Following staff reductions in the athletic department as it gets ready to pay players directly as part of the new revenue sharing era of college sports, Kevin Trainor, a 30-year veteran of the University of Arkansas athletics program, has been appointed as the chief operating officer and associate executive director of the Arkansas Alumni Association.
Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director for Arkansas, informed the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in late June that approximately 10% of the program’s workforce had been affected by early retirements and staff reductions in the athletic department.
The reductions are a reaction to the historic House v. NCAA antitrust settlement, which permits colleges to split profits with student athletes and essentially puts an end to the amateur paradigm of collegiate athletics. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2021 that students could profit from their name, image, and likeness, or NIL. The funds utilized to compensate players in recent years have come from NIL collectives, which are financed by corporations, fans, boosters, and benefactors and are structurally distinct from the institutions. House Bill 1917, intended to comply with the settlement and permit schools to compensate players through revenue sharing, was passed by the Arkansas Legislature in April.
Amidst the changes, the U of A is not the only institution having to make tough choices. Arkansas and other schools and universities involved in the settlement’s new revenue sharing arrangement will begin paying $20.5 million to student athletes this month for the 2025–2026 academic year. Over the course of the 10-year agreement, the yearly cap is anticipated to rise annually. CBS Sports reports that $2.8 billion in back payments for athletes who competed from 2016 to 2024 are also part of the deal.
Last month, Yurachek informed the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the department’s operating budget’s salary and benefits line item will be cut by around $2.5 million. According to him, they made an effort to keep all coaching staff, trainers, dietitians, and mental health specialists on staff.
Although most of the changes, according to Yurachek, were made on the administrative side, he recognized that Razorback athletics could still be significantly impacted. He told the newspaper, “We lost some really good people.” Our department has some excellent employees who will need to take on some extra responsibilities, and I believe they are willing to step up and do so.
Through the end of the month, Trainor will continue to work for the athletic department. In his most recent position with the department, he earned $173,580 a year as the chief public relations officer for Yurachek and Razorback athletics. He will begin working for the Alumni Association on August 1st, earning $175,000 per year.
According to a statement from the University of Arkansas, Trainor will support the Division of Advancement and be committed to integrating outreach, engagement, and communications in his role as chief operations officer of the Alumni Association.
According to the statement, Trainor stated, “This exciting opportunity will enable me to continue serving my alma mater and Razorbacks worldwide.” The Arkansas Alumni Association plays a crucial role in advancing our university while also providing a vital link to our history.
Given Trainor’s three decades with the program, longstanding Razorback reporters and a well-known Razorback sports alumnus expressed their disapproval at the news that he was among the athletic department officials being let go.
On a radio show earlier this month, David Bazzel, a former Razorback football player and co-host of Morning Mayhem on KABZ-FM 103.7, The Buzz, spent a number of passionate minutes denouncing Yurachek’s decision to terminate Trainor.
He described Trainor as a close buddy and admitted that he is biased. Additionally, he stated that Trainor is the one with the most institutional expertise and program history up there.
Joe Kleine, a former Razorback basketball player who spent more than ten years in the NBA, was one of Bazzel’s guests that morning and concurred that the move was unprofessional.
“There had to be a better way,” Kleine said, adding that Kevin is an excellent representative of the university.
According to Bazzel, Hunter is a decent man who has done some nice deeds. “I totally disagree with this,” he stated.
The entire segment is available to listen to here at 1:21:21.
In an interview with the Democrat-Gazette in late June, Yurachek explained how difficult the layoffs were:
In my sixteen years as an athletic director, yesterday was one of the most difficult days, if not the most difficult, Yurachek remarked. It goes without saying that we have had similar discussions with coaches, but yesterday we had to have separate discussions with our staff.
They were discussions with genuinely nice friends and people. those who have families. people who will be affected and who are devastated. It’s all a part of the significant adjustments that collegiate athletics is undergoing in anticipation of the revenue sharing that will start on July 1.
Mike Irwin, a veteran Razorback writer who presently works for KNWA/KARK’s Pig Trail Nation, described Yurchek’s dismissal of Trainora as a “pure, cold, hard business decision to save money” during an appearance on ESPN Arkansas’s Hit That Line. I believe he made a grave error.
Irwin added, “I’ve defended Hunter Yurachek a lot over the years, and he gets criticized for a lot of things, but he showed a lack of knowledge about what’s important over there to people that interact with Arkansas through athletics.”
Trainor received a journalism degree from the University of Arkansas in 1994 and a master’s degree from the same institution in 2005. Being the main team media relations liaison for one of the participating teams in each of the College Football Playoff National Championship Games is among his many accomplishments over the past thirty years. In addition to serving as the media relations team for over 28 Cotton Bowls and three NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Fours, he moderated press conferences for SEC Football Media Days for 14 years. In 1988, Trainor’s brother, Kendall, was a placekicker for the Razorback football team’s first team All-American.
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