Clinton, Jones Headline LR Touchdown Club's 2026 Lineup

The Little Rock Touchdown Club, founded in 2004, has grown into one of the country’s most distinguished and largest clubs of its kind and an influential source of news and insight during the football season.

The club, for which AY Media Group is media sponsor, is a phenomenon that even its founder, former Razorback and current central Arkansas radio host David Bazzel could not have imagined in his wildest dreams.

“In the beginning, there was a group of folks who thought it had potential,” he said. “When I started this, along with Rex Nelson, I thought it had a chance, and if I’m going to do something, I want it to be the best. It’s become everything I had hoped for and more.”

The primary reason for the club’s sustained popularity has been the caliber of guest speakers LRTDC features week in and week out from late August through November, but even by the organization’s lofty standards, the 2026 iteration is one for the record books.

Of all of the heavy hitters on this year’s roster, the event that is sure to have the country talking will be the dual appearance of former President Bill Clinton and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on October 12. Bazzel said the two, who are both taking the LRTDC stage for the first time, will share thoughts on a range of topics, including the state of collegiate and pro sports, the status of athletics at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the steps required to help bring Razorback football back into prominence.

“There’s no question this is going to be the biggest thing to happen to the Little Rock Touchdown Club in its history,” Bazzel said. “Bringing arguably two of the most recognized Arkansas natives together — one who led America and the free world and one who’s leading America’s Team — to talk about the Hogs and the university they both attended and love so much, it’s going to be really special.”

Another big player on the state of the Hogs is John Tyson, who was instrumental in luring John Calipari to Fayetteville to head the men’s basketball team. Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, will also speak on winning in the new era of college sports both from a competitive and financial standpoint.

Legendary athletes once again dot much of this year’s roster, starting in Week 2 and including a former Dallas Cowboy who needs no introduction, Emmitt Smith. He is followed in subsequent weeks by Pittsburgh Steelers legendary wideout and fellow Hall of Famer Lynn Swann; former Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie; and former Razorbacks and standout pros Frank Ragnow and Jason Peters.

As is tradition, several of the state’s Division 1 head football coaches will also appear, including the rookie appearance of head Hog Ryan Silverfield to open the season Aug. 24. Nathan Brown, coach at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and Butch Jones, skipper at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, will also appear during the season. Rounding out the coaches room is former ASU and Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.

Two very special appearances by members of the sports media are on tap, including a roast and toast of longtime Arkansas sportswriter Wally Hall and CBS Sports voice and producer Lance Barrow, a member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Nelson, veteran journalist and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who has spent most of his adult life chronicling what makes the state unique, said LRTDC meetings have evolved into one of the places where well-connected Arkansans go to see and be seen.

“I can honestly say that in the fall, there is no bigger weekly lunch gathering in the state than the Little Rock Touchdown Club,” he said. “That’s not the case with football clubs in other states.”

The club’s annual speaker lineups through the years have captured the sports world’s attention far beyond the state’s borders. Last year, Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek, who declined to speak this season, made national waves at his annual appearance when he was brutally honest about Arkansas’ name-image-likeness fundraising in a critique of the current college sports landscape.

Former NFL coach Jon Gruden with David Bazzel at Little Rock Touchdown Club.

The club has made national news with other speakers over the years, having hosted Super Bowl-winning coaches and former broadcasters Jimmy Johnson and Jon Gruden, the former of whom played on the 1964 Arkansas national championship squad and the latter who made his first public appearance at the club after his firing as coach of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Also dotting the roster over the years have been Peyton and Eli Manning; Super Bowl-winning QB, hall-of-famer and broadcasting legend Terry Bradshaw; ESPN/ABC/Amazon broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit; legendary broadcaster Verne Lundquist; renowned ESPN broadcaster Holly Rowe; Kelli Finglass, director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

Kelli Finglass

NFL greats have included Ray Lewis, Brett Favre, Eric Dickerson and Lawrence Taylor, who all reside in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as Arkansas native Keith Jackson, former Washington Commanders “Hogs” offensive lineman-turned-analyst Mark May and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon, among many others. Razorback legends are also numerous, including Darren McFadden, Madre Hill, Anthony Lucas and many more.

Held over that many years, the LRTDC has produced a trove of memorable moments. Particularly noteworthy, according to Nelson:

• Former Razorback interim coach John L. Smith referring to Arkansas as “the state of Alabama.”

• Legendary broadcaster Paul Finebaum playfully asking Lunsford Bridges, president of the former Metropolitan National Bank, then a club sponsor, if he had a job open.

• The standing ovation given Hogs coach Bobby Petrino in his first appearance before an Arkansas audience after his dismissal in the wake of the motorcycle wreck that will live in Razorback infamy.

• The “Tennessee Tiff” of Johnny Majors taking a shot at Phil Fulmer.

• The great NLR running back Earl Campbell staying long after the luncheon to sign every autograph.

“You never really know what someone is going to say or what’s going to happen week to week,” said Bazzel, who leads most guests in a question-and-answer session. “It’s live and unscripted, and about the only thing we know for sure is the sports world is listening.”

Launched with 17 founding members back in 2004, the club has grown to more than 500 members, and its weekly gatherings typically draw hundreds, more than 1,000 for big names, making LRTDC meetings mark-your-calendar events in the fall. Little Rock’s 103.7 The Buzz, for which Bazzel co-hosts the morning drive show, broadcasts live from LRTDC each Monday during the season, and meetings are live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Arkansas PBS. No other club in the country can match such coverage.

LRTDC also is unique in making speakers available for photos with members. Doors open each week at 11 a.m., and Bazzel said he may find 100 people lined up as early as 9:30 a.m. some weeks to hear big-name speakers and especially when the head Hog is in town.

The luncheons are open to everyone — $35 per luncheon for members and $45 for nonmembers. Annual membership packages are available on five levels, four of them entailing voting rights in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

Another LRTDC perk is its awards lineup, an inevitability with Bazzel at the helm.

Bazzel created the Golden Boot and Battle Line trophies awarded to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU and Arkansas-Missouri football games, respectively, as well as the national Broyles and Burlsworth awards, presented to the top college football assistant coach and the nation’s top college football player who started out as a walk-on.

The club itself presents several awards at its annual year-end banquet recognizing the state’s most valuable high school players, the state’s best high school and college broadcast play calls, and the national Cliff Harris Award to the nation’s small college defensive player of the year.

For more information about tickets and membership, visit lrtouchdown.com.