Arkansas assistant Chris Wilson hit the player in the locker room. The school calls it a “joke”
Arkansas interim defensive coordinator Chris Wilson punched a player in the face during an incident in the football locker room in mid-October, seven sources told CBS Sports. The blow left the player with a bloody lip.
Arkansas conducted an investigation into the incident after an anonymous tip. CBS Sports has since spoken with more than a dozen people close to the program and the affected player to better understand what happened in the locker room of a team that fired its coach and posted a 2-9 record to finish last in the SEC.
CBS Sports is protecting the player’s anonymity due to the sensitivity of the story.
The incident allegedly began when 56-year-old Wilson called the player an expletive in the locker room. After the player asked who Wilson was talking about, Wilson allegedly doubled down on his stance.
Then the two sides met, apparently in jest. Multiple sources say Wilson swung at least once — one source says Wilson swung twice, another source said the player may have swung first — connecting with the player’s face with enough force to cause bleeding. Wilson left in a huff.
A source said the player looked for Wilson elsewhere in the football facility to understand what happened. Wilson told the player he was just messing around.
CBS Sports sent several requests for comment to Arkansas Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek, all of which were declined over the course of 10 days. On November 23, the school provided the following statement to CBS Sports when fielding eight questions about the incident:
“Our athletic department quickly looked into the matter and conducted independent interviews with the interim head coach, as well as the coach and player allegedly involved. These conversations revealed the same account of the situation, with both the coach and player saying they were joking. With everyone on the same page regarding the situation, the athletic department considers the matter closed with no further action required.”
A source told CBS Sports that Arkansas leadership met with the player about a week after the incident. The leadership wondered whether the skirmish between the player and Wilson was the two men messing around.
The player agreed.
However, multiple sources with knowledge of the incident indicated that Wilson was heated upon leaving the locker room, and made another disparaging comment as he left.
Wilson, who most recently coached in the UFL with the Houston Roughnecks, joined Arkansas’ staff over the summer as an assistant defensive line coach. He was promoted by interim head coach Bobby Petrino to interim defensive coordinator on September 29 after Petrino fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams.
Petrino took over on September 28 after Arkansas fired coach Sam Pittman.
The Razorbacks (2-9, 0-7 SEC) close out their season Friday against Missouri (7-4, 3-4 SEC). The extensive coaching research at Arkansas includes Petrino, who was also the team’s coach from 2008-12.
CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson contributed to this story