Photo Credit: Julian Neal/Instagram
If there’s one thing that gray-haired college sports fans love to rag on, it’s that “they don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
“Players nowadays have it so easy,” they grumble, shifting agitatedly in their recliners. There’s high-tech training and diet programs, fancy Nike gear, the freedom to transfer anywhere they want — oh yeah, and six-figures worth of NIL moolah every year. Seven figures if you’re nice.
Whether you agree with that sentiment or not, it certainly feels like the traditional path for student-athletes has fallen by the wayside.
A lot of student-athletes see themselves as more than just a number on the roster nowadays — they’re a personal brand, and marketing is the name of the game. For some, it’s mostly about getting as much cash and exposure as possible while you’re at the college level, and earning a spot in the pros if you’re one of the select few in the cream of the crop.
Arkansas football starter Julian Neal knows a thing or two about the importance of marketing, but the redshirt senior is doing things the old-fashioned way.
Julian Neal’s Shameless Plug
The Fresno State transfer has been a rare bright spot on an otherwise paltry Razorback defense this year. Through five games, the cornerback has 30 total tackles — good for third on the team — with 5 pass deflections and 2 interceptions.
Landing in Fayetteville was quite the journey for the San Francisco native, but his generational Arkansas roots have likely eased his transition into the SEC.
Alongside center Caden Kitler, Neal joined interim head coach Bobby Petrino for the Hogs’ weekly radio show at Catfish Hole on Wednesday. That show, of course, was previously titled “Sam Pittman Live,” but an unplanned coaching change five games into the season wasn’t about to derail it. So, at the newly dubbed “Bobby Petrino Live,” the Razorback trio took the podium to preview Arkansas’ road trip to Tennessee this weekend.
When asked about his post-grad plans, Neal had but a humble ask.
“I finished with an accounting degree at Fresno State, so if anybody has a firm or anything in accounting,” he said as the audience chuckled. “Choose me as an intern or whatever. I don’t have to get paid. I just need some experience.”
Kitler is a redshirt junior, so his playing days can continue beyond November if he chooses, but he’s got plans of his own whenever he hangs up his cleats.
“I’m a sports management major,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that, but I do want to be a chiropractor, so I plan on taking the pre-reqs I need to take to get into chiropractor school after football is said and done.”
It was a refreshing change of pace from Neal, whose college football days will be done in less than two months. He’s not the only money-minded defensive back that Arkansas football has brought in through the transfer portal in the last couple years. Last offseason, the Hogs were able to pluck safety Doneiko Slaughter out of Tennessee for his final year of eligibility. He helped knock off his former team in last season’s high point, but graduated just in time to avoid this season’s turmoil.
With Pittman out the door, the next seven games serve as an audition for everybody in the building. For Petrino, the full-time head coaching gig is the obvious carrot on the stick. The assistant coaches who survived Bloody Monday last week will also be trying to impress future employers.
For any players with remaining eligibility after this season, the potential of the transfer portal awaits, and getting good film on tape for potential suitors will be paramount. While no Razorbacks have entered the portal, Petrino acknowledged the reality of the situation in his first press conference.
“I think all the players need to understand, like the coaches, they’ve got nine weeks to really brand themselves and show their quality of play on the field,” he said last week. “Some guys will transfer in the portal, and these nine weeks will see how they get paid.”
Neal, however, is looking for an old-fashioned audition in the real world. He didn’t expect a job handed to him on a silver platter, instead offering to work his way up through some unpaid labor.
Thanks to the NIL bucks he’s been raking in during his college career, the 23-year-old can afford to work off the clock for a while.
Score one for the modern game.
Bobby Petrino Previews Tennessee
Here are some notable comments from Petrino on Wednesday night ahead of his “first” game as the Head Hog.
On adjusting to coaching change: “Our players have had great attitudes. Obviously the first meeting that we had there were some hurt feelings and for everybody it’s a big change. I told them that I came here to coach the quarterbacks and coordinate the offense, and all of a sudden the guy that was so loyal and great to me is not here anymore. So it’s a huge change for me and everybody in the room. How you handle it determines how quickly you’ll be able to make it a positive situation.”
On flushing away past losses: “We’re starting new. No question about it. We tore that mirror off. We didn’t look back at what went wrong in games earlier in the year, what went wrong against Notre Dame. It’s okay, this is how we’re going to move forward and this is what we want to see out of each period in practice and what we want to get to on game day. So we’ve had two really good, grind-out, hard practices. Thursday is what we’re going to call perfect Thursday where we want to take the field and not make a mistake.”
On defensive adjustments: “The defense is working hard. They’re practicing with a lot of speed and a lot of effort and that’s what you really need to do on defense. We’re working hard on the fundamentals… We’re playing with enthusiasm, we’re playing with a lot of excitement, a lot of fire, and we’d like to get the other team to say, ‘Who are these crazy guys? Who are these crazy Razorbacks?’ And then we can step forward and start intimidating a little bit.”
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Petrino as Full-Time Arkansas Coach?
Is there a chance Bobby Petrino continues coaching the Razorbacks beyond the seven games remaining this year? Here’s what a trio of national writers thing, as well as what ESPN’s Football Power Index says about Arkansas’ chances the rest of 2025:
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