What Arkansas administrators should be doing about Hunter Yurachek

Every Arkansas fan agrees that Hunter Yurachek needs to be fired as the school's athletic director. Administrators need to make this happen. Before it does, however, a lot of different things need to occur and move along behind the scenes. We're not going to lay out a full list. We will mention just one of the items on the to-do list.

If we presume that Yurachek is a goner and that the power brokers are already planning to bring aboard a replacement, one absolutely essential component of a succession plan is for UA administrators to consider not just what Ryan Silverfield needs, but also what John Calipari and Dave Van Horn and other sports coaches need. 

Football pays the bills, and so the combination of panic and anger in the state of Arkansas is primarily a response to the awful state of the football program. However, this move needs to be good for basketball, baseball, and UA's other programs as well.

John Calipari and Hunter Yurachek got along well. It's not a surprise, given that Yurachek previously worked at Houston when Kelvin Sampson was building that program. Yurachek "gets" basketball, or at least, he isn't out of his depth when running a basketball program. Arkansas hoops is in very good condition, with Yurachek getting deserved credit for landing Calipari and allowing Coach Cal to do what he does.

It's a more complicated and thorny story with Dave Van Horn, given that baseball doesn't bring in nearly as much revenue as basketball. Truth be told, Van Horn probably wouldn't mind if he gets a different athletic director. Nevertheless, the larger point should be clear: While hiring a new AD is a football-first move, basketball (Calipari) and baseball (Van Horn) plus the other coaches need to be brought into the discussion. Those conversations should be happening now. They shouldn't be put off until later. Candidates who can earn the respect of everyone in the room at Arkansas athletics need to be considered. Administrators need to be gathering input from all the coaches, starting with the revenue-sport coaches but then flowing down to the smaller sports. These conversations can then inform the interview and vetting processes, in which the school looks for the right steward of the athletic department at a time when this position is of utmost importance. 

John Calipari needs to be happy, and Ryan Silverfield needs to be happy, but so do the other sports coaches at Arkansas. It's time to bring the family together around the table and find the right person for this extremely important job. Interviews can't proceed until everyone in the family has been consulted. Only when these and other details are lined up - with the homework being finished, not started - can the mechanics of firing Hunter Yurachek truly shift into high gear.