LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Despite widespread disappointment in The Hog's football kingdom, Arkansas first-year Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek appeared in Little Rock Monday, Sept. 17, to face some sad faces.
Like a politician running for office, he made some promises, asking fans here in central Arkansas to trust him. He pledged to see the football program competing for a championship in his old hometown of Houston by 2024, and he said regular appearances in Little Rock will be part of that. The outstanding question is: Will fans give him a chance if the team gets to War Memorial Stadium with a bad record?
“Games in Little Rock are part of the fabric of this state,” Yurachek said to applause at the Little Rock Touchdown Club luncheon. “We wear Arkansas across our chest because we represent this entire state.”
But with the game at War Memorial set for Oct. 13 against Ol’ Miss, the poor start to the season poses a problem. Crowd shots after the Razorbacks’ loss to North Texas revealed many empty seats at R.W. Reynolds Stadium in Fayetteville. It's hard enough to draw a crowd to games across all of college football. A losing team makes it harder, and that means pressure.
“There's pressure as an athletic director day in and day out regardless of what school you're at,” he said. “Your football program has to have success because it is that fuel that goes into the engine of your athletic program.”
The stadium is upbeat about this year's game even as the team arrives on a down note.
“Ticket sales have gone very well,” said Meg Matthews, spokesperson for Arkansas Parks and Tourism, the state agency that runs the stadium. “In fact, since our office opened, we have sold tickets every single day. So we're over the 700 mark.”
Matthews says while football will continue to be a huge revenue producer, the agency running War Memorial is drafting plans for new and different ways to showcase the venue.
A consultant has been brought in and she said to expect a "new gameplan" to be revealed later this year.
This is the last year of the current War Memorial deal with the University of Arkansas. After the Ol’ Miss game, the team will play either a spring scrimmage or the Battle Line rivalry game with the University of Missouri for the next six years.
Yuriahek and head coach Chad Morris have a vision for 2024, but they're counting on fans here holding down their discontent.
“As I sit here today, we still have a long journey to go to build a championship program,” Yurachek said. “I have the utmost confidence in Chad Morris and the staff that he's put together that we're going to get there.”