was not the first former assistant to beat Saban, but he became the first to do so at Bryant-Denny Stadium when the Longhorns beat the Tide 34-24 in Tuscaloosa.