Yurachek in Morris’ corner as Hogs fight on

Hunter Yurachek came across as one of the people.

Not like a dude in an expensive suit who thinks Arkansans are beneath him.

No doubt he gave much thought to what he would and wouldn’t say at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday. He would have been ill-advised not to.

He knows the fans are embarrassed and angry at losing to San Jose State.

Those are actually healthy emotions if kept in check. He should know most still love their Razorbacks.

Anger, depression (anger turned inward), reality and denial are part of the healing process.

Besides, no one really knows how good or bad the Spartans are.

In 1992, when the University of Arkansas lost to The Citadel, 10-3, the Bulldogs were a really good football team.

Not one that should ever beat the Razorbacks, but they beat Army that season and won their conference by going 11-2 overall.

When Arkansas lost to Louisiana-Monroe, 34-31 in overtime in 2012, the Warhawks finished 8-5 and second in the Sun Belt behind Arkansas State. ULM went to the Independence Bowl that season.

No doubt Yurachek knows all of that.

He also has a finger on the pulse of college football and understands that the last thing the Razorback program needs right now is more change in the head coach’s office.

Bobby Petrino left under a cloud that more or less has cleared now, but he’s never coming back.

John L. Smith was a mistake. Only former AD Jeff Long knows why he made him the interim head coach.

Bret Bielema had some quality wins, but it appears after getting that contract with the huge buy-out he wasn’t as hungry. He makes just as much money for not working.

Julie Cromer Peoples, the interim AD, spent a week trying to woo Gus Malzahn who was never coming home. Never.

By almost everyone’s definition Arkansas needed someone who had deep roots in the state of Texas.

Someone who knew high school coaches there, had a good relationship with them and had their trust.

Having coached high schools in Texas before moving on to college would have been nice.

To have won a Texas high school state championship would have been top shelf.

Arkansas is simply not big enough to supply enough SEC quality players for the Hogs to be competitive in the most competitive conference in the country.

Chad Morris had installed an offense at Clemson that made them a national power and was the head coach at SMU, taking the Mustangs from 2-10 his first season to 7-5 in the third season.

A native Texan who had three state championships on his resume who was interested in the challenge of the SEC.

Understand two things: Not every coach wants to play against Alabama, Auburn, LSU and other SEC schools every year. And despite the first-class facilities, Arkansas is not a top 10 job because of the small recruiting base.

Morris came in with a plan. He knew the Hogs needed more speed at almost every position, and they needed more guys who were unafraid to compete in the SEC.

He and his staff go into every state in the SEC footprint to recruit, especially Texas. His first class had five Texans, his second six and he has eight commitments in his third class.

That, and much more, is why Yurachek put up a united front Monday.

He believes in Morris. The loss to San Jose State was bad. Morris and Yurachek have admitted that, but there is a huge difference that has already been seen this year from the three previous seasons.

The Razorbacks have become a fourth-quarter team. They may have started too slow last Saturday, but they finished strong, just not quite strong enough.