Like it is

Assistant coaches no longer an easy hire

Dustin Fry spent three seasons as offensive line coach at SMU. Fry is expected to have the same position on Chad Morris' staff at Arkansas, but no hires have been officially announced one month after Morris was hired as head coach.

More than likely, all the worry and concern will disappear this week.

New University of Arkansas, Fayetteville football Coach Chad Morris will announce his full coaching staff soon, including a defensive coordinator. When at full strength, the coaches will attack the rest of the month with recruiting calls and visits.

Athletic Directer Hunter Yurachek then will focus on other business -- more than likely he's been up to his neck in contract negotiations.

There was a time not that long ago when a head coach would just pick up the phone, find out if someone was interested in joining his staff, tell his AD, and the AD would say this is what we can pay.

Done deal.

Not anymore. Not by a long-shot.

Most assistant coaches have agents, and those agents are not worried about a school, a team, a fan base or anyone other than their client. That's how agents get paid.

More and more assistant coaches, like head coaches, want some sort of payout if they get fired.

Generally, coaches get fired for not winning enough games but get paid as if they did win. At his first news conference Yurachek said he believes losing is grounds for termination, and he's absolutely right.

That's part of why the business model is broken in college football.

Who gets rewarded millions of dollars for not doing their job well other than football coaches?

Nick Saban is so confident of his abilities to win he doesn't have a buyout at Alabama. He's a rare exception to what has become the rule in college football, and it's something that needs to be addressed by athletic directors across the country because the ESPN money will not be there forever.

Another thing that may have slowed the hiring process for Morris is the UA has not been as desirable a destination as it once was.

Not counting interim coaches, four of the past five Razorbacks head coaches have been fired. Houston Nutt was under immense pressure when he resigned, and then Chancellor John White made the first buyout, giving Nutt an extra $3 million to basically go to Ole Miss the next day.

Since Jack Crowe took over the football program in 1990, the Razorbacks are 92-125 in conference games.

Before that, Lou Holtz and Kenny Hatfield were a combined 73-28-1 in conference play -- and yes, it was in the old Southwest Conference, but that was a good league for many years.

Frank Broyles was 91-36-5 in conference play. Those three coaches won or tied for six conference championships.

There have been none since.

Losing football games and firing coaches do not make a school attractive nationwide.

That's not why Gus Malzahn was never coming here. He feels he has a better chance to win a national championship at Auburn than Arkansas.

Morris obviously likes the Razorbacks' chances of turning things around, although no one should expect it to be quickly.

What Morris is going to do is play an exciting brand of football. He's got the moxie of a riverboat gambler, the nerve of a daytime burglar and the knowledge that he has to be unconventional in the most conventional football conference in America.

He's been working hard at recruiting future players and staff. It is not a great secret that SJ Tuohy will be working in football operations for the Hogs. If you aren't familiar with him, watch the movie The Blind Side. His family adopted Michael Oher, but Tuohy has played both college basketball and football.

Other names will be known sooner rather than later.

Sports on 01/07/2018