FAYETTEVILLE — When it comes to pregame motivational talks, University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman strives for authenticity.
That’s why Musselman and three staff members — Pat Ackerman, Riley Hall and Anthony Ruta — were wearing real UPS shirts when they passed out boxes to the Razorbacks before last week’s game against Mississippi State.
“We were going to lunch and Coach Muss saw a UPS truck in a parking lot,” Hall said. “He just pulled over and asked the guy, ‘How do we get one of those uniforms?’
“We tracked some down, and I don’t know if UPS corporate was overly happy with it, but they had to be happy with all the publicity they got from it.”
The video of Musselman telling the players they had to deliver like UPS when it came to defending and rebounding against the Bulldogs — and the staff members delivering boxes to them with those messages — went viral on social media after the Razorbacks’ 61-45 victory.
It was shown on ESPN, TMZ and Barstool Sports among other outlets.
Musselman said the goal of his pregame talks is presenting something better than simply, “Hey, rebound,” to reinforce what the coaches have been stressing in practice.
“We try to come up with something that loosens the atmosphere and they can have a little bit of fun with,” Musselman said. “Something that's funny, we would hope, just to grab their attention.”
The approach seems to be working considering the Razorbacks (15-5, 7-4 SEC) have won five consecutive conference games going into Saturday’s matchup at No. 10 Missouri.
“I think it brings a little bit of humor. It kind of lightens the mood a little bit,” senior forward Justin Smith said. “Because a lot of times going into games, it’s all serious.
“You have to remember that this is a game and it’s supposed to be fun, and I think by him doing that it just makes us all feel a little bit more at ease.”
Before Arkansas beat Kentucky 81-80 at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night to break an eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats, Musselman used a Kentucky Derby theme in his pregame talk.
Speaking in front of a screen showing horses at the Derby coming out of the starting gate, Musselman stressed the Razorbacks needed to start fast.
Then, with a recording of bugles calling the horses to the post, Musselman had Ackerman and Hall bring up a starting gate — which the graduate assistants had made out of cardboard and tape, had hinges and the front painted with Razorback logos.
“We’ve got to come busting through the starting gate and play for 40 minutes,” Musselman said as he pushed the gate open. “Everybody got it?”
Among other Musselman pregame themes this season:
• Taping pieces of cheese under the players’ chairs in the locker room at Vanderbilt so they “wouldn’t take the cheese” and assume how well they played in the second half in beating Auburn the previous game would carry over.
• Pouring liquid out of a gas container because he wanted the Razorbacks to “empty the tank” with how hard they played.
• Breaking one stick, but not being able to break five, because the Razorbacks needed to stick together and play unselfishly.
• Using a magnifying glass and tools from an optometrist’s office to show that “all eyes” would be on the Razorbacks before they played a historic in-state game against the University of Central Arkansas.
“Coach Muss can find motivation from just about anything,” said Hall, Arkansas’ video coordinator. “He reads a lot of articles and finds things that way.”
Smith said he’s impressed with the planning and effort that goes into Musselman’s pregame talks.
“I guess it just shows how much he cares about it, and that it’s important to him,” Smith said. “It's kind of how he views our team.”
Michael Musselman, Eric’s son and the Razorbacks’ director of recruiting, said the staff often discuss ideas for pregame talks.
“Coach Muss will say random things and we’ll just start throwing things against the wall and see what sticks,” Michael Musselman said. “Seeing if we can come up with something that applies to the next game, or another game in the future, that we think will fall in line with the game plan and get the guys’ attention.
“For every one we use, there’s 100 we don’t use.”
Among the ideas that didn’t stick?
“Ants and machine guns,” said Michael Musselman, adding that his father read about it in a sports article.
Maybe save it in case Arkansas plays the Anteaters of California-Irvine.
“We’ll have Hays [Myers] put that in the library,” said Michael Musselman.
Hays Myers, who is Eric Musselman’s special assistant, keeps a folder of ideas in case one becomes applicable for a particular game.
“We just all love the things he comes up with and all the comedy he gives us,” freshman guard Davonte Davis said of Eric Musselman’s pregame talks.
Last season Musselman used a toddler’s potty training toilet to flush away a poor performance in a previous game.
“To just give a visual of, ‘Hey, let’s flush the game away' rather than say, ‘Let’s not worry about the last game,’” Musselman said. “Why not get up and flush a toilet to just say, ‘Hey, let’s forget what just happened. Let’s get back to focusing on what’s important, which is tonight’s game.’”
Michael Musselman said his favorite motivational demonstration by his father was last season when he imitated a pro wrestler, Mark Calaway, who is known as “The Undertaker.”
After the Razorbacks broke a five-game losing streak when Isaiah Joe was recovering from knee surgery, there was a video of Musselman lying on the locker room floor and rising up like “The Undertaker” coming out of his coffin.
Michael Musselman said that in addition to providing comic relief and motivation for the Razorbacks, his father’s pregame talks boost recruiting.
“When recruits reach out to you saying they saw a video, you know that one, it’s got a wide reach, and two, you’re really doing something different that other people aren’t doing,” Michael Musselman said. “I think it’s something that sets us apart. It shows the personality of the staff, and of Coach Muss specifically.”
Arkansas assistant coach David Patrick said he can see the positive impact the pregame talks have on the players.
“The guys look forward to it,” Patrick said. “Obviously, you want your guys prepared and tough and ready to play, but I think Muss does a great job in terms of getting our guys loose before they go out for the battles that we have in the SEC.”
Michael Musselman recalled being 10 or 11 years old— his father was coach of the Golden State Warriors at the time — and watching NBA players listen intently to what Eric Musselman told them.
“It was impressive to see the way he could hold the attention of NBA players who were making millions of dollars,” Michael Musselman said. “Instead of using stats and film clips, it’s a way to keep the game plan relatable and make it interesting, and just a good way to loosen up the room before a big game.”
Eric Musselman said he used to have motivational talks regularly in the NBA to break up the monotony of an 82-game schedule.
“I think it was about the 13th or 14th game of the season, we had played back-to-back games on the road, and I didn't have anything prepared,” Musselman said. “I didn't have any props, and one of the players said 'Coach, we're not going out for layups until you do something.'
“I'm not going to say the player's name, but it was a disgruntled player that wasn't playing a lot, and at that point I kind of chuckled and said. ‘Hey, these guys kind of get a kick out of it.’”
Musselman said Biff Lloyd, his coach at Brecksville-Broadview High School in Ohio, provided inspiration for his pregame talks.
NBA coaches with whom Musselman worked also helped shape his philosophy, including his father Bill Musselman, Doc Rivers and Mike Fratello.
Musselman said he has “stolen” motivational material from New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton.
“The pregame stuff, we take really seriously,” Musselman said. “It's our last opportunity to get a theme for that particular night.”
Ackerman, the Razorbacks’ recruiting coordinator who also was on Musselman’s staff at Nevada, recalled that before playing Cincinnati in a second-round game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Musselman discovered Sweet 16 shirts for the Bearcats were being sold on Cincinnati’s website.
Instead Nevada advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 75-73 victory over Cincinnati.
“We took a screenshot of their website and put it up on our board before the game so our players knew Cincinnati already was selling the Sweet 16 shirts,” Ackerman said. “Whoever decided to do that at Cincinnati, they obviously didn’t know us well enough to know we’d find it and show the team.
“It speaks to the depths Coach Muss is willing to go to find just the right piece of motivation.”