Rumored Arkansas Razorbacks dispute spills out into open at Touchdown Club

Push for change in Hogs' administration once in background appears to go public

Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on the sidelines during game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When the SEC commissioner comes to the Little Rock Touchdown Club, it warrants attention. While most people latched onto the discussion about SEC referees after Arkansas fans were upset about a school record amount of penalties on the Hogs in the Mississippi State game, there were plenty of eyebrow raising comments that deserve notation.

Oddly enough, they had nothing to do with Sankey himself.

Bazzel's pointed comments about Trainor, Scanlon

Tuesday a call came in that there was noise among the Arkansas boosters that a specific segment wants to push out Hunter Yurachek and install Kevin Scanlon as the next athletics director. Scanlon's name is one that hasn't come up in a long time, so it seemed a little odd to have it pop up out of nowhere.

However, when it came time to sit down and go through what Sankey had to say at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, Scanlon's name came up again in the opening comments in the most curious of ways. David Bazzel, a former player and current radio personality who has played a major role in many of the things that have happened in Fayetteville, including his involvement in football trophy games, preceded his introduction of Sankey with what appears to be very pointed comments directed toward Yurachek.

Rather than dive directly into the introduction of the honored guest, he made it a point to take a moment to directly point out to Sankey that long time former Arkansas athletics employee Kevin Trainor was in attendance. With a sharp tone in his voice, there was little doubt Bazzel wanted everyone, including the SEC commissioner, to feel his anger and frustration at Yurachek.

"[Let's recognize] a guy that you guys know that a few weeks back, or maybe a couple months ago, two months ago, I was really upset about the situation with what happened in Fayetteville with Kevin Trainor, and he was let go of the athletics department there, and [we're] so fortunate the chancellor had the vision to, with Scott Varady and all the folks and Brandy [Cox] over there at the Alumni Association, to find a spot for him. He's one of the most valuable people we have in this state. That's not the guy you fire, that's the guy you keep. Great to have him here for his first Touchdown Club meeting. Kevin Trainor, everybody! Where's Kevin?"

While that jab in front of a room full of influential supporters, Bazzel chose to take things a step further in his next comments, all but affirming the call that had come in earlier about Scanlon.

"I mentioned Kevin Scanlon here," Bazzel said. "I tell you, when I look at Kevin Scanlon, when I look at Kevin Scanlon, I see one of the great quarterbacks of all time. I see a guy that, you know, probably could be an athletics director one of these days. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. He's the chairman of the Razorback Foundation. Up for the future. I'm just talking about for the future. Maybe one of these days he'll be, we'll be welcoming Kevin up to the to the head stage [as athletics director]."

How soon that future arrives is left up for interpretation, but the message seemed clear that the sooner Scanlon gets the job, the better. Those comments can be viewed about 40 seconds after the 30 minute mark of the video the Little Rock Touchdown Club posted on its YouTube page.

So why the push for Scanlon?

Yes, there is a push among fans for former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt to get the job, and a large, loud segment is asking for that change to take place as soon as possible. However, those with actual influence in that realm understand the athletics director job is largely a corporate finance position these days with a dose of public relations.

Nutt may have the PR aspect down pretty well. He certainly has many characteristics that made Frank Broyles a huge success.

However, there's little to suggest Nutt is a financial wizard and Arkansas is in the midst of a major crisis that can only be solved with an extreme understanding of how to best gather and utilize funds at a high level.

Scanlon currently serves as the executive vice president of Stephens, Inc. with responsibilities overseeing wealth management while maintaining strong relationships with many of the state's heavy hitters in the financial world. As a lot of Razorbacks fans know, Scanlon's boss, Warren Stephens, was one of the more prolific boosters in Arkansas athletics history, but he has been rather quiet lately in comparison to previous decades.

That's unfortunate for the program because Stephens is the second highest name on the list of Arkansas billionaires without the name Walton attached or Jerry Jones. Only Johnelle Hunt surpasses Stephens financially under those parameters with him outpacing famed "Chicken Man" John Tyson by a half billion.

He was once seen as the main representative of the people of Central Arkansas when it came to what went on at Arkansas. The general idea behind moving Scanlon into the athletics director position is it potentially opens that pipeline up more fully with Stephens and the immediate circle around the investment company in an effort to bring in desperately needed financial support that is currently viewed by Scanlon's supporters as not as strong as it could be.

So what's the timeline?

With Bazzel being so open about pushing Scanlon and reminding everyone as to how upset they were about Trainor's dismissal, that movement could gain steam quickly. The only question is whether this becomes a Northwest Arkansas vs. Central Arkansas thing once again, or whether there is consolidation of opinion by both groups of high powered players.

If both sides come together, Yurachek might find himself in a true fight for his job very soon. If there is disagreement among the factions, he will need to nail the next football hire, which will be a difficult task without the financial support of a large portion of the boosters financially speaking.