Well, here we go again. All last week it was reported that Alex Golesh would be named the next HC of the Arkansas Razorback football team, and we waited with bated breath for the official word. Initially, I wondered who? And after performing some necessary journalistic due diligence, I added a resounding why? to my list of queries regarding the alleged hire, cuz his résumé ain’t all that stout. This was reported as truth and accepted as fact by most Hog fans until it wasn’t.
Over the weekend Golesh was named HC at Auburn, and the Natural State was left collectively scratching and shaking their heads, once again. I do not blame the Arkansas media one bit for the misinformation, for they were simply reporting what they had been told – yet another big, fat lie.
This all starts at the top and always has. During my 58 years on this rock, three men have occupied the AD’s office up on the Hill – Frank Broyles, Jeff Long and Hunter Yuracheck. Broyles, despite doing lotsa good during his reign, ran off Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield, two highly successful coaches, cuz he thought they were getting too big for their britches. Long fired Petrino for non-football-related issues that also boiled down to ego, and now Yuracheck pulled this move. Wow!
So, the blame falls squarely upon the AD’s shoulders. As CEO of Arkansas athletics, he is the one charting the course, steering the boat and shoulda known better. Heck, Razorback Cove is littered with beached vessels of underachieving coaches – Jack Crowe, Joe Kines and Chad Morris – just to name a few.
Hunter shoulda revisited the mismanagement of all those other poor hires and hired Mr. Football from the jump. No one wanted the job as badly as MF. Instead, just like those who came before him – Yuracheck thought he knew best.
It all reminds of the final lines in the Elton John classic hit, “Madman Across the Water” “There’s a joke, and I know it very well. It’s one of those I told you long ago. Take my word I’m a madman, don’t you know?”
So here we are, stuck with Ryan Silverfield, another football coach I know very little about. After perusing the interwebs, I did learn that after high school he chose coaching over playing, and that is a good thing. Instead of signing up for four more years of collisions and concussions, he opted for a whistle over a helmet. While the vast majority of CFB coaches played football after high school, continually dinging their noggins day after day, this guy chose the least-violent path, and I am certain his brain is fresher because of it.
The late Orville Henry typed a column 32 years ago expressing his disgust and ire over the U of A hiring an under-qualified Houston Nutt as HC. And today, on this first day of December 2025, I feel that decades-old pain.
Thankfully Razorback hoops are upon us, and the future of that team is as bright as the sun.
Happy Holidaze and GoHogs!!
Spellchek much?