Hog Calls

Varady right choice to head foundation

University of Arkansas attorney Scott Varady, left, and chancellor John White share a smile while waiting for an elevator on Friday, Aug. 17, 2007, following a hearing at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- Decades ago at Roger's Rec a bartender was overheard teasing a longtime attorney friend.

"Do you know the difference between a dead lawyer in the middle of the road and a dead snake in the middle of the road?"

"No," the lawyer replied. "What is it?"

"There are skid marks in front of the snake."

Thoughts of that joke resurfaced in a good way with the announcement earlier in the week that University of Arkansas attorney Scott Varady would become executive director of the Razorback Foundation on Dec. 1.

With Varady the skid marks would start miles ahead just on the notion that he might be caught standing in the middle of the road.

Anybody connected with Varady and his work during his 19 years in the UA's office of general counsel will vouch that Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long and the Razorback Foundation Board could not have hired a more intelligent, accommodating, forward-thinking man of integrity to head their Razorback Foundation. Not to mention that he is also a good guy who just happens to be an Arkansan and UA grad to boot.

Varady has the remarkable qualities it takes to be a remarkable hire. But regarding whether he is the right hire ... expect a skeptical jury to take its time.

Varady never played or coached a Razorbacks sport.

Unlike Arkansas media who know Varady well from his work with coaches' contracts and compliance issues and representing the UA to the NCAA, it's just a relative few who lettered for the Razorbacks who know him at all.

With the exception of Chris Wyrick, initially among Long's first imports as his right-hand man upon Long's hiring in 2008 to succeed retired Arkansas icon Frank Broyles, all of the Razorback Foundation chiefs from the late Wilson Matthews to current interim director Norm DeBriyn have either played for or coached the Razorbacks or have done both, like Matthews and Harold Horton did.

Fortunately, for Wyrick and the Razorbacks, Wyrick was quickly promoted to the academic fundraising side as vice chancellor of advancement.

Dealing with football lettermen feeling walled off ever since Long and former football coach Bobby Petrino converted the once very accessible Broyles Center into a forbidden domain to rival Dick Cheney's bunker wouldn't have been easy for him.

While current coach Bret Bielema certainly is near infinitely more personable and accommodating than Petrino, experiencing the 1968 Razorbacks football reunion in 2013 and the 1975 Razorbacks reunion last month indicates many perceive that the walls remain.

Rank and file old grads perhaps seem a "whatever" to today's breed of corporate athletic directors more concerned with courting ESPN, Nike and the wealthiest alums, but recent athletic department upheavals at Texas and Michigan emphasize it's unwise to make them feel unwelcome.

It seems Varady's next case is proving that a Razorback Foundation director doesn't need to have played or coached the Razorbacks to be trusted that he and the UA appreciate those who played for the Razorbacks.

Sports on 10/10/2015