Eric Musselman opens up about coaching in front of his mom

Over the years, Eric Musselman has gotten several hand-written notes from his mom, featuring tactical suggestions and words of encouragement as he travels around the country as Arkansas’ head coach. As the Razorbacks prepare for a Sweet 16 game in San Francisco, she will get the chance to watch him live.

During a press conference, Eric Musselman discussed his now-famous tactical notes from his mom. However, while he loves talking basketball, he hopes to find the right time and place for her to offer input.

“Hopefully not at halftime,” Musselman joked. “No, but it will be really cool to coach a game in front of my mom. She was able to come to, obviously, games in Sacramento and here living in San Diego, but it has not been the case to get to Fayetteville, and so I’m looking forward to it.

“She’s flying in today, and it will be awesome to be able to coach in front of her, and my son is flying up with her from San Diego. That’s a really cool personal thing, although it’s way more about the players and student-athletes and their experience playing in the Sweet 16.”

With the adding motivation of coaching in front of his mom, Musselman’s Arkansas team will play No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight. The next matchup would also be played in San Francisco against either Duke or Texas Tech.

Eric Musselman on Sweet 16

After Arkansas punched its ticket with the Sweet 16 with an NCAA Tournament win over New Mexico State, head coach Eric Musselman sent a message to Razorback fans in all-caps via social media. Despite joking about his job security in the postgame interview, the fans are excited for his next game on the sideline.

During his interview with TNT sideline reporter Evan Washburn, Eric Musselman shared the key to Arkansas’ success against the defense New Mexico State threw at them early.

“Well we spent the last 48 hours only talking about defense, I thought it was a defensive clinic,” said Musselman. “But I’m not sure I’ll have a job tomorrow because of our offense.”

Taking his thoughts to social media, Eric Musselman sent his all-caps message to the Arkansas Razorbacks fans ahead of the second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.

“ARKANSAS IS BACK HEADED TO THE SWEET SIXTEEN,” Musselman posted.

Led by guard JD Notae and a group of role players all season, Arkansas now looks to make another Elite Eight appearance this year as well. The momentum built in Musselman’s tenure continues to build.