The Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 6:00 pm
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas’ trustees will meet Saturday amid reports that athletic director Frank Broyles will offer to resign by the end of 2007, wrapping up a 50-year career amid turmoil in the Razorbacks’ football program.
Broyles, 82, was not available for comment on reports by television stations KHBS-KHOG in Fort Smith-Fayetteville and KATV in Little Rock that he would resign Saturday.
The university’s governing board, which normally meets every other month, has a special meeting scheduled for Saturday morning in Fayetteville. Its agenda includes a variety of real estate matters plus an executive session at which personnel matters may be discussed privately.
The trustees hold special meetings from time to time to discuss matters that come up between the regularly scheduled sessions, university spokesman Steve Voorhies said. The agenda for Saturday’s meeting was announced Tuesday and was scheduled to coincide with a scholarship ceremony set for halftime of the men’s basketball team’s game with Ole Miss.
Arkansas’ football program has been in turmoil since late in the 2006 season: Its offensive coordinator quit, two highly recruited athletes asked for and received permission to transfer, and an unflattering e-mail about some people in the program was passed along by coach Houston Nutt’s wife.
Broyles also met with the parents of players last season to hear their complaints about the way Nutt ran the football program. The Razorbacks were 10-4 in 2006 and had the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
KHBS-KHOG reported that “several sources” told it that Broyles would quit Saturday, while KATV said it had “confirmed” Broyles’ resignation. KTHV-TV in Little Rock reported that if Broyles didn’t announce his resignation Friday, the board would vote to fire him Saturday.
Trustee John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs told The Associated Press that executive sessions were routinely part of trustee’s meetings. He said he had not received any information about what Saturday’s executive session will be about and, when asked if it would involve Broyles, said he “had no information to that effect to date.”
Messages were left with board chairman Stanley Reed and four other trustees, but none returned telephone calls seeking comment. Women’s athletic director Bev Lewis, attending Thursday’s women’s basketball game between Arkansas and LSU, declined comment.
Chancellor John A. White was unavailable for comment, Voorhies said.
Broyles became athletic director in 1974 and was Arkansas’ football coach from 1958-1976. He was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 after compiling a 144-58-5 record as a head coach, including one year (1957) at Missouri.
He also was a color analyst for ABC television broadcasts of football games.
While Broyles heads the athletic department, the popular figure also lends his name to charitable causes. He recently was chairman of the school’s recent $900 million fundraising campaign and backs research into Alzheimer’s disease, which claimed his wife Barbara in 2004.
But Broyles has seen criticism before. Razorback boosters in central Arkansas were upset when he realigned football schedules to play more games played on campus at Fayetteville, rather than split home games between northwestern Arkansas and Little Rock.
And amid an NCAA investigation in 2003, a meeting between Broyles and Chancellor John A. White was abruptly canceled, leading to speculation that Broyles might be fired. Within days, the university gave Broyles a five-year contract, renewable annually.