FAYETTEVILLE -- Originally hired as the "Arkansas" coach, Barry Lunney Jr. is the only coach remaining from Bret Bielema's original Razorbacks staff.
That designation fell to Lunney after offensive line coach Sam Pittman left last weekend to take the same position at Georgia.
Receivers coach Michael Smith also coached on Bielema's first UA staff in 2013, but he was not Bielema's original receivers coach.
George McDonald, hired by Bielema in December 2012, left the next month to become Syracuse's offensive coordinator.
Arkansas never knew McDonald, who is now the receivers coach at North Carolina State, but it knows of Smith's superb handiwork for these Liberty Bowl-bound Hogs.
A star-crossed group -- losing 2014 leading receiver Keon Hatcher after two games in 2015 with a broken foot, plus two other injured receivers for varying periods, while two others touted from Florida were dismissed from the team -- became stars under Smith.
Instate juniors Drew Morgan of Greenwood -- an AP second-team All-SEC selection with a conference-leading 10 touchdown catches -- and Dominique Reed of Camden -- who averaged 19.3 yards per catch -- emerged as keys to the Razorbacks' passing game.
Meanwhile, like Arkansas alum Tim Horton before him as the lone Arkansan on Bobby Petrino's staffs, former Razorbacks quarterback Lunney (1992-1995) emerges as vital to Arkansas.
Without a natural tie to the Natural State, Bielema -- who coached at Wisconsin before arriving in Arkansas -- hired Lunney to coach tight ends.
Lunney had college experience assisting at Tulsa and San Jose State, and he had connections with Arkansas high school coaches because he was the offensive coordinator at Bentonville for his father, Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer Barry Lunney.
In addition to being Bielema's only native coach in a state that requires relationships for the Razorbacks to succeed, Lunney coaches the Razorbacks' most honored player: All-American Hunter Henry of Little Rock and Pulaski Academy, the winner of the Mackey Award bestowed on the nation's best tight end.
Other instate players Lunney coaches -- junior Jeremy Sprinkle of White Hall, who is 1A to Henry's 1, and second-year freshman Jack Kraus of Bentonville -- have fared well, too. Three promising locals -- freshmen Will Gragg of Dumas and C.J. O'Grady of Fayetteville, as well as Austin Cantrell of Roland, Okla., near Lunney's original Fort Smith home -- redshirted.
"He has done a tremendous job and has helped me so much," Henry said. "When I came in, I was pretty raw at the tight end position. I knew what to do in the passing game, but blocking is a huge part of being a tight end. He helped me so much in the technique and footwork and hand placement. He has made me the player I am today."
Fourth-year junior Sprinkle had one year redshirting under the John L. Smith regime.
Then came Lunney.
"A complete change from that last staff the way they coach," Sprinkle said. "Much better. He wants us to be perfect out there and it shows in Hunter winning the Mackey."
Sports on 12/19/2015