FAYETTEVILLE — I’ve got to think that one of the tougher jobs in sports is being an athletics director who is fairly new on the job and who has a couple of sports that are not winning at the level that some fans believe they should be.
That’s the case for Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek, who took over that spot after the powers that be decided Jeff Long had run his course here and should move on.
Yurachek arrived from Houston and inherited an Arkansas football program headed in the wring direction, one that has won only six of its last 26 games and went only 2-10 in its first season under new coach Chad Morris.
While there was some grumbling with Morris’ inaugural season, no doubt fueled by the choice to use the “get in the left lane and put the hammer down” motto only to have an offense that seemingly was in the right lane with its blinker on, the banner 2019 recruiting class has infused the fans with some hope.
One thing that helps Morris is that he is new on the job and fans are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
That’s not the case with Arkansas basketball coach Mike Anderson, who is in his eighth season with the Razorbacks and is now 165-97.
It’s hard to find anybody who doesn’t respect Anderson as a person and I believe he truly is one of the best people to ever coach here in terms of character.
It would be wrong to take what is said on social media, message boards and talk shows and credit that with summing up the sentiment of the entire fan base.
Analytics tell us that is simply a small percentage of fans, but it is a portion that yell - or type - the loudest and can dictate the narrative.
Arkansas (14-11, 5-7 SEC) lost its fifth home basketball game - the most since the 2008-09 season - on Saturday night, and it suffered its 10th loss in the last 18 games after starting 6-1.
Mississippi State went on 23-3 run to start the second half and turned what was a Razorback 38-32 halftime lead into a 55-41 deficit.
Arkansas missed its first 14 shots coming out of the locker room. It became another time this season when many wonder just what the heck is going on out on the court.
The easy answer is youth and inexperience, but no one wants to hear that in the eighth season, even if it is a legitimate factor.
Mississippi State’s lead crested at 16 and the home team did not get any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
It came in front of a disappointed crowd of more than 11,000, most of which left before the final buzzer.
It was Arkansas’ third loss in a row and was met with calls for Anderson’s job, as most other losses this year.
One can come up with plenty of positives that have happened over Anderson’s tenure, including getting into three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Anderson didn't make the tournament his first four years.
He’s also taken a program that had many issues off the court when he first arrived and completely changed the culture for the better.
I’m sure many of us are wondering what is going on in Yurachek’s mind. He was been very supportive of Anderson, and for that matter, all of his coaches publicly.
He’s no doubt heard the grumbling, but I am sure he has many factors that he looks at when making a decision.
I am sure he is getting advice from all over the place and it will be interesting to see how he responds.
The narrative with Anderson used to be that he was not getting into the tournament enough. Once that happened three times in four seasons, the narrative shifted to his lack of a Sweet 16 appearance.
He did take UAB to the Sweet 16 in 2004 and Missouri to the Elite in 2009, but has not made it past the second round with the Razorbacks.
If Arkansas had beaten eventual national champion North Carolina in the second round of the 2017 tournament, this column likely would have never been written.
My thought has been there are two camps that either support or don’t support Anderson. I don’t believe there is anything he can do that will move someone from one camp to the other.
So here we sit with Yurachek having to look over everything as he studies the landscape and decides what’s best for the program.
That’s why his position pays so much. It’s not an easy one.