State of the Hogs: Remembering the best Arkansas football staffs

FAYETTEVILLE — This is going to make someone mad. It can't be helped. You just have to do that every now and then if you are a sports columnist.

There are tricks. You can emphasize that no one is right. It's just one man's opinion. But it is going to rub someone wrong. You make a list and there is no way but to leave a person or two off.

I can recall trying to get Frank Broyles to pick his best quarterback, linebacker or running back. He wouldn't do it. He had so many great ones, it probably was a good idea to stay clear of those kind of statements.

If you asked him about a particular player, he'd talk about them. But not in a comparison to others or trying to put a label as greatest on one player or the next. You get the idea.

This is a bit of a different direction to that idea, but it's the same thing. I'm going to pick the greatest Arkansas coaching staff of all-time. It's tough because I'm not old enough to remember all of them, or remember some of them well. But it doesn't mean I can't have an opinion, or someone else can have their thoughts, too.

I'm no better than anyone else. I won't say that anyone else is not right, or know more than I do. So don't get mad. Well, I know some will anyway.

This idea came about when someone I talked to on the phone mentioned that this might be one of the best Arkansas coaching staffs in history. I did agree that it's a good one, labeled by Bret Bielema as one of his best and most experienced. He likes it and has said so. He hired them, so he better like them!

So how do you pick the greatest Arkansas coaching staff of all-time? First, you have to find the list. That part is easy. It's in the Arkansas media guide and has been for quite some time.

I think it's easy to see greatness in many of the Arkansas staffs. Some have gone on from Arkansas assistants to become accomplished head coaches. That's one of the quick ways to identify greatness. If they were good enough to be hired by others as head coaches, then it stands to reason that they were pretty good assistants.

However, that may not always be the case. Great assistants might not have ever landed a head job because they were not coordinators. They didn't call plays or defensive signals and never got the chance to become head coaches. But they still might have been great assistants.

There are several that come to mind that fit that as Arkansas assistants. Monte Kiffin was a great coordinator at many stops, but not a successful head coach. His only head coaching stint, at North Carolina State, was three years with 6-5 as the best record.

Kiffin was pretty goofy and maybe he couldn't do anything else but become a career assistant. Goofy can be a good thing when it comes to coaching. There may be some who locked themselves in a room and just studied tape and wanted to coach. They had no hobbies, no other vices and that was fine to just call plays.

Kiffin was also more of a coordinator than a position coach. I was told by more than one he didn't need to be working a position, just running a defense. He coached linebackers more than any other position, but his expertise was in calling defensive signals.

Then there were those like Merv Johnson, a key aide for Frank Broyles during two different stops, including offensive line coach in 1964 when Arkansas won its only national championship. He was also aline coach for national title teams at Notre Dame and Oklahoma.

Kiffin's time at Arkansas, all under Lou Holtz, was 1977-79, the last season when he served as assistant head coach. I point to the 1977 staff as a good one to start with as far as Arkansas staffs. Holtz had Don Breaux (quarterbacks), Larry Beightol (offensive line), Jesse Branch (wide receivers), Bob Cope (defensive backs), Harold Horton (defensive line), John Mitchell (defensive ends) and Ken Turner (tight ends/kickers).

That crew produced an 11-1 team and should have been national champs except for a screen pass Earl Campbell took to the house in the closing minutes of Texas' 13-9 victory. That was a great staff.

Was it better than the 1964 staff? It's hard to argue with a national championship. Many players on that team still point to that staff is an amazing collection of assistant coaches. I can't say that any were better.

For that '64 staff, Broyles had Jim Mackenzie (assistant head coach, DC), Merv Johnson (OL), Johnny Majors (DB), Wilson Matthews (LB), Bill Pace (OB) and Barry Switzer (OE). That doesn't count a vast collection of grad assistants, but that's all that are listed as the official assistants.

It would be hard to go wrong with about any of those Broyles staffs. So many became head coaches and several won Super Bowls like Joe Gibbs, Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll. Growing up going to games with my father, Orville Henry, there was always a belief that Broyles had the best assistants in the college game. Many were in our homes on a regular basis if they made recruiting trips to Little Rock. In my eyes, they are still legendary.

I do know that the '61 staff was one of his favorites. Broyles had Doug Dickey (DB), Hayden Fry (OB), Mackenzie (OL), Matthews (LB), Dixie White (OL) and Steed White (OE). Fry was only at Arkansas one year. The day Bielema was hired at the UA, Fry told me that he had a great job. He was brought in to design plays for Lance Alworth. How about that for your assignment?

The thing that Broyles did to get all of those great assistants, many the up-and-comers in the profession, was simple. He paid them well and in creative fashion. Arkansas assistant coaches had radio shows that jumped up their pay. They also had cars from dealers across the state. I've been told Arkansas was the first school to do that for assistants.

Fry told me that when he took the head job at SMU in 1962, there was an assumption that he had a better job. His jaw dropped when he saw his first check stub. He was paid less than as play caller at Arkansas. He made sure to negotiate better in future moves.

There have been many great collections of coaches at Arkansas. I thought highly of the 1975 group. It produced the last SWC title for Broyles and a Cotton Bowl victory over Georgia. Bo Rein (OB) was a great play caller. His veer strategy was superb. That shows up in an ESPN documentary on Rein. The others were Don Boyce (OL), Branch (WR), Frank Falks (DE), Horton (LB), Jimmy Johnson (DC/DL), Pat Jones (DL), Bill Lewis (DB) and Ken Turner (TE/K).

More recently, I'm fond of Danny Ford's 1995 staff which won an SEC West title. Rockey Felker (QB) and Joe Lee Dunn (DC) were both good play callers. Louis Campbell (DB), Jim Washburn (DL) and Fitz Hill (WR) are among my all-time favorite assistants, then and now.

The Ken Hatfield time was marked by solid coaching. No one one at a higher rate than Hatfield. I enjoyed watching his practices. I thought Fred Goldsmith was a spectacular defensive coordinator, but perhaps not a strong recruiter.

The Hatfield staff didn't change much, so it doesn't matter if you pick one year over another. My favorites from that group had to be Goldsmith and Turner, along with Roger Hinshaw and David Lee.

From the Houston Nutt era, the staff that jumps out is 2006. It was also one of the strangest years, with apparent conflict internally. Gus Malzahn (OC/WR) was shoved into the staff by those from above. But there were good coaches on the staff. Reggie Herring (DC/LB) earned a Super Bowl title with Denver last year and was a very talented college assistant.

Those two solid play callers were joined by Mike Markuson (OL), Alex Wood (QB), Bobby Allen (CB), Danny Nutt (RB), Tracy Rocker (DL), James Shibest (TE/K) and Campbell (DB).

Bobby Petrino's teams were coached well, but I can't say that I can pick out a staff that I'd rate as top shelf. Perhaps there was just too much Carroll College sprinkled around.

It's been a fun ride to get to know so many talented coaches. There have been characters that won't be forgotten like Joe Kines and Willy Robinson. There are some funny guys. Herring was usually good for a quote and a laugh, too. So was Beightol.

There will be some that find fault with this collection of memories and it can be picked apart. That's what opinions are all about.