Tearing Off the Rearview Mirror and Building More Runway

A Preview of the Arkansas Razorbacks v Texas A&M Aggies on October 18, 2025

It’s game day. Due to severe weather threats in NWA my tailgating plans have been cancelled and kickoff for today’s game has been moved back to 4:30. So I have some time to sit on my back porch, listen to the rain, watch once lowly Vanderbilt be favored in a game against the mighty LSU Tigers, and reflect on the past and future of Hogs football team.

Last week marked the return of the prodigal son, Bobby Petrino, as head coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks. His mantra all week to the team and the media was that it was time to tear off the rearview mirror and forget about the first part of the season (and maybe even his own past with the team).

And for most of the game against Tennessee, it looked like he might be on to something. The team played inspired, the offense was clicking, and the defense looked the best it had all season. But then that dreaded fumble monster got us and we returned to our old form and lost a close one 34-31.

Remember Coach Cold Beer got fired for losing close games. We didn’t have to look in the past for history to simply repeat itself.

I also find it ironic that Petrino went with the rearview mirror metaphor when the last day he was head coach of the Hogs he wrecked his motorcycle and ripped the rearview mirrors off.

This uncertainty at the head coaching position for Arkansas has led rumors to fly and speculation to mount, but I was able to gain some encouraging insights last night at a happy hour at Hunter Yurachek’s house hosted by the Razorbacks Foundation.

Arkansas athletics are in good shape

Despite having the 12th largest athletic budget in the SEC, we have won the most SEC championships (39) of any team in the conference since Yuracheck took over as AD 8 years ago.

The new revenue sharing NIL model that went into place in July, gives Arkansas an advantage. There are only 25 of 130 FCS programs that are profitable. To be able to share the approved $20.5mm in revenue with the student athletes, the schools will have to be profitable.

I know this isn’t true in single years, organizations run in a deficit all the time (see the United States of America and it’s 2025 $1.8 trillion deficit to add to its existing $38 trillion in debt), but universities aren’t countries. They can only bleed cash for sports and cut other programs and see their academics and facilities suffer for so long before the tax payers and other governmental entities that support them cry wolf.

For example, Georgia Tech is having a great season and is currently ranked 12th in the nation. But I was told last night that they are running at a $30mm deficit to do that. That’s not sustainable.

Arkansas is “Not Set Up to Win a National Championship” in Football, but times they are a changin’

Yurchek didn’t shy away from talking about the remarks he made at the Little Rock Touchdown Club that found him in hot water, but this time he had a more optimistic view. He said they are currently building a runway for the future.

He said the reason he had to let Sam Pittman go when he did was to be able to position to football team to have enough dry powder to not only hire a new coach, but to bolster the staff, and provide an NIL war chest for the new coach to use at his discression.

He noted that he and Pittman are still friends and talk 3+ times per week. He even said Pittman sent him a picture drinking a beer on Lake Hamilton mid-week around 2 PM to wish him well.

He said the Arkansas job is gaining a lot of national attention and that if they execute their timeline correctly we should announce our new coach the first week of December.

He reminded people that not only did we have the 13th highest paid coach in the conference but we had the 15th highest paid staff, and that has to change to compete in the SEC.

So what’s the number? I asked him how much money he really needs to build this runway? How much to land the plane and get angry Hogs fans off his back who can’t seem to see that he’s succeeding in everything but football, which isn’t failing but has settled into mediocrity?

They will raise $30mm before December 1. All donations are payable over 4 years. So the real number is $7.5mm per year that he and his staff believe will move us from 13-15th in the conference up to 5th or 6th.

It’s not perfect. It doesn’t mean we are going to win a national championship in our first year with the new head coach, but it does mean we have a plan. We have a realistic plan, and we are willing to be transparent about it.

So what can Bobby Petrino and the 2025 Hogs do today to help in building a runway for the future?

Well a win over #4 Texas A&M would make for a pretty epic start. This Southwest Classic game should be pretty epic with the Aggies traveling to Fayetteville for only the second time in the modern era.

A&M has won 12 out of the past 13 in this series. 7 of those outings were one score games with 3 of them going into OT. So despite the team’s records, it should be a close game. That’s why Vegas has A&M favored by only 7.5 points, which is shocking since A&M already beat a team that beat us by 43 points (Notre Dame).

A&M’s defense is elite. It’s going to be wet and cold. Attendance will be low with the weather, fall break, and hunting season opening. As much as I would love for us to play spoiler to the Aggies miracle season, I just don’t see that being in the cards for us. We will have to suffer flying commercial in Main Cabin, while we save up to buy a jet and build our own landing strip.

Texas A&M 35 - Arkansas 17