Chad Morris brings hope to Arkansas football shortly after the Bret Bielema era let the program down. Here’s why the future is bright.
“If you give me a chance- I won’t let you down,” said Chad Morris to his players in his first team meeting
November 2017 was not a good time to be an Arkansas football fan. With the firing of athletic director Jeff Long, it seemed that it was just a matter of when, not if Bret Bielema would meet the same fate.
It had been an awkward, uncoordinated season with losses to SEC opponents and narrow wins over games the Hogs were favored in. The players, the fans and seemingly the entire state was holding its collective breath for the end of the Bielema era.
Nine days after Long was excused, it was Bielema’s turn to be let go. After a painful loss to Missouri in Fayetteville, interim athletic director Julie Cromer Peoples was tasked with delivering the news, seemingly as soon as the coach stepped off the field.
Then began the search for a new head football coach. Everywhere there was excitement, opinions and ponderings over who would be the next ‘Head Hog’. There was a bit of a curveball thrown at the fans this time around. It was announced that the University would be using executive search firm DHR International to help in the hiring process. In a press conference addressing Bielema’s release, Cromer Peoples had openly remarked, “I don’t think we’ll have any problems having interest in this job.”
While those on the inside of the search knew all the candidates that were indeed interested, those throughout that state could only proffer guesses, hunches and wishful thinking. Names like Les Miles, Lane Kiffin and Brent Venables were just a few that were being thrown around as possible candidates.
Everyone had their favorites, or at the very least an opinion on who they didn’t want taking the job. The majority of fans were seemingly hoping for Gus Malzahn to step up and take over. He was considered to be on the hot seat throughout the season, and even though Auburn had beaten Alabama in the Iron Bowl, there was no playoff on the horizon, just a bowl game against UCF, which the Tigers lost.
Arkansas had a fan base staring at the twisted wreckage of the last few seasons, without a coach and a whole lot of questions. Then less than two weeks into the search, fans were introduced to their new Razorback head coach, Chad Morris. In the six months since Morris has taken over, a lot has taken place. With a brand new crew of coaching personnel, and a promise to “get in the left lane and put the hammer down”, a new era has begun on the hill in Fayetteville — the Chad Morris era.
What can fans expect from this hire? When will the stigma of being the bottom feeders of the SEC West end? Can Morris take the Hogs to that next level, making Razorback Football bigger, better and faster? Here’s why he brings hope to Arkansas.