COMMENTARY

Facility improvements moved Hogs into elite company

An artist's rendering shows what a proposed expansion to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville might look like. The UA athletics department estimates the project would add about 4,800 seats and cost $160 million. (Photo by Razorback Athletics)

When I first started covering football recruiting 31 years ago, it was typical for a prospect to say that Arkansas had "nice facilities."

I always took that as akin to someone saying that he or she had a nice personality when inquiring about a blind date.

Regardless, it has been awhile since someone just used the word "nice" in describing the Razorbacks' facilities.

Instead I hear things like "great" or "best I have seen" such as I did from LSU defensive end commit Justin Thomas (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) just a few days ago.

Thomas took an official visit to Arkansas last weekend along with his linebacker teammate Thomas Johnston (6-2, 220), one of the Razorbacks' other top priorities.

"I really love it," Thomas said. "I like the great facilities. I like the coaches. There's a lot of money invested into the facilities."

Thomas also said his mother, Syreeta, and stepfather, Atlas, were also impressed with what they saw.

"I think they really like it," Thomas said. "They [Arkansas] had the 'wow factor' with everything they looked at."

Owasso, Okla., junior safety Wayne Jones III -- also on hand for Arkansas' 34-30 home win over No. 12 Ole Miss last Saturday -- was equally impressed.

"The best facilities I have ever seen," noted Jones, who has been to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Missouri and SMU. "It was amazing."

It's clear that Arkansas has no plans to quit fighting the SEC "arms race" and that is something that has Razorback assistant coach Barry Lunney Jr. pleased.

"It is an arms race so to speak," Lunney said. "I think our administration from top to bottom has done a fantastic job in that area. Obviously when we get that next step completed, and I think our stadium is right there with anybody, then it could really take it up another notch.

"It has obviously come a long way and I think it is an incredible home field advantage. I think it is really, really loud and I love the setting for the games. That will be exciting."

Lunney, a former Razorback quarterback in the mid-1990s, talked of how much better it is than when he was a player and four years ago when he returned as tight ends coach.

He remembers back to when the Razorbacks had to dress in two different locker rooms, had small training and equipment facilities instead of all the upgrades

"It is really nice to have what we have," Lunney said. "When I came back here to coach, I was meeting in the same offices that my coaches were in. It was obvious that it was time for something new.

"This building that we are in right now, the indoor facility and the way we have got it set up for practice is fantastic. And then you throw in a great, great stadium that is about to turn into an elite stadium."

That is a testament to the groundwork laid by former Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles and carried on by current vice chancellor and Razorback athletic director Jeff Long.

I was reminded of this while reading an email that Long sent to Razorback fans earlier this week.

He sent it soon after Arkansas coach Bret Bielema's team moved to 5-2 overall with the win over Ole Miss.

"As Coach Bielema told his team, Everybody has a home they call home. That home has a lot of valuable things, but the people in it are the ones that really matter."

In addition to noting that the Arkansas athletic program gives $3 million to the university, Long also wrote that the program is one of only 25 financially self-sustaining ones in the country.

"What that means is our program, in partnership with the Razorback Foundation, generates the revenue to cover all the costs of maintaining a nationally competitive all-sports program encompassing 19 sports and affording opportunities for more than 460 male and female student-athletes," Long wrote.

"Not one dollar is diverted from campus for Razorback Athletics. No university funds, state funds or student fees subsidize intercollegiate athletics at the University of Arkansas."

Long put forth a Razorbacks Athletics Facilities Master Plan in 2009 that included a renovation and north end zone expansion of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

He sent out new images of what the stadium will look like.

"I'm pleased to report that with the help of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, President Bobbitt and Chancellor Steinmetz, the financing is in place and the project is fully approved," Long said.

"In just a few weeks the first visible signs of this project will commence with the razing of the current Broyles Athletic Center. It is the first step in a process that will enable us to build on the history of our program while preparing it for future generations to come."

Sports on 10/22/2016