Former Arkansas track coach John McDonnell doesn’t expect the Razorbacks to miss a beat next year without the program’s reins in his hands. In fact, he made a bold prediction for first-year coach Chris Bucknam’s Razorbacks on Friday during a speaking engagement for the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.

“ I think, and I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on Chris, but I think he’s going to win the national championship next year with that team, ” said McDonnell, who retired in June after 36 years on the job and 42 national championships.

A strong core will return on the cross country, indoor and outdoor track squads. And the addition of 17 freshmen — one of the largest recruiting classes in the program’s history — has McDonnell confident Bucknam, the former coach of Northern Iowa, can propel one of the Hogs’ three track teams to the national stage for the 43 rd time.

The winds of change have been very apparent in the athletic department, McDonnell said. From combining the men’s and women’s departments to coaching changes, athletic director Jeff Long’s first year has been, as McDonnell put it, different than Frank Broyles’ tenure on the Hill.

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“ He’s a really good fit for Arkansas, ” McDonnell said. “ I didn’t get to know Jeff Long but for one semester. But he seems like a really good guy. He’s making a lot of changes — and I think everybody has their own style — but I think it’s going in the right direction. ”

McDonnell said he has spent his free time on his ranch in Pryor, Okla., and has watched his former Razorbacks Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon prepare for the Olympics in Beijing. Gay, who pulled a hamstring during the 200 meter U. S. Olympic Trials on July 5, is in Germany recovering with hopes of returning full strength in round 1 of the 100 meter race on Aug. 15.

Spearmon placed third in the 200-meter run at the U. S. Olympic Trials to earn a spot on the U. S. Olympic team, catching up with the field to garner the Olympic bid in the final 100 meters.

“ I’ve never seen a guy finish a race so fast, ” McDonnell said.

Spearmon, but not to the extent of Gay, is battling a slight hamstring problem heading into the Olympic Games.

“ That’s why, over the years, I steered away from too many sprinters on my teams, ” McDonnell said. “ It doesn’t matter how good you are. When you run at that terrific speed, something has to go and it’s usually your hamstring. ”

McDonnell, who smiled and laughed when members of the Chamber gave the UA’s most successful coach a Razorback rocking chair and hat to rest in during retirement after his speech Friday, plans to travel the country soon to such spots as Alaska and New England.

“ I’ve probably been in most of the states, ” McDonnell said, before quipping, “ but most of those times were spent in the airport. ”

Quite the contrast from the day-to-day duties McDonnell had grown accustomed to in the last several decades. No longer will he tell all his freshman classes and young men, “ take care of today and tomorrow will be OK. ”

“ But if you don’t take care of today, then there will be no tomorrow for you, ” McDonnell continued. “... That’s what I’ve learned from working with some of the most unpredictable people on the Earth. ”