From the Bench

A Season to Remember – One Way or the Other

Robert Shields

I have been writing the From the Bench column for about 13 years, and in that time I have never really gotten excited about a Razorback football season like this one. Even when I have gone to the UA’s media day, I just don’t get very excited about seeing the coaches and players like some media members I’ve seen get almost giddy talking to them like it is more of a fan fest than the UA’s attempt to use them to splash every media outlet in the state with Razorback red. This was extremely true with the previous coach.

But I have to admit that I am excited about watching this season. Ryan Mallett is by far the best quarterback the Hogs have ever had. This may not translate into being the most successful, but on talent he is at the top. The offense returns intact with what some are suddenly calling the best receiving corps in the country, and this has added to my interest in the upcoming season.

I have not seen the fan base this excited about a season and their coach in a long time. I think there was a general excitement before the 2007 and 2008 seasons when the team also had a Heisman Trophy contender, but a lot of the fan base did not get to enjoy it as the pre-occupation with overthrowing the coach and all the off-the-field distractions.

In those two seasons, the off-the-field (and above-the-field) activity was greater than what was happening on the field for some. So even though the Hogs ran off 10 straight victories, some were more interested in the drama of Houston Nutt, the Springdale people, fan lawsuits, and everything else that was off the field. This is not the case going into this season. Hopefully, all the drama will be on the field.

But there is also another reason why I find this coming season fascinating without a snap yet to be taken. This will be a season to remember -- one way or the other.

You can tell with the way the fan base has been talking all summer that if the Hogs only win seven or eight games, it will be a big disappointment. Most see the schedule as easier this year and with the returning team mostly together, great things are expected. And I mean GREAT in all caps, maybe even and SEC West championship or an SEC overall championship and BCS bowl.

This is the year in Bobby Petrino’s career at Arkansas that will be extremely pivotal. If he only wins seven games, fans will start to turn on him. Conversely, if he wins 10, 11, 12, or the whole enchilada, he may be gone to a job that pays millions more than he makes now, such as at LSU or Michigan.

It should not be this way, but the environment of college football, especially in the ever tough SEC, makes it that way. In the SEC, if you do not contend for the national championship every year, some fans are disappointed. And they are very vocal about their displeasure.

A great example of this overzealousness can be seen no farther than across the border in Knoxville, Tennessee. Vols fans had a coach who brought them their only national championship in decades. He was only one year removed from being in the SEC championship game, and yet he was run off in favor of a guy like Lane Kiffin.

Tommy Tuberville has to feel the same way. He beat arch-rival Alabama six times in a row and brought them an undefeated season and maybe even a national championship if you throw out USC’s record. (Some weird group called the College Football Prognosticators Association did give Auburn the national championship that season with their award called the “Slabby.”)

I would also be willing to wager a bet that Les Miles, also just shortly removed from winning a national championship at LSU, is really feeling the pressure this year. I bet he wonders now if he should have gone to Michigan when the opportunity presented itself the first time (second chance coming in November).

Some fans are even getting impatient with the great coach at Georgia when all that he has done is win, win, and win consistently. Those Bulldogs fans must have short memories to not remember what it was like before he arrived at Athens.

With all that said, if Petrino underperforms this season, and that will be easy to do as expectations are stratospheric, he will start to feel the heat. It’s just how it goes in the SEC where football is so important to so many people who will fixate on the coach when their team’s fortunes go south – “fortune” being the appropriate word since there are incredible fortunes to be made from these football programs.

Starting this year, Petrino will receive a higher level of scrutiny than he has at any time in his career, even in Atlanta. If he is highly successful, how long does he stay around? Same question applies if he is not.

With the fans, this will be the watershed year. And with all the buildup for the 2010 version of Razorback football, anything less than nine wins could be a major disappointment.

It is virtually a make it or break it year for the Razorback football program.


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