FAYETTEVILLE — Chris Bucknam joked that he sounds a little like John McDonnell when he talks.

He has a chance to see if he can win like him. Bucknam was named to replace McDonnell as track and field and cross country coach at Arkansas on Friday.

Bucknam, 51, spent the past 30 years — including 25 as the men’s coach — at Northern Iowa, where he led the Panthers and Lady Panthers to 35 conference titles and six top-20 finishes at NCAA track and field meets. A nice resume, to be sure, but it pales in comparison to McDonnell’s 42 national championships and 84 conference titles.

“I’m a brave guy, aren’t I ?” said Bucknam, who was raised in Beverley, Mass.

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Bucknam’s first official act as the Razorbacks’ new coach was to name Dick Booth his assistant. Booth, a longtime assistant to McDonnell, was one of the candidates for the head coach’s job during Athletic Director Jeff Long’s search.

Long said Bucknam had not signed a contract or letter of intent but the university hoped to have that finalized by Friday night.

Bucknam said he did not apply for the Razorbacks’ position but was contacted by Long at the NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier this month in Des Moines, Iowa. Bucknam flew to Arkansas for an interview Monday and was offered the job Thursday.

“As a track coach, this is what you dream about,” Bucknam said. “I’m living a dream right now.”

Long said McDonnell recommended Bucknam as a possible replacement after announcing his retirement in April. Long said Bucknam impressed him because he ran a “total program” at Northern Iowa that didn’t focus on one sport or one specialty over another.

The more Long researched, the more he liked what he heard about Bucknam. He said Bucknam would be an unpopular choice among his now-SEC rivals.

“When I asked, who don’t they want to see [me ] hand over the reins to, many times it was Bucknam,” Long said. “I’ve come to learn it’s because he’s a tenacious recruiter, his work ethic is unmatched and he has the ability to identify talent. At that midmajor level, more importantly, he has the ability to develop that talent.”

McDonnell said Bucknam should do well at Arkansas after years of building solid teams in Cedar Falls. Northern Iowa regularly came to Arkansas to compete in invitational meets such as the Tyson Invitational and John Mc-Donnell Invitational.

“It’ll be a tough transition, there’s no doubt about that,” McDonnell said. “The good thing is we have SEC athletes, national-type athletes. I think he’ll do great. It’s not like he’s coming into a program where the coach has been fired for not winning.

“ We won three conference titles this year, and we have a young team, and I think he’ll do some wonderful things.”

Bucknam said he understands the challenge of stepping up from the Missouri Valley Conference to the SEC. His best finish at a national meet was a ninth-place finish at the 2007 indoors meet, while the SEC routinely has multiple teams finish in the top 10 at national meets.

“It’s a huge challenge; there’s no question about that,” Bucknam said. “[The SEC ] is much deeper than the Missouri Valley Conference. I also think there are some advantages to being in a power conference in regards to the recruiting base, name recognition, the unbelievable tradition the school has.

“ In some ways, it’s going to make my job a little bit easier.”

Bucknam said he has looked into several other jobs during his long tenure at Northern Iowa. He said deciding to leave the Panthers’ program he built was almost more difficult than replacing a legend like McDonnell.

“We had a great system in place,” Bucknam said. “This challenge doesn’t come along very often. I immediately snapped out of it and said, ‘This is something special.’” Honoring Bucknam A list of Chris Bucknam’s collegiate coaching accomplishments and championship history prior to being named head track coach at Arkansas.

COACHING HONORS UNITED STATES TRACK COACHES ASSOCIATION MIDWEST COACH OF THE YEAR 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 MVC MEN’S INDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 MVC WOMEN’S INDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR 2002 MVC MEN’S OUTDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007 MVC MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY COACH OF THE YEAR 1992, 1997, 2001 MVC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY COACH OF THE YEAR 2000 MID-CONTINENT CONFERENCE INDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990 MID-CONTINENT CONFERENCE OUTDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR 1986 MID-CONTINENT CROSS COUNTRY COACH OF THE YEAR 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990 * Has coached two national champions and 47 All-Americans CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY MVC MEN’S INDOOR 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 MVC MEN’S OUTDOOR 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007 MVC MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 1992, 1997, 2001 MVC WOMEN’S INDOOR 2002 MVC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 2000 MID-CONTINENT MEN’S INDOOR 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990 MID-CONTINENT MEN’S OUTDOOR 1984, 1986 MID-CONTINENT MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 1984, 1988, 1990