The 1977-78 season wasn’t just a high point in Arkansas sports history, it was a turning point. If you are a diehard Razorback fan, you have to remember the season better known as “The Year of the Hogs”.
The football team, coached by Lou Holtz, led the Razorbacks to an 11-1 record. Winning the Southwest Conference championship and being ranked 3rd overall in the final AP Poll with a notable win over Texas and crushing Oklahoma’s chance at a national championship in the Orange Bowl, propelled them into a dominant team and household name.
When the spring rolled around, it was no different. Head coach Eddie Sutton, alongside future NBA All-Star Sidney Moncrief, guided the Razorbacks to a 26-6 season, winning the Southwest Conference championship and advancing to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Together ,these teams didn’t just win games; they built a legacy that is still being sought after all these years. This year solidified Arkansas as a national force and powerhouse school in both football and basketball, and a year that redefined Razorback pride among the fans.
Now the Razorbacks have had more recent success in basketball than in football, but what did those teams have that these past years haven’t?
- A unified identity and swagger. Sutton’s Arkansas teams played with a clear identity: tough, aggressive, and unapologetically confident. They weren’t afraid of the big moment and embraced being the underdog with a chip on their shoulder.
- John Calipari has done a good job this past year creating an identity and a brand around the team, but the team struggled in big time moments. Calipari needs to continue to build the team culture, embrace being the underdog and not play down to their opponent.
- Sutton was known for his disciplined and competitive coaching style with a focus on defense similar to Calipari. The 1978 core of Sidney Moncrief, Marvin Delph, and Ron Brewer was a dominating force on the court. If Calipari can create something similar with returning players and fan favorites Trevon Brazile, Billy Richmond III ,and DJ Wagner, it would help the ultimate identity of the team.
- Player growth and leadership. Sutton (and Holtz) turned raw talent into disciplined, game-ready players. Investing in player growth and empowering leadership from within the roster can set this year’s team apart.
- Coach Cal has already done an excellent job growing players and using the transfer portal to his advantage. He has been able to create household names within just his first year as head coach so if he continues doing so, it will help propel the Razorbacks to that next level.
With both sports being very different now than they were back then, going through multiple coaching changes, arena changes, and identity crises, Razorback fans are feeling a little bit different about this year. With Calipari in his second year, Bobby Petrino and Taylen Green back for their second year, there is more momentum than ever. Fans are hoping the formula used by Holtz and Sutton come together again and have the buzz around Fayetteville starting to feel like another Year of the Hogs.
EPILOGUE: Where Are They Now?
Lou Holtz went on to win his first national championship at Notre Dame just 10 years after “The Year of the Hogs”. He officially retired in 2004, and was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. He is still the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 15 rankings. This season, the Razorbacks play the defending national champions, the Fighting Irish, on September 27th in a season-defining must-watch game.
Eddie Sutton left quite the legacy in Fayetteville. After “The Year of the Hogs”, he had continued success leading the Razorbacks including a stunning 65-64 upset in February of 1984 over a No. 1 ranked North Carolina that featured Michael Jordan. After his time at Arkansas, Sutton went to the Kentucky Wildcats in 1985 and then his alma mater Oklahoma State in 1990. He achieved 2 final fours during his time at Oklahoma State, and retired from coaching in 2020. He was inducted the same year into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with over 800 career wins, making him one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history.
Sidney Moncrief went on to play 11 seasons in the NBA, 10 of them with the Milwaukee Bucks. He is a five-time NBA All-Star and was the first person to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, which he won back to back in 1983 and 1984. Alvin Robertson, being the third person to win the award, was also a Razorback from 1981 to 1984, solidifying Eddie Sutton’s legacy in the golden era of Arkansas basketball.
Ron Brewer, a member of the “Triplets” with Moncrief and Marvin Delph, was drafted in the first round of the 1978 NBA Draft to the Portland Trail Blazers, directly after Larry Bird. He played 8 seasons in the league and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1979.
FUN FACT: Houston Nutt, Arkansas head football coach from 1998 to 2007, played both basketball and football during the “The Year of the Hogs”. He was the last player recruited by Arkansas legend Frank Broyles and played four games as a true freshman quarterback. He also played basketball under coach Eddie Sutton and alongside Sidney Moncrief and Ron Brewer for the Southwest Conference championship.
