Yurachek Admits Video Wasn't What Fans Thought It Was
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – This Eric Musselman coaching story has become a living horror movie villain. Every time it looks like it's dead, something happens and it gets back up.
Razorbacks fans might recall in the last installment of this horror series Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek put out a video that made it look like there was no doubt Musselman is coming back. He hopped onto a campus bus with Musselman driving and said "You're still here?"
That was enough for much of the fan base to breathe and resume enjoying a sweep of LSU in baseball. However, video circulating from a podcast featuring Yurachek has resurrected the Muss on a job hunt monster once again.
Shortly after the video came out, word began to trickle out that it had been posted without Musselman's knowledge and caught him off guard. His overall feeling about the video seemed to be expressed by the lack of retweet on the coach's personal social media account.
Being caught off guard by a video he appeared to be filmed in didn't add up, so it didn't take long for people to figure out this was edited together file footage from a few years back. Current day Musselman wasn't a willing participant.
"You guys are exactly right," Yurachek said. "That was a video that was recorded a few years ago there that video was probably 30 or 40 seconds in length. Then we edited that down and had our communication staff edit that down."
He said he did it as a jab to other schools, presumably Louisville and SMU, that had been unsuccessful in hiring Musselman away. He wanted to make a point the Muss Bus is still running at Arkansas.
"As you guys alluded to Coach Musselman, much to his success, has been rumored for multiple jobs that have been opened here and this offseason, and he's still the basketball coaches are sitting here today and record this podcast at the University of Arkansas," Yurachek said. "... But that video was just to kind of dispel some of the rumors that, hey, he's still our basketball coach .... And that video was nothing more than that."
What he had to say after that did little to ease worries of Razorbacks fans with the official opening of the USC job today after Andy Enfield became official at SMU. Not only did he say Musselman doesn't have a new contract to consider, he can't guarantee his coach will still be at Arkansas in the morning.
"He has been well taken care of and his past contracts are where he's had a couple of extensions in the past few years and six figure increases," Yurachek said. "There's not a new contract in place for him this year ... Now, this may change tomorrow. You'll have to ask Coach Musselman that, but we very much want him to be an Arkansas Razorback. We feel like where his contract currently sits, he's compensated in the Top 12 to 15 coaches in the country. He's earned that compensation and done a great job."
Yurachek wrapped his comments by reiterating his key points:
1) The video was made in fun, not as an announcement.
2) Musselman is still the Arkansas basketball coach.
3) He may not be by the time you finish reading this. That's his decision.
"The athletics director tried to have a little bit of fun with some fan bases and naysayers that were saying, 'Hey, Coach Musselman is leaving," Yurachek said. "Well, he may be leaving, but right now, he's still here and he's still our basketball coach and he's still driving the bus."
Hunter Yurachek talks about the cryptic video he tweeted last week via @1starrecruits. No plans on extension for Muss. Was “just having a little fun”. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Xn8yBfKlhl
— pinto (@pinto479) April 1, 2024
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KENT SMITH
Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.