FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas interim football coach Barry Lunney, Jr. has quite the job ahead of him on the football field in the coming weeks, but he also knows he has work to do on the recruiting trail.
Five of the Razorbacks' 14 pledges in the 2020 class - tailback John Gentry, wide receivers Savion Williams and Mason Mangum, tight end Allen Horace and Carthage athlete Kelvontay Dixon - have officially re-opened their recruitment since Chad Morris was dismissed as head coach on Sunday.
It seems likely that Highland Park quarterback Chandler Morris, the former coach’s son, will follow suit and be the fifth commit from the state of Texas to do so.
Lunney, whose first game will be at No. 1 LSU on Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. after this weekend’s bye, has been on the phone doing his best to hold on to the rest of the class.
“The first thing, when you recruit a kid and you get a kid committed, it’s two-fold,” Lunney said. “Very seldom is it that a kid is committed solely for the purpose of the coach. It usually is a split between the coach and the university, the draw, the program, the facilities, the educational opportunities, the culture and the environment of Northwest Arkansas. It’s split.
“So as a recruiter, we sell that. Right? You go to a kid’s home and you don’t sell just yourself, you don’t sell your coaching staff, you sell your university, you sell the Razorbacks, you sell the state and the pride this state takes in our football program, and I think you just have got to continue to sell that.”
Lunney, a former quarterback for Arkansas and an assistant on the last two coaching staffs, has been clear to the recruits that he thinks Razorback athletic director Hunter Yurachek will make a great hire.
“You tell them that we talked about this already. This wasn’t about one person, one coach, this was about our program,” Lunney said. “You remind them of that. You remind them of the great qualities of our university and you remind them that we have leadership in place that is, without question, going to make a decision that is the best for 120 football players to bring a head coach in here that is going to want to connect with them and give them the opportunity to re-evaluate their situation in a positive manner.
“We are actively doing that. We spent time yesterday on the phone with our commitments, encouraging them and reinforcing to them that they are wanted here and they're gong to be honored here.
“That doesn’t mean that the kids aren’t going to look somewhere else during this time, but our message to them is just sit tight. Just sit tight. We have got a few weeks left, let the dust settle, just sit tight and let’s see how this thing plays out.”
A trio of former Razorbacks recruits in wide receiver Ze'Vian Capers, defensive back Jamie "Greedy" Vance and offensive linemen Ty'Kieast Crawford had all opened their recruitment up since June.
The Razorbacks staff is expected to be on the road recruiting this weekend.
Yurachek made clear he wants to give the next head coach a chance to salvage things in the Dec. 18-20 early signing period, but mostly wants to make sure he hires the right coach.
“Obviously, the early signing period is key because we have got some recruits that have committed to the University of Arkansas that we want to retain,” Yurachek said. “We want to give our new coaching staff an opportunity to recruit additionally prior to that signing day, so to give them a runway to do that is important.
“But I think we have given ourselves a runway that we are not going to be in a rush. You have still got three weeks in the regular season and another week for conference championship games, so we have got a little bit of time to get this search done and have time to recruit.”
Lunney would love to take over full time, but notes that isn’t his focus right now.
“Yes, that is obviously a dream of mine, but my focus right now is to get these guys the best opportunity to play the best football game they have played this year because we have got some black eyes and it needs to stop,” Lunney said. “…My sole focus is getting our coaches and our players to play the best football game they have all year long when we go to Baton Rouge.
“Whatever that looks like, I just want it to be our best game - O, D, special teams. If we will do that and do it again the next week when we go to Little Rock, we are going to have a chance to win a football game. I believe that very strongly, and that’s my sole focus.”
He believes the program can be resurrected into a competitive one instead of one that has lost 26 of its last 34 games and 18 consecutive SEC games.
“I think one of the things that is key is the recruiting footprint, and I think Chad had a good plan for that,” Lunney said. “You can look back on that and use it as a springboard and continue that emphasis.
“It is a tough league. We all know that. It is the best league in football, the best division in football, but we all have seen that there have been ebbs and flows in this over the years that we have seen the Razorbacks spike and be contenders for the SEC Championship. We have played in the game three times, so it has been done before. I am a firm believer in what has been done before can be done again.
“…What one team in history can do can be done. There has just got to be a perfect storm of events. You have to have a good senior class. It will be critical for us to keep these players together and continue to grow and mature together in this process.”