Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

I’m not a big fan of watching practice. Other than satiating a vague curiosity regarding the progress of certain players and seeing some new players for the first time, practice has never held my interest. I get frustrated when I have to think, “What an amazing catch, Cobi,” followed two seconds later by, “Come on defense, get it together.”

But this year became different after Bobby Petrino was fired in April. Even though John L. Smith is the coach in title, his presence as a “buck stops here” figure isn’t as strong as Petrino’s. So I did make it to practice, just to see for myself what the general feeling was around the team, and the most striking thing was that they didn’t seem to be missing a beat. In fact, it felt like they were playing with a confidence and self-assuredness that we haven’t yet seen from this particular group.

It all reminded me of a story. Several stories, in fact. There is a style of storytelling dating back to ancient mythology that is still used in modern stories like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and many more. It’s called “the hero’s journey.” One of the most important tenets of this type of narrative is that the hero is only able to truly thrive once he/she has gone through a severe ordeal that usually results in the loss of the mentor.

The reason these types of “coming-of-age” stories have resonated over time is that even though people don’t use magic or engage in sword fights with monsters, the principle of doing something on your own, without someone else holding your hand or pushing the buttons, is understood to be a necessity in order to master your own craft.

The argument could be made that Petrino’s departure has caused many of the players, particularly the upperclassmen, to take greater ownership and responsibility of the team. In fact, the quotes from Knile Davis and Tyler Wilson after the spring game indicate just that. The leaders of the team appear ready to make the leap to elite status, not just because of age and practice, but also because their unique experiences have made it a necessity.

And even though the current Razorback team still does have a full roster of coaches, trainers, tutors, and whoever else helping them, the main person responsible for designing nearly every detail of their lives is gone. And it’s not just the players who get to take advantage of this opportunity to grow. The assistants on the staff, all of whom could have mailed this season in, appear anxious to embrace a greater leadership role within the program.

This might seem like a natural course for those who have followed the team, but not just anybody could handle this much adversity this well. It’s not hard to look around college football and see plenty of examples of how troubling this season could go if other individuals were in charge of it. Over in Knoxville, Volunteers quarterback Tyler Bray is supposed to be leading a team whose coach has one of the hottest seats in America. In July, at about the same time Wilson and Davis were in Connecticut representing Arkansas on ESPN as well as anyone could ask, Bray was in the news for throwing beer bottles onto cars from an apartment balcony. It should be noted that the Razorbacks haven’t been immune to that sort of behavior either, having dismissed a handful of players after they were arrested in May.

All of this isn’t to say that the remaining Razorbacks are somehow “The Chosen Team” that is predestined to win championships and postseason awards. These hero stories often feature different types of victories. Perhaps this team’s equivalent of blowing up the Death Star is simply keeping the program in a positive light through all the drama that happened. Making it attractive to recruits, fans, and media.

Then again, sometimes sports do play out like a movie. It’s that theatricality that makes it so attractive to so many people. Perhaps it is this newfound level of leadership and responsibility that will push Arkansas to heights Bobby Petrino wasn’t able to get to when he was here, like beating Alabama or winning in Atlanta.

Of course, this football team isn’t a movie or a book. Plenty of things can still go wrong and derail the season, causing 2012 to be nothing more than a historical footnote between the Petrino era and whoever takes over next year. But it’s still August, so no one can be blamed for hoping for the fairy tale ending that is still possible, at least for a little while longer.

Doc Harper is the editor of ArkansasExpats.com and is a regular contributor to ArkansasSports360.com. You can email him at heydocharper@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @doc_harper.