The celebration of Frank Broyles continued Saturday night as a thousand people packed the John Q Hammons Center in Rogers to honor his retirement after 56 years with the school.
Dozens of former players and coaches paid tribute to the legendary Hog who has meant so much to them over the years.
“Coach Broyles had a great impact on my life,” said Arkansas Sports Hall-of-Fame quarterback Bill Montgomery. “He was not only a terrific football coach but he had a great way with his players. That's why you see so many people here tonight. This is a great outpouring of people who want to say good things about him because he deserves it. He's a wonderful person.”
Broyles not only touched the lives of the thousands of players he coached, but he was also an innovator as an athletic director, hiring Nolan Richardson as the first black head coach in the SWC, landing Eddie Sutton to take over a struggling program and finding current baseball coach Dave Van Horn.
“It's rare and probably won’t happen again,” said former coach Houston Nutt. “He's as special as special can be in all areas. He's a people person. He's always had this attitude and gratitude he's given to everybody. He's just a winner and he's always given back to the state of Arkansas, the fans and the students first.”
The weekend kicked off with a golf scramble on Friday afternoon. Dallas Cowboys owner and former Broyles player Jerry Jones flew in for the event to donate $100,000 to the Broyles Foundation for Alzheimer's education.
Broyles will retire at the end of the month from the Razorback Foundation where he has been working for seven years since retiring as Athletic Director in 2007.