Craig James could not have picked a better day to make his appearance at the Little Rock Touchdown Club.
The DoubleTree Hotel Grand Ballroom was already abuzz Monday, Sept. 29, thanks to the Sunday firing of Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was elevated to interim head coach and wasted no time Monday, jettisoning Razorbacks defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson.
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee is one of the leading figures in the guessing game of who will replace Pittman, owing to his growing up in Springdale and time spent as a quarterback for the Razorbacks. That meant that James, a former standout running back for the Mustangs, had plenty to talk about.
Credit: DeWaine Duncan
“Knowing I’d been here with you guys, I’m really trying to pay attention to this specific situation,” said James, who became a studio football analyst for CBS and ESPN after a five-year NFL career. “Rhett and (wife) Lauren Lashlee are wonderful people. SMU loves them. I think Rhett and Lauren, in order to get them, God’s going to have to call them, so they feel led to go wherever that may be. They’re comfortable at SMU right now.”
James said Lashlee reached out to him to be around the SMU program, something James said drove home just how different college football looks in an era of athletes being allowed to profit from their participation in athletics.
Ironically, James’ time at SMU was marked by a scandal in which the Mustangs were caught running a regular program of payments to players and recruits, a violation of NCAA rules at the time.
Credit: DeWaine Duncan
“The investments are going to have to come through these athletes,” James said. “There was a 65% increase in applications to SMU after the ACC championship last year. Money well spent, but you have to have a vision as a school. Yes, there’s money here in Arkansas, but it has to be reappropriated. You have to say, and be committed to saying, as Arkansas, we’re not just going to be great at baseball and basketball, we’re going to be great at football.”
James also talked fondly of his time as one of the original hosts for ESPN’s College Gameday and College Football Scoreboard, though he said the field of broadcasting has not changed for the better.
“Now, these guys take their shirts off, they dance on the sets, and they’re throwing mud against the wall,” James said. “They’re clowns.”
AY Media Group is a proud media sponsor of the Little Rock Touchdown Club.
Photos: DeWaine Duncan
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