Morris, Malzahn put their friendship on hold for game
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The last time Arkansas coach Chad Morris felt this much pressure to win was nearly 20 years ago.
His first year at Stephenville High School in East Texas resulted in the Yellow Jackets missing the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. When the season ended, Morris made a visit that changed his career path: He went to Springdale, Arkansas, where Gus Malzahn was doing things few had ever seen before. Having already turned Shiloh Christian into an offensive dynamo, Malzahn was developing a powerhouse of a program at Springdale High and was coming off a state championship game appearance in just his second season.
It took effort for Morris to get some advice from Malzahn. But over the course of spring and summer 2003, the two became close and by the end of the 2004 season, Morris’ Stephenville squad was 10-1 and he was on his way.
Now, with the two scheduled to play against each other each year in the SEC, the advice part of their weekly chats has faded.
“We still talk every week but the week we play each other. I haven’t talked to him in over a week,” Morris said. “Nothing like we did when I wasn’t in the same conference with him.”
Morris is 18 games into his tenure at Arkansas without an SEC win to show for it. The Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3 SEC) are 4-14 overall and 0-11 in league play since his arrival. Malzahn’s 11th-ranked Auburn team (5-1, 2-1) visits Saturday.
Unlike last year, before the two had played each other as rivals, Morris hadn’t been asked much about his relationship with Malzahn in the week leading up to their game. Bigger things are at stake now. But just like in 2003, Morris is still taking the initiative to figure out how to turn things more favorably.
“You go back to just daily decisions and encouraging your players to continue to play hard, to see, to give examples of other teams,” Morris said. “Washington Nationals are a prime example. May 23, what are they, 12 games out of first place? Below .500. Only eight teams in the history of baseball have ever come back and made the postseason. That was on May 23. Sharing that with our team today was, ‘Look how they finished.’”
The Nats’ first trip to the World Series aside, Arkansas is not that far from being 5-1 or even 6-0. Other than a 14-point loss to Ole Miss, a game in which Arkansas trailed by just seven in the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks have lost by less than a touchdown each time. Still, the opponents have not been fearsome; Kentucky, which rallied to beat Arkansas last week, is just a .500 team itself.
“He’ll get the thing turned around. There’s no doubt about that,” Malzahn said. “You see them getting closer. They could have won the last two games. Had opportunities. Just a matter of time before they get over that hump.” Dave Martinez overcame some early-season inconsistency and a heart procedure during the season to lead the Nationals in to the World Series.