LISTEN: Greg McElroy explains what makes the Arkansas job one of Power 5's hardest
The Arkansas Razorbacks have been struggling the past few years, but new coach Chad Morris will be tasked with turning that around heading into Year 2 of his tenure.
However, SEC Network analyst, Texas native and former Alabama QB Greg McElroy says the Razorbacks’ job has gotten much more difficult over the years.
In fact, during an appearance on “Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly” on Tuesday, McElroy pointed to the SEC adding Texas A&M back in 2012 as the big reason that Arkansas is now the most difficult job in the conference:
ESPN's Greg McElroy explains why he thinks Arkansas is one of the toughest Power 5 jobs in college football pic.twitter.com/yph28daAVz
— Bo Mattingly (@SportandStoryBo) December 11, 2018
“Since Texas A&M got in the league, the Arkansas job is the toughest in the SEC and among the toughest in the Power 5,” he said. “Arkansas used to have a ticket to all the players in Texas, and not just players, but students — students who wanted the Southeastern Conference experience could go from Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Arkansas and pay in-state tuition and have that SEC experience. All of my friends are Arkansas fans.
“It’s been a challenge since Texas A&M got in the league, because now kids can say, ‘Oh, well I’ll just stay in state and I’ll have that same experience and get to play for a state school and contend, hopefully, in the nicest facilities in college football. I think A&M made the Arkansas job exponentially more difficult. The only thing that’s making it somewhat manageable is that Arkansas fans are going to be patient with Chad Morris.”
Morris won’t have forever, though, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in Year 2 after going 2-10 this fall.