COMMENTARY: Broyles Chose Arkansas, Thrived

Were it not for Frank Broyles, we wouldn’t spend so much of our time thinking and talking about the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Nor would we be gripped, as we are every year at this time, with anticipation and excitement about the approaching college football season.

Broyles is retired now and in the fourth quarter of his remarkable and accomplished life.

More than anyone else, he has been responsible for making the Razorbacks a big deal in Arkansas. What he built as a football coach and as an athletic director will forever endure, a testament to the profound impact his life’s work has had on our state.

That’s why the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette named Broyles the most influential figure in Arkansas athletics during the 20th century.

Coaching at the University of Arkansas was Broyles’ dream job, the one he had been waiting for. When then-athletic director John Barnhill offered him the job in December 1957, Broyles seized the opportunity with his matchless energy, stamina and enthusiasm. His legendary career was rooted in the simple belief the Razorback program could be a source of pride and solidarity for the people of Arkansas, no matter where they lived in the state and regardless of their station in life.

Broyles was a visionary, and he had a plan when he got to Arkansas. He traveled the state by car and small airplane to rally support for the Razorbacks and the University of Arkansas. He went from town to town to deliver a message of unity.

He recognized, long before others did, what our state could do if we all got behind a common cause. It wasn’t long before people from all walks of life across the state joined together each Saturday in the fall to pull for a Razorback victory.

We still do.

For years, the Broyles family lived on Hope Street in Fayetteville. That was fitting because Coach Broyles brought the gift of hope with him to Arkansas, instilling the belief in people that anything was possible and our little state could compete with anyone.

Coach Broyles excelled at the University of Arkansas. His football teams put Arkansas on the college football map. In the 1960s, the program reached heights few thought could be attained before he arrived in Fayetteville.

His career as a head coach largely arose out of his ability to lead, motivate and inspire in both good and bad times and his knack for surrounding himself with talented people, including a lot of great assistant coaches and players.

As athletic director, he led the way in the building of first-class facilities for all sports and hired coaches who made the Razorbacks nationally competitive in football, basketball, baseball and track.

Throughout his life, Broyles put himself squarely in the middle of the arena.

He has been a fierce competitor in every aspect of his life and in every endeavor. He didn’t always win, nor did he always get it right; none of us do. But he almost always got it right when it counted the most, such as when he saw the coming demise of the Southwest Conference and had the foresight to move Arkansas into the Southeastern Conference, the most successful and prestigious conference in college athletics.

Long before the rest of the country was introduced to Bill Clinton, Broyles was our state’s finest ambassador. He represented us well and made us proud.

Besides earning a national reputation as a Hall of Fame coach and serving for years as a nationally respected athletic director, Broyles did many other things that cast a positive light on Arkansas: doing insightful color commentary with his magnificent Georgia accent on nationally televised college football games, presenting the Green Jacket to the winner of the Masters golf tournament and speaking all across the country to lend his voice and good name to numerous important causes and organizations.

Broyles could have taken countless other jobs because just about everyone else wanted him, but he chose to make a life here. This is where he wanted to be. It’s endearing he never left us.

His steadfast loyalty to our state and to the University of Arkansas has been admirable.

As we look forward to another year of Razorback sports and get ready to call the Hogs, let’s salute the past and pay tribute to Frank Broyles for laying the foundation for all that Razorback athletics have become in our state. He built something bigger than himself.

Coach Broyles won’t live forever, but the Arkansas Razorbacks will. That’s quite a legacy.

WOODY BASSETT IS A LIFELONG FAYETTEVILLE RESIDENT AND A LOCAL ATTORNEY.

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