Chris Bucknam announces retirement, Doug Case named men’s head coach

Chris Bucknam announces retirement, Doug Case named men’s head coach

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FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas men’s track and field head coach Chris Bucknam announced his retirement at the end of 2025 and Razorback associate head coach Doug Case will become the next head coach of the men’s program.

“Coach Bucknam has done an incredible job leading our men’s track and field program over the last 18 years,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “He took over a legendary program and was able to put his own stamp on it, which is a testament to him, his staff and the student-athletes he’s coached. Our track and field program has been very fortunate to have elite leadership for over 50 years and that will continue with Coach Case.”

In 18 seasons with the Razorbacks, Bucknam has collected a pair of NCAA Indoor championships while guiding Arkansas teams to a total of 18 NCAA top four podium finishes and 31 NCAA top 10 team finishes among cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.

In addition to the pair of national championships, the Razorbacks were NCAA runner-up on six occasions while placing third and fourth five times each.

Bucknam is one of six University of Arkansas head coaches who have achieved a national championship across all sports. The list includes Frank Broyles in football, Nolan Richardson in basketball, John McDonnell in men’s cross country and track and field, Lance Harter in women’s cross country and track and field, and Chris Johnson in women’s track and field.

“These life decisions and transitions are always tough,” said Bucknam. “This certainly is not an easy one, but one I feel great about. Announcing my retirement effective December 31st and then hand the reigns over to Coach Case. It’s been an honor to sit in the same chair as Coach McDonnell.

“I’ve been in this business a long time. You don’t always get to hand the baton off to your top assistant and go out on your own terms. Hunter Yurachek has allowed me to do that. I’m excited for the next chapter of our life, with my wife, Cindy, and our kids and our immediate families.”

Case, also in his 18th season at Arkansas, has been an associate head coach with the Razorbacks for the past seven years. Now in his 35th year of collegiate coaching, Case previously was a head coach at Drake University (1996-99) and served as an assistant coach with Arkansas State (1989-95), and an associate head coach at Northern Iowa (2000-08).

“We’ve had a long history and have done some pretty good things,” said Case, who has been part of Bucknam’s coaching staff the past 26 seasons. “I’m excited for this next chapter and next step. At the same token, to not coach with Coach Bucknam is going to feel a little weird for a while. We’re going to get through it and get things going.

“I assume he’ll be around, and I hope he is. We’ll encourage him to still be a part of the program.”

On Case becoming the next Razorback men’s head coach, Bucknam stated: “I don’t think there’s a more qualified coach in any sport among the power 4 schools than Doug Case. His record is phenomenal. His ability to coach, to recruit and to mentor is off the charts.

“He has a great demeanor and has based all his decisions on what’s best for his athletes. The other thing that comes into play with Coach Case is his loyalty. We were together at Northern Iowa and then here at Arkansas. There was never one time that he kept a secret about anything about his program, about his athletes. Everything was out in the open.”

Arkansas earned the USTFCCCA John McDonnell Program of the Year accolade for the second consecutive year and fifth time overall since the award began in 2008-09.

For the 2024-25 season, the Razorbacks were the only men’s or women’s program to finish among the top four among the three NCAA Championships held as Arkansas placed third in cross country, fourth indoors and third outdoors. It marked the first time for a men’s program to accomplish the feat since Oregon in 2015-16.

“The superstar staff that I’ve had with the big two being Doug Case and Travis Geopfert, and now Rob Jarvis in the picture,” said Bucknam. “It took a team effort, so those two assistant coaches own a lot of the success that I own along with the near misses too.

“It’s just been an honor to be able to sit in that chair of the greatest coach of any sport, John McDonnell. In my opinion, he’s arguably the greatest coach in any sport in the history of the NCAA. We tried to navigate it the best we could.”

Bucknam totaled 34 SEC team titles with the Razorbacks, earning 12 cross country, 12 indoor, and 10 outdoor championships. Arkansas claimed six SEC triple crowns under Bucknam and the Razorbacks have won 14 of the past 17 conference meets contested from 2020 indoor to 2025 cross country.

“To me it’s great leadership,” noted Case of the success Bucknam delivered at Arkansas. “Through the years if you can maintain things like that, you’re doing things right. When you have good support from the administration along with great facilities, like we’ve had here, it shows in all the accolades. It’s been pretty amazing with all the things we’ve accomplished. We intend to do the same exact thing.”

Case has been named USTFCCCA South Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year on five occasions. He has had a pair of Bowerman finalists and one winner of the award. Case has coached 20 NCAA individual champions and his athletes have set three NCAA records in the 60m hurdles, 110m hurdles, and 4 x 400m relay.

“There’s no overhaul that needs to be done with Arkansas track and field,” stated Case. “It’s going to be business as usual. The staff will be a little bit different, but we’re going to concentrate on the same things and we’re going to focus on excellence.

“We’ll keep doing the things we’ve been doing for basically the past 50 years here with Arkansas track and field.”

Along with 34 SEC team titles while at Arkansas, Case has been part of 55 conference titles overall. He has coached 32 SEC individual champions and his athletes have broken 14 UA event records. The number of first-team All-Americans at Arkansas coached by Case is currently at 199 and his overall total is 246.

Internationally, Case has coached two Olympic gold medalists, eight Olympians and a Paralympian. They have earned four World Championships gold medals. Case has also coached five Jamaican national champions.