On Arkansas’ Next Head Coach & College Football’s Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Posted by Adam Butler on July 11, 2012
 I’m not a bird brain.And, No, the headline isn’t a reference to College Football’s latest cutesy, overplayed nickname.Instead, it is a tweet of sorts to the rarest of birds in the College Football World–the proverbial “Home Run Hire”.
I keep hearing radio show callers and message board posters suggesting there is shame or inferiority involved if Arkansas doeesn”t make a “Homerun Hire”—presumably defined as an established, “name” coach from a BCS school or the NFL–when it hires the next Head Coach of the Razorbacks.
Arkansas is actually one of the few programs that has hired a big name, recently, but chances are it won’t happen, again, simply because it rarely happens, anywhere.
The fairly recent Nick Saban (Alabama) and Bobby Petrino (Arkansas) hires were very similar (coaches learning quickly the NFL wasn’t for them). Urban Meyer to Ohio St was seemingly inevitable from the minute he left Florida. Almost immediately following the ouster of Jim Tressel at Ohio State, Meyer, a native of Ohio, was linked to the job. The 2011 season under interim head coach and former Buckeye Luke Fickell allowed Meyer to take a break and heal his broken heart after Tim Tebow ascended to the NFL. It also gave Meyer a chance to slink away from a program that was quietly slipping a bit and reemerge as Ohio’s favorite son. (Now that I think about it, Ohio State’s situation was somewhat similar to Arkansas’ current predicament (PRONOUNCED pre-ditch-a ment), but I just don’t see a current star in the profession with major Arkansas ties pining for the title of Head Hog.) Other than those three coaches, what “name”, established Head Coaches have recently been hired away from major schools or the pros? The key for Arkansas is to identify and hire the best fit for the program. “Can’t miss”es can miss (Charlie Weis) and Ho-Hum Hires can thrill (Pete Carroll, Les Miles & Gene Chizik). Before you scour Arkansas’ potential head coach candidate pool and label it as sludge, remember that (if an established, “name” head coach without baggage of some sort is a must) many of the blue bloods of College Football have been gone skinny dipping the supposed dirty water, lately, too. Consider: |
| Notre Dame–Brian Kelly (Cincinnati), Weis (career asst.)
MI–Brady Hoke (San Diego St./Ball St.)
FSU–Jimbo Fisher (career asst)
Miami–Al Golden (Temple)
Florida–Will Muschamp (career asst)
Tennessee–Derek Dooley (La. Tech)
USCW–Lane Kiffin (12-21 as a NFL & CFB HC when hired)
LSU–Les Miles (28-21 in 4 seasons at Ok St.)
Ok St.–Mike Gundy (no HC experience)
Auburn–Gene Chizik (5-19 at IA St.)
Oregon–Chip Kelly (career asst–most exp. as OC at New Hampshire)
Stanford–David Shaw (career asst.)
WVU–Dana Holgorsen (career asst.)
Texas A&M–Kevin Sumlin (Houston)
Thanks for reading.
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Jeff said
I’d Holgorsen comes to Ark I may have a legit chance for inside stuff. Tix? Woo.
#probablynot
Adam Butler said
Were you a gaffer on the set of “King Pin” or something?
http://www.zuguide.com/image/Woody-Harrelson-Kingpin.7.jpg
http://www.wvusports.com/content/Holgorsen-Header-4211.jpg
Jeff said
Nah. He and I went to high school together. The pride of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
A Coach to Danger by KrisWA said
Nice piece and more than likely spot on, Butler. I’m in the boat that says we don’t have to have a home run, but we do need to hire someone that can get the fanbase (and recruits) excited. It also depends on what your definition of “home run hire” is. I think Steve Sarkisian is a home run, but others look at a coach with two years of HC experience and a paltry winning % and say “meh”. Bobby Petrino is not walking through that door. Frank Broyles is not walking through that door. Ken Hatfield is not walking through that door. Wilson Matthews is not walking through that door. As soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this football program will be for all of us.
And kudos to whomever gets that song reference.
Jim Gooch said
What exactly is the message of this article, Adam, in one sentence?
Jim Gooch said
Before I make a comment.
Adam Butler said
That people clamoring for a “home run” hire are going to be disappointed, because it rarely happens anywhere and involves a lot of luck.
Bonus sentence: Arkansas needs to make the hire that is best for it, and not necessarily focus on winning the press conference.
Adam Butler said
Was the post confusing? I thought it was fairly straightforward but for the rare/extinct bird reference.
A Coach to Danger by KrisWA said
Not confusing to any of us, but it is Gooch.
Adam Butler said
Song Title–Final Approach to Danger–NWA
I knew it immediately (and laughed). You can’t sneak 80s and early 90s NWA past me.
A Coach to Danger by KrisWA said
Probably my favorite NWA song. You know, behind Automobile.
Jim Gooch said
I thought that’s what you meant. But something about it threw me off. Probably reflects my low aptitude for reading comprehension. I think where I got confused was the dirty water stuff. That last sentence took a bit of effort for me.
Jim Gooch said
I do like the picture of the bird creature.
Adam Butler said
I just chose to juxtapose “sludge” with “dirty water” instead of “raw sewage”.
Jim Gooch said
So, who is the best hire right now?
Adam Butler said
I don’t know who is available.
My main point is that someone like James Franklim (Vandy HC) could be hired and might be a great fit, but people would be disappointed.
They shouldn’t be because much of that disappointment would be based upon the misnomer that there are lots of “name” coaches out there without baggage that are available. Recent history suggests there will be few, if any, available.
Jim Gooch said
How would you classify and feel about Chris Peterson?
Jim Gooch said
Big name, no baggage, not likely?
Adam Butler said
He’s great but is content to stay at Boise.
Jim Gooch said
No matter who we get it won’t be as good of an overall fit as was Bobby Petrino. Does anybody disagree with that?
The best analogy I can come up with is this:
The Hogs are like that buddy who starts dating a truly beautiful woman, who also happens to be highly intelligent, funny, and likes sports. Then he marries her. Four years later, she leaves him for someone else. He is devastated. Fast-forward one year and your buddy has gotten engaged to a new girl and he seems really happy. In fact, you have not seen him this content since the first wife left him. Only this second girl isn’t quite as pretty, doesn’t have intellectual interests, and can’t sit through a football game. What do you then say to him the next time you go drinking and you have enough beers to start talking about real life? Without exception, you will tell him with a straight face that he is better off – that the new girl is just as good looking as the last one, that personality counts for a lot, and that it’s not fun to watch football games with women anyway. Only, you don’t really believe this, no matter how hard you want to believe it. The important thing is that your buddy believes that you believe it. That way he can believe it, instead of facing the hard truth – which is that sometimes the thing that you used to have and that you will never have again is in every possible way better than the thing you presently have or could ever hope to have. So the point is, enjoy it while it lasts, whether it be a beautiful woman, your child’s toddler years, or your once in a lifetime football coach, because everything else might just be settling.
Adam Butler said
What exactly is the message of this analogy, Gooch, in one sentence. Before I make a comment.
Jim Gooch said
Touchy. I wasn’t giving you crap. It really wasn’t clear to me, something about that last sentence. I guess I should have pretended that it didn’t bother me, like a good friend.
Adam Butler said
Not being touchy at all. Just having some fun. So what does it mean?
Jim Gooch said
It means that no matter who we get as coach, we will be settling. Because we already had the best we could get and we can only goes down from there.
Jim Gooch said
Unless of course Nick Saban wants to come to Arkansas. Chris Peterson also might not be a downgrade.
A Coach to Danger by KrisWA said
I’m not sure that we have already had the best we could get. I think there are several offensive minded coaches out there that could do just as well as BP. I’ll say this, though. I enjoyed BP while he was here. A lot. A lot of people said they loved his coaching ability, but hated the attitude. I loved it all and am not afraid to admit it now. I watched the 2010 Miss State game the other night and LOVED it when he was all over the refs after they blew two calls (one a fumble). “Look my players in the eye!” i loved when he cussed out Miles. I liked the cockiness.