FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football recruiting coordinator Tim Horton claimed a significant place in Razorbacks football history during the early winter of 2007.
During Athletic Director Jeff Long’s coaching search that ended with hiring of Bobby Petrino on Dec. 11, Horton played a key role in keeping together a recruiting class of mostly home-grown prospects who became key cogs in the Hogs’ 21-5 record the past two seasons.
Now Horton, a former Razorbacks player and the team’s running backs coach, and the rest of Arkansas’ coaching staff face a new crisis. The Razorbacks’ assistant coaches entered the spring evaluation period, which began April 15, with uncertainty regarding the head coaching position after Long’s dismissal of Petrino on April 10.
The Razorbacks’ two earliest commitments for 2013 - Texas natives Jamel James, a running back, and receiver Austin Bennett - have both said they are no longer orally committed to Arkansas following Petrino’s firing. Oral commitments are nonbinding.
Arkansas is the only SEC school without a commitment, according to ESPN’s SEC blog. The other 13 schools have 105 combined commitments, an average of eight each, led by Georgia’s 15 and Texas A&M’s 14.
Only five SEC programs have fewer than six commitments: Ole Miss and Tennessee with four each, Mississippi State with two, Kentucky with one and Arkansas.
“We are in a little bit of a holding pattern right now until we name a head coach,” Horton said. “At the same time, we have had kids on campus and we’re going to have some offer kids at the spring game.”
Bennett is expected to be among the recruits at Saturday’s Red-White game. Seven assistants coaches at a time will start hitting the road recruiting for a 24-day period after the game, Horton said.
Long said at the news conference to announce Petrino’s firing he intended to wait until after the Red-White game to make a decision on naming a head coach, and he reiteratedthat stance Tuesday in a meeting with the team.
Long also said he wasn’t sure if he would appoint an interim or permanent coach from the current staff or hire a head coach from outside the organization. Arkansas players and coaches have stressed they would like to keep the current staff together as much as possible heading into the 2012 season.
“We’ve all taken more of a role to make sure that we delegate some duties and make sure administratively we have some things handled and controlled,” said Taver Johnson, the interim head coach and linebackers coach.
While Long mentioned Johnson, defensive coordinator Paul Haynes and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino as potential candidates to lead the program in 2012, it appears support has risen behind Horton.
A five-year Arkansas assistant coach who lettered for the Hogs in 1986-1989 under Coach Ken Hatfield and served as team captain as a senior, Horton said he preferred not to discuss the options for interim coach. Instead, he pointed out how the Razorbacks have held together in trying conditions since late last summer.
“You love the resiliency of our football team,” he said. “Look what our team has endured over the last nine months. [Tailback] Knile Davis hurt his ankle early in camp and was lost for the year. We’re down 18 points to Texas A&M, down double digit points to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.
“You love the fact that theyhad to find a way to win football games.”
The Razorbacks also had to deal with the death of tight end Garrett Uekman, due to a heart condition, during preparations for the season finale at LSU in a game that pitted the BCS No. 3 Razorbacks against No. 1 LSU in what was billed as Arkansas’ biggest regularseason game since The Big Shootout against Texas on Dec. 6, 1969.
Petrino’s firing is simply the latest setback the Hogs have faced.
“I think everything that has happened to us has made us like a family,” defensive tackle Robert Thomas said.
“We’ve had a lot of bullets that we’ve taken, but we’ve done a great job of keeping focused and just sticking together,” linebacker Austin Jones said.
“I know there are a lot of distractions out there and everybody’s wondering, ‘What’s next? Who’s going to be the next coach?’ But, man, they know what it’s all about,” defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said.
Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said Tuesday recent practices have been some of the best in his memory, and Haynes echoed those thoughts Wednesday.
“On both sides of the ball, the competition has been unbelievable,” Haynes said. “Once they’re on the field, that’s the one thing you start looking at, what type of effort they’re giving and if they’re making a bunch of mistakes.
“That hasn’t happened. They are locked in.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 04/19/2012