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FAYETTEVILLE — Eric Musselman is “confident” he’ll receive a good deal to remain Arkansas’ head coach for the long term, he said Thursday.
The second-year coach’s comments come on the heels of the Razorbacks’ deepest NCAA Tournament run and highest ranking in more than a quarter century, as they reached the Elite 8 and were as high as No. 8 in the AP Poll.
That success has led to his name being floated for jobs at Minnesota and Indiana, but those have since been filled by other coaches and Musselman - as well as his wife, Danyelle, and athletics director Hunter Yurachek - seems to be happy with his situation in Fayetteville.
“I don’t think there’s been any hesitation at all from my end or from Hunter’s end,” Musselman said. “I have two bosses - Hunter and Danyelle. I think both of my bosses feel strongly about the same things I do, which is we have something really cool going right now.
“We’ve established a culture. Not only have we established a culture, but nationally right now, when we pick up the phone, recruits understand that we were just in an Elite 8. … There’s a lot of really good momentum, so we want to just continue to build on what has been created thus far over the last 24 months.”
When he was hired, Musselman signed a five-year contract worth $2.5 million annually. Factoring in the pay cut in response to the pandemic, he is the lowest paid head coach in the SEC, according to USA Today’s database. (That does not include Vanderbilt, which is private and not subject to FOIA laws.)
Even with the $250,000 raise he earned from taking Arkansas to the Sweet 16, which would go into effect July 1, Musselman would still rank among the five lowest paid head coaches in the conference - despite a second-place finish this season.
Musselman said he and Yurachek have discussed his contract situation frequently, including as recently as Thursday morning.
“He’s an incredible communicator, so a lot of that stuff, Hunter and I will talk about, because in college I think you can talk to your athletic director about stuff like that,” Musselman said. “It might be a little bit different at the NBA level, with the NBA ownership or NBA GM.”
It also helps that Yurachek has a basketball background as a four-year letterman at Guilford College, a Division III program in North Carolina. His knowledge of the sport creates a unique relationship between the two.
There have even been times when Yurachek stops by the facility and can talk to Musselman about what’s going on even in the middle of practice.
“We can talk hoops and he understands the game inside and out,” Musselman said. “I think he’s got a great grasp for rotations, so when we talk, it’s not just peripheral stuff. We can get into the meat and potatoes. We can really dive into basketball talk.”
During those talks, Musselman said he gets the feeling that Yurachek is pleased with the direction of the program, which is why he’s confident about a deal getting done.
“I think he believes in the direction that we’re going and we certainly believe in his leadership,” Musselman said. “He gave me an opportunity to coach here. Everything’s good right now, and I think it’s going to continue to be good.”
