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Posts Tagged ‘Bobby Petrino’

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Dodd: Jeff Long Made The Most Efficient Hire of The College Football Coaching Search Season

Posted by Adam Butler on December 21, 2012

If you believe Dennis Dodd of cbssports.com, Arkansas is the Coaching Search Efficiency Capital of the College Football World.

Usually, I think Dodd’s columns are worth about as much as the paper they aren’t printed on.

But, this one is interesting because it is Arkansascentric. Take a look at his ranking of the 2012 College Football Coaching Searches in terms of efficiency.

Hint: Each of the top 8 searches involved coaches who had or now have Arkansas ties.

 

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Will Arkansas Make a Home Run Hire?

Posted by Adam Butler on November 28, 2012

www.usatoday.com

While some anxious Hogs fans are starting to think it’s past time for Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long to hire the next Arkansas football coach and end the longest April Fools Joke in history, we thought we would use the national pastime to examine the potential candidates.

In recent years, the term “home run hire” has made its way into the College Football lexicon. But, as we have discussed often in this space, today’s Home Run Hire is tomorrow’s fly ball to the warning track.

Nevertheless. Long probably won’t make a hire until next week, so while he swings for the fences, let’s round the bases with the candidates:

The Home Runs:

These coaches aren’t heading to Fayetteville for an awkward Hog Call-filled press conference barring some serious cash being spent and plenty of uncharacteristically good Hog luck swinging Long’s way. There’s no shame in that admission.

As we have discussed before, “Home Run Hires” are College Football’s Ivory Billed Woodpecker. However, Bobby Petrino proved in 2008 that you can never say never. That’s why these improbable names are on our list.

  • Chris Petersen, Boise State–Considering fit, Peterson might be a Grand Slam. Unfortunately, he has shown no desire to leave Idaho.

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  • Gary Patterson, TCU–With a proven track record of doing more with less and deep recruiting roots in Texas, GP would fit a defense-starved Arkansas program like a glove.

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  • Jon Gruden, Monday Night Football–Chuckie likes to be admired, but is more likely to be the next John Madden than the next Nick Saban.

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  • Mike Gundy, Oklahoma St.–He’s a man, he’s 40+ and he has things rolling at his alma mater. Why would he leave? He probably won’t, but if he does it will be because he and OSU AD Mike Holder don’t see eye to eye.

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  • Bob Stoops, Oklahoma–Like Gundy, he’s entrenched in The Sooner State. He’s only on this list because I have heard enough from our neighbors to the treeless West to suggest that familiarity has bred some contempt for Stoops.

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  • Bill Cowher, CBS–His batteries are recharged (presumably), Arkansas is throwing around big money, he and Long have a Pittsburgh connection and he would no longer have to listen to Shannon Sharpe on weekends.

The Stand-Up Triple:

Some fans will groan immediately if he is hired, but then he will win the press conference, and more importantly have a chance to end up being a phenomenal fit for Arkansas in the long term.

  • James Franklin, Vanderbilt–Franklin has guided Vandy to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. He has led the ‘Dores to their first 8-win season since 1982. He is young and dynamic and is known as a rainmaker in recruiting. His current recruiting class is ranked in the Top 20 in America–AT VANDY. He now has valuable SEC head coaching experience and has shown he can win with lesser talent (while upgrading the roster on the recruiting trail). There isn’t much to dislike here. The style-over-substance wing of the Hog fan base will immediately dismiss his VU offenses as boring, but ignore the fact that it may be a matter of necessity at a coach-killing program.

The Ground Rule Doubles:

These hires could go in either direction or no direction at all.

  • Butch Jones, Cincinnati–Cincy has been a breeding ground for quality head coaches, recently, (Mark Dantonio, Michigan State & Brian Kelly, Notre Dame) and Jones could be the best of the bunch. He’s young, yet experienced. He is a protegé’ of Arizona (and former West Virginia and Michigan) Head Coach Rich Rodriguez. I don’t know if this is a pro or a con. His apparent lack of regional ties is worrisome.

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  • Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech–Love him or hate him Tommy T wins everywhere he goes. A Camden, AR, native, Tuberville has long coveted the Arkansas job, but a bad, emotional search committee decision in the late 90s and a long, mostly winning stint at Auburn have kept him from being Head Hog. At 59, does he still have the desire to hit the recruiting trail as hard as he hits his graduate assistants?

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  • Charlie Strong, Louisville–He’s a Batesville, AR, native and a known commodity as a defensive mind. But, he appears to be set on remaining loyal to a program that finally gave him a shot after he had been passed over many times for lesser coaches. That’s refreshing.

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  • Steve Sarkisian, Washington–If not for his stellar recruiting rankings, he might be The Former Mississippi Coach’s much more well-spoken, West Coast, Armenian Football Doppelganger.

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  • Mike MacIntyre, San Jose St.–Arkansas fans will have a full on panic attack if he is hired. Then, they’ll Google him and realize he might be the next Big Thing. Mac led SJSU to a 10-2 2012 season (with a close loss against then #21 Stanford and a bad beat by WAC champ Utah St.) He took over a team that went 2-10 in 2009 and promptly went 1-12 before turning the program around.

The Singles:

Odds are that these hires would not end well.

  • Any Jeffy.. I’m looking at you, Butch Davis.

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  • Butch Davis, (formerly of UNC, Miami, Cleveland Browns)–There was a time in the not-so-distant past that Davis would have been atop this list. He helped rebuild the Miami Hurricane program between long NFL stints. He is a friend of the Tysons, but is no longer a Spring Chicken. His recent decision to hire notorious cheater John Blake at UNC smacked of desperation. Davis was cleared by the NCAA during its 2011-2012 investigation of UNC, but things aren’t trending in the right direction for Butch.

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  • Kirby Smart, Alabama Defensive Coordinator (in name)-Anybody willing to bet good money (and the future of the Arkansas program) that he’s more of a defensive Paul Petrino than a defensive Bobby Petrino? I wouldn’t, either.

The Incorrectly Called (Upon) Infield Fly Rule

  • John L. Smith, Arkansas Red Zone Consultant–He meant well and he tried hard, but he had some bad luck (and an awful year off the field) bad help from his staff and made frequent mind-numbingly bad gameday decisions. We’re glad the JLS era is over in Fayetteville and we are sure he is, too.

The Wind-Blown Wrigley Field Doubles in 15-13 Games

  • Sonny Dykes, La. Tech–He may be an offensive guru like Petrino, or he may be an offensive guru like Mike Leach. We aren’t sure if his team fields a defense, though. And, he looks like Honey Boo Boo.

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  • Art Briles, Baylor–This may not be fair to Briles. He is a dynamic offensive mind and a former Texas High School Coach who some (like former Oklahoma Head Coach Barry Switzer) feel is the best coach in the Big 12. But, until his defense Bears Down, this seems about right.

The Check Swings:

  • Any of the Up-and-Coming Sun Belt Coaches. They may be great, but can they hit a SEC curve ball?

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  • Dave Doeren, Northern Illinois–I would need drugs. All of them.

The Corked Bat Home Run:

  • Gus Malzahn, Arkansas State–The Gussiah has been great when he has had freakish talent (Darren McFadden, Cam Newton) or a Sun Belt-type schedule. He has also moved around enough to escape splintering fan bases that eventually expose him as something less than the genuine article.

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , , | 15 Comments »

On the Arkansas Coaching Search–I Can See For Miles and Miles and Miles

Posted by Adam Butler on November 28, 2012

Talk about a crazy season.

Just when you thought the 2012 Arkansas Razorbacks football campaign couldn’t get any nuttier, an off-the-wall rumor about a standing, 5-year, $27.2 million UA offer to LSU Head Coach Les Miles started making the rounds yesterday. Then, it was debunked, before it gained steam again.

Almost immediately, Arkansas fans found the nearest ledge and started threatening to jump. The nearly universal thought among Hogs (and Tigers?) fans seems to be that LSU wins despite Miles–the 2011 AP National Coach of the Year.

Is it even possible for that notion to be completely true? Yes, Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban left Miles a program that was rolling on the Bayou. And, The Hat’s success admittedly looks so easy even a Cave Man could do it.

But, former LSU head coaches Mike Archer, Curley Hallman and Gerry Dinardo–a combined 76-70 from 1987-1999–probably beg to differ.

So what does this mean for Arkansas as it reportedly eyes Miles? It’s hard to say at this point.

What we know is that Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is a budding master of misdirection. After a couple of near misfires before he had time to get his UA office furnished (Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe, former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden) Long has proven to be a capable hirer of head coaches.

And, recent history shows that the latest Miles rumors fit a pattern for Long.

While Razorback Nation has been (sometimes in a delusional state) contemplating the fate of its marquee programs in the hands of either disappointing (former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables, Florida St. head coach Leonard Hamilton) or ultra- exciting (former UNC head coach Butch Davis, Kentucky head coach John Calipari) rumored frontrunners during Long’s last few coaching searches, he has managed to pull a couple of unexpected rabbits out of his hat (Bobby Petrino, Mike Anderson).

This search should be no different. I’m not saying Long will land former Super Bowl-winning head coach and current Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden or Boise St. head coach Chris Peterson. In fact, I feel strongly that he won’t.

But I do expect Long to make a very solid, and potentially excellent hire after putting the Fear of Les into Arkansas fans’ hearts. That’s Long’s recent M.O.–lower the bar and then clear it with room to spare.

I do not know who the hire will be, but I think its much more likely that Arkansas ends up with a head coach like Vanderbilt’s James Franklin than a wildcard like Miles.

If so, Razorback fans might ultimately be counting their lucky stars and relishing the fact we aren’t in AR-KANSAS, anymore.

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , , | 12 Comments »

Arkansas: A State of Disarray

Posted by Brett Kincaid on September 17, 2012

Entering the 2008 football season, Arkansas fans merely wanted to win more than we lost. After a dismal end to the Houston Nutt Era in Fayetteville, Bobby Petrino was hired and presented with a monumental task. We asked him to take a program spiraling to the bottom of the SEC – devoid of talent at multiple positions – and stop its descent. The expectation was that he would do just that and create a program built to compete for titles. While the Hogs finished 2008 with a 5-7 record, just two seasons later he did it – Arkansas had a team ready to compete for SEC and BCS championships. The 2012 Hogs were supposed to be the team that could finally get Arkansas over its 47-year drought and win a national championship.

Instead, athletic director Jeff Long is faced with finding a new miracle worker.

Arkansas has 9 more games on its schedule, and none of them look like walks in the park. Rutgers arrives in Fayetteville next weekend off a Thursday night road win. They have more time to heal and prepare for their first foray into SEC country in the BCS era. After that it’s back-to-back road trips at Texas A&M and Auburn. Neither of those teams looks like world beaters. Of course, neither does Arkansas. John L. Smith and his coaching staff have enormous challenges facing them this week, and those only grow with another disappointing performance this weekend. With his confused, rambling press conferences one has to wonder if John L. Smith has the ability to rally this team on any level.

Petrino drove his career, marriage, and Razorback football into a ditch.

On several levels it really is hard to believe this is happening. An ill-conceived relationship, a motorcycle accident, and – the capper – multiple lies to his boss all forced Bobby Petrino out the door. A short-term hire designed to keep as much continuity as possible in the program has backfired, and now the Razorbacks face the bleak prospect of merely fighting to make the postseason. With how far and fast the program has fallen, I have to wonder whether or not the last 2 years have been a mirage. Is it possible that Arkansas had a “soft” 21-5 record in Petrino’s final two years? With the startling lack of talent & depth on defense and confused offensive system, I believe that’s a question worth asking.

In the blink of an eye, the Razorbacks program has gone from national relevance to conference irrelevance. The long-held belief was that when Bobby Petrino left Arkansas – and we all knew he would at some point – the program would at least be in better position than it was when he found it. Looking at the current state of the program, that belief may be hard to defend. The fan base has growing fractures, there is in-fighting amongst major boosters, and the talent level does not appear to reflect that of a contending program. Sounds a lot like 2007, doesn’t it? I certainly believed that the Arkansas head coaching job would be a very appealing one, able to tempt the most discerning of coaches. I now fear that may have been an overly optimistic assessment.

Jeff Long has 10 more weeks to scout talent and gauge interest. I certainly hope John L. Smith finds a way to turn things around and create a 10-win team. The problem, of course, is that is about as likely as Smith keeping the job even if he did manage a 9-game winning streak. Even with a healthy Tyler Wilson calling the shots on offense, it’s hard to imagine the Razorbacks re-emerging in 2012 as a team worthy of national relevance.

As a fan, it’s hard to feel anything other than enormous disappointment right now. Those emotions, for me, have quickly been followed by anger, humiliation, and hopelessness. Today, on another dreary day in Arkansas that reflects the mood of Razorback Nation, marks the unofficial beginning of the Who’s the Next Razorbacks Head Coach season. We asked in the preseason whether or not John L. Smith was the right hire. The only thing that unites Razorbacks fans right now is our collective, unanimous response: No. He was not the right hire. Jeff Long cannot afford to make that same mistake in December. The stakes have never been higher.

Posted in Sports | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

The One That Got Away

Posted by Adam Butler on September 10, 2012

We will always remember our first true love.

It seems like just yesterday that we heard the whispers from Atlanta. Could it be that he really was interested in us?

We promised ourselves we wouldn’t get too excited.

We never got “THAT” guy. We always got the one our AD liked–the “safe” pick, the one who loved the helmet, 3rd yards and a cloud of dust and bragged that he was no “scientific rocket”.

But then, one night at a hastily-called press conference, there he was Calling the Hogs and handing us a bouquet of fresh pass plays.

We were smitten from the start. He had been places and seen things. His route tree had limbs.

Admittedly, all the talk about his wandering eye wasn’t lost on us. It was going to be different this time. He promised.

Things were bumpy at first. He wasn’t accustomed to having a program without wide receivers and we weren’t quite sure what to make of a coach who spoke in complete sentences.

Our first few dates were awkward. We almost walked out of the first two in shame and the next three seemed to last forever. We began to wonder what we had gotten into.

But then, things slowly began to click. He asked for more from us and we gave it to him. In turn, he overlooked our recruiting shortcomings, and overcame them.

From there, things blossomed. We had so much fun together. Even our mishaps were memorable—like that frigid night in Memphis. What were we thinking? We should have just stayed home.

There were plenty of other days and nights we will never forget.

The trip to New Orleans didn’t end the way we planned, but we were just happy he took us there.

It had been so long since we had been to The Big Easy, and we enjoyed rubbing elbows with some real big shots. Dallas was fun, too. Jerry World is a sight to behold.

Even daily life felt like it was a match made in Heaven. We were so proud of him when he stood up to our marble-mouthed, grass-eating Cajun neighbors.

His fights with them were epic and he won his fair share of borderline disputes.We didn’t even mind his language. Sometimes thick-headed people have to be dealt with directly—particularly when they’re in the wrong.

Things were going so well we become engaged and started to settle in for the long haul.

Then, suddenly, things went south.

He got bored and lost sight of his priorities. Before long he was acting recklessly and putting us and our future at risk. There was a real question as to whether we were right for each other.

We hoped we could salvage things, but our AD wasn’t having it. He knew things we didn’t and could see things that our blind devotion wouldn’t allow us to see. If we were going to stay together there would have to be a pre-nup.

We couldn’t agree on one and so, almost as quickly as it started, it was over. He sold his house and his Harley and went home to be closer to family.

We missed him immediately, but the rational side of our brain knew it was over. Kaput.

That didn’t keep us from being irrational in our weak moments and thinking crazy thoughts. We could make it work. If we took the checkbook and placed severe restrictions on him, maybe we could protect him from himself.

But he wasn’t interested in that, and, in our right minds, we weren’t, either. All it would have done is delay the inevitable and increase the resentment we had for one another.

Now, times are tough. The weekends aren’t fun, anymore. And, there are reminders of him, everywhere. His brother is around a lot. He’s a nice guy, but it isn’t the same. It was fun to visit with his crazy uncle at first and talk about old times, but it will be time for him to go home, soon.

We’re not real sure where to go from here.

The easy thing would be to settle. But, after such an exciting, whirlwind, May-to-September romance, we aren’t ready for that.

We have a lot to offer the next guy, so there’s no reason to settle. We just have to keep reminding ourselves of that.

In the meantime, a big part of us will always wonder what should have been.

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

BlogHawgs Razorback Rewind–The Meltdown on Markham

Posted by Adam Butler on September 9, 2012

Oh, how quickly things change.

Yesterday, the Arkansas Razorbacks were a Top 10 team with a high-powered offense, 2 Heisman trophy candidates and a puncher’s chance to launch a dream season by taking out the number-one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide next Saturday in Fayetteville in front of ESPN’s “Gameday” crew and a raucous home crowd in the Ozarks.

Today, Arkansas is a beaten and badly bruised team looking for answers in the wake of the most stunning upset in program history– a 34-31 overtime loss to 30-point underdog Louisiana-Monroe at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

Yes, I know all about The Big Shootout, The Citadel and the Stoerner Stumble, but none of those losses were this unforeseeable or potentially damaging (long-term) to the program.

Arkansas had spent the last 4 years rebuilding its program and, at  21-5 over the last 2 seasons in the toughest division in College Football history was beginning to rub elbows with the College Football aristocracy.

The Razorbacks hadn’t quite reached elite status, yet, but were in line to earn a seat at the big table with another 10-win season.

Arkansas had reached a pivotal point in program history with the firing of the architect of its reclamation project–Bobby Petrino–after his bad actions rendered him unemployable.

With awful timing working against him, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long’s plan was to hire Petrino’s mentor, John L. Smith, to keep the coaches and team together, make a run for the crystal football and then take stock of the situation with $3.5 million/year and the keys to a Rolls Royce program to offer the next head coach.

And then, in one gut-wrenching, almost morbid night, it all went away.

First, Arkansas’ All-Everything QB, Tyler Wilson, went out due to an injury “above the shoulders” and he didn’t come back.

This in and of itself was major news, because in addition to being a great quarterback, and by all accounts, an even better young man–the type you would like your daughter to marry–Wilson always comes back. He has earned a reputation as a tough-as-nails, John Wayne of a quarterback.

When he was knocked out, just one week before a long-awaited rematch with Bama, it was a bad night. Little did we know things would go from bad to much, much worse as Wilson’s injury was only the 3rd-most gruesome of the night.

Later, Arkansas cornerback Tevin Mitchel took an inadvertent helmet-to-helmet hit from teammate Alonzo Highsmith and had to be strapped to a back board and carted off of the field. Then, only a few plays passed before runningback Kodi Walker went down in a heap on punt coverage and also had to be carted off of the field with his leg immobilized in an air cast.

What followed was a (dark) comedy of Razorback errors, coupled with a virtuoso performance by ULM quarterback Colton Browning, who by game’s end accounted for 488 yards (410 passing, 78 rushing). Arkansas vaunted offense managed just 397.

I could provide a blow-by-blow post-mortem in this space, but to do so would be pointless. If you are reading this you probably saw the same thing I did–the Razorbacks didn’t just leave War Memorial Stadium black and blue after Browning’s heroics.  They left it as a team in tatters.

The Hogs were beaten soundly in every facet of the game (with coaching being the worst) and now must now pick themselves up out of a ditch for the second time this year. But this time, they have to do so with the #1-ranked team in America coming to town to take on a quarterback with no career starts.

It would be easy at this point to wax poetic about how Football is a great game because it is a metaphor for life, and  teaches life lessons at a time like this.

I won’t. That has all been done, and not very well.

But, even as one of the most obsessive, die-hard Razorbacks fans walking the planet, I am interested to see how the human element of this Razorbacks season will play out.

CBS’ “College Football Confidential” will be on hand to capture all the drama (Remember when that seemed like a good idea?).

What they will see is an interim head coach who just filed bankruptcy and now has zero chance of retaining the job beyond this season taking on the unenviable task of keeping together a lame duck staff and a team that has lost 2 of its most vocal leaders (Wilson and Kiero Small) in less than a week.

Meanwhile, the lunatic fringe will continue the drum beat for a prodigal Petrino return, throwing barbs at those on “the moral high ground” (READ: People, including, if we can believe him, Petrino, who understand that the UA had little choice but to fire him).

Just as maddeningly, others will fall back into rote recitations of their long-held opinions regarding Arkansas’ inferiority or similar mean-spirited mocking of fellow Hog fans who dare to point at the actual, objective results (before last night) that flew in the face of those beliefs.

Under the circumstances–the gut-punch nature of this loss, the myriad of injuries Arkansas sustained at key, thin positions and the precarious situation the staff is in personally and professionally–the odds are that Arkansas will be lucky to win 8 or 9 games this season, and, regardless, will face a rebuilding project in 2013.

Luckily, Arkansas will have an almost immediate opportunity to flip the script, again.

While the Razorbacks chances of beating Bama are slim, at best, the beauty and agony of College Football is that it can all change on any given Saturday.

Let’s just hope that the next time we are reminded of this truism, Arkansas is the victor, because the unexpected pain of this loss hurts, and it hurts a lot.

 

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

When Will Hogs’ Fans Lose Their Inferiority Complex?

Posted by Adam Butler on August 14, 2012

This is the 13th in our series of 30 Thoughts on Razorback Football in the 30 days leading up to the 2012 Kickoff

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt, 1935

As a lifelong Arkansan and Razorback fan, I have always been alternately intrigued and frustrated by our Inferiority Complex.

After decades of marginalization due to long-promoted stereotypes, Arkansans, even today, are all-too-often conditioned to accept that we don’t quite measure up nationally.

And, while A Man From Hope debunked some of those stereotypes and perhaps reinforced others, old ways of thinking aren’t abandoned overnight.

Arkansas’ Inferiority Complex has had an ebb and flow, but it is alive and well and is even reflected in our sports fandom.

Maybe it started with the loss in The Big Shootout in 1969, but I doubt it. To be sure, The Big Shootout was as painful a loss as one can imagine. It brought grown, otherwise rational men to tears and is still so head-shakingly emblematic of the plight of Hog fans that even Gen X Hog Callers can’t bear to talk about it.

But Street to Peschel merely intensified our sports fatalism. It has always seemed to be there. And, while it has subsided at times, in fits and spurts, Hog fans can’t seem to Lose the Fear that we always have been and always will be, Little Ole Arkansas.

Bobby Petrino–with a 21-5 run the last 2 years in the toughest division in College Football History–and a King-making roster coming back, was on his way to conquering those mental demons. Then he started hiring from his little black book and taking motorcycle rides a reemerging program couldn’t afford to have end up in a ditch.

So now, the “Woe is Me”ers are back. They’re telling anyone who will listen that Arkansas can’t compete long-term in the SEC without a Messianic figure. They unfailingly mention a lack of resources and inherent recruiting flaws.

But are they right? Only time will tell, I suppose, but a look at history suggests Arkansas has plenty of reasons to be hopeful.

When the Hogs joined the SEC in 1991 they were remarkably ill-equipped to do so. It was one of the worst times in program history to make the move.

Frustrated with Athletic Director Frank Broyles, Head Coach Ken Hatfield departed for Clemson, somewhat surprisingly. Broyles panicked and tabbed Jack Crowe, a good offensive coordinator, but not a man who was ready to take on the behemoths of the SEC on the field or the recruiting trail, as head coach. With Fun & Gun football on the horizon, Arkansas’ offense was only slightly less antiquated than its facilities.

All of these factors led to the abomination that was Arkansas Football from 1990-1997.

But then, Arkansas rose from the ashes with help from an oft-rightly criticized head coach who was lacking in many respects, but brought some blissful ignorance to The Hill that resulted in renewed confidence and competitiveness.

Petrino followed him and did something his predecessor couldn’t quite do–he made Arkansas Football nationally relevant, again.

Now that he is gone many Hog fans are preparing for a return to mediocrity. But isn’t there more reason to believe Arkansas will be much better than the national pundits and some of its fans predict it to be for the long haul?

Again, Arkansas was atrocious in the 90s. There’s no way around it. But, it was a premier program in the ’60s & ’70s, a Top 15 one in the ’80s and a Top 25 one in the Aughts.

Season             Overall      %       Conf. Rec.

1984–1989

55–17–1

76.0%

36–10

1977–1983

60–21–2

67.0%

37–18

1958–1976

144–58–5

70.8%

91–36

If you think that’s an apples to oranges comparison because of the Hogs’ move from the SWC to the SEC, consider:

ARK BAMA ND AUB OU USCW LSU TENN UGA MIA
’98-’11 wins 109 118 100 118 143 132 130 110 131 123

 

Those numbers suggest Arkansas has already been pretty competitive with some of College Football’s bluebloods despite having an average head coach during most of a 13-year span–a coach who was periodically in need of 2-year passes and was much better at squeezing the worst out of his worst teams (back-to-back 4-win seasons) than he was at squeezing the best out of his best teams (3 losses in ’98, 4 losses in 2003 and 4 losses in 2006).

With a loaded roster, a veteran, solid SEC coaching staff (and a year-long head start on a coaching search), at least $3.5 mill/year available for the next head coach, top-notch facilities with many more on the way and a recent run of huge success on the field to help in recruiting Arkansas is in a MUCH better position than it was in 1991 or 1998 or even 2008.

So why should we expect to return to the 8-year doldrums from 1990-1997 (that were caused by bad timing and circumstances) when any other time frame since the 1950s suggests that good times are ahead?

We shouldn’t, but we will, anyway. After all, who needs historical facts and data when a perfectly good neurosis will do?

Posted in Sports | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

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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Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , , | 26 Comments »

Hogs’ Turbulent Offseason Continues; 3 More Arrested

Posted by Adam Butler on May 12, 2012

Bobby Petrino ended up in a roadside ditch and several of his former players seem to want to join him there.

Wide receivers Marquel Wade and Maudrecus Humphrey and tight end Andrew Peterson were arrested today in Fayetteville for an alleged residential burgary. All three have been suspended indefinitely.

They join senior offensive tackle Jason Peacock (felony theft), defensive end Tyler Gilbert (aggravated residential burglary)  and wide receiver Kane Whitehurst (possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia) on the Hogs’ ever-growing offseason rap sheet.

The next 10 months will be pivotal in determining whether the UA program remains a borderline elite one or slips back to its previous middle-of-the-road national standing.

If the disciplinary issues aren’t addressed strongly, the team doesn’t win on the field and the UA doesn’t hire the right head coach moving forward, the program will be in a roadside ditch along with Petrino.

Don’t end up in a roadside ditch.

Posted in Commentary | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Long to Announce Smith as Head Hog; Put Your Helmets on and Get Ready For the Ride.

Posted by Adam Butler on April 24, 2012

Twenty three days ago, a 53-year-old, almost comically brazen head football coach and his 25-year-old paramour drove a Harley and a proud football program into a ditch. (Really? A helmetless bike ride in Northwest Arkansas in broad daylight with a leggy blonde you just hired to work directly, *ahem* under you?)

Ten days later, a remarkably underestimated athletic director served notice that he doesn’t suffer Fools gladly, even those of the BCS Bowl-reaching variety.

And, finally, today, the worst April Fool’s Joke in College Football History will come to an end of sorts when Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long steps to the podium at a 2 p.m. press conference and introduces John L. Smith as the interim Head Football Coach at the University of Arkansas.

By now you know the sordid details of how former Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino managed to dump himself, Jessica Dorrell and the national Top 5 program that he (re)built in the same place that the latter was left by his predecessor.

So why rehash them? Instead, let’s talk about the immediate future.

First, for those who don’t know Smith, where have you been? He is hardly an unknown commodity. Smith has long been a mentor to the Brothers Petrino and most recently, was an assistant coach for under Bobby Petrino at Arkansas for the last 3 seasons. (He left 4 months ago to take the head coaching position at his alma mater, Weber State, only to return without coaching a game.)

Before coming to Fayetteville, Smith logged 19 up-and-down years of head coaching experience at Idaho, Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State.

A quote machine (he won’t “win” today’s press conference, he will kill it) who has been known to liken kickoff returns to epic battles over large chunks of land, Smith is known primarily for his Special Teams prowess, but is also unique in that he is a bit of an off-field, gridiron Hemingway.

Smith is eccentric, to say the least. He was plowing through his bucket list before it was cool, and has checked off the climbing of Mount Kilimanjaro, running with the bulls in the streets of Pamplona, and skydiving from 14,000 feet.

But can he talk distraught Hog fans off of the ledge in the wake of the Petrino firing and mark another experience (winning a national championship) off of his list?

Only time will tell. But, his middling previous results notwithstanding, the hiring of Smith makes sense given Arkansas’ unprecedented circumstances.

(Just don’t tell Weber St. or ESP*I*N columnist Gene Wojciechowski that. BlogHawgs reader Jeremy Cox made a good point on the BlogHawgs Facebook page. Wojo is pretty pithy for a guy who worked at 3 newspapers, all for less than a year, none of which bumped his pay grade from $130,000 to nearly $1 million….but I am sure he gave them plenty–2 weeks?–of notice).

While Smith’s common name and W/L record aren’t the splashy combo that the most optimistic of Razorback fans were pining for, he is probably the best-equipped coach in America to keep Hog football from taking a dive in 2012.

That’s because he is the one coach in America who can do all of the following:

–Provide vast head coaching experience;

–Maintain almost complete staff continuity (he has worked with all but one of the assistants);

–Minimize potential staff back-biting and angling for the job;

–Bring ready knowledge of the roster;

–Excite the players and recruits; and

–Accept the job on a 10-month, (albeit financially handsome, as compared to his Weber St. salary) interim basis.

That is not to predict that Smith WILL do all of these things, just that he CAN. Smith could easily revisit some of his head-coaching demons and cough up a game or two that he could have won.

Or, he could let his coaches coach and his players play and be the father figure(head) the program needs in the short-term.

In the meantime, Long will be able to bank almost $3 million in budgeted, but saved, head coach’s salary, and get a year-long head start on his next coaching search and hiring war chest

And the players? They get their lives back.

Ask All-SEC running back and Heisman hopeful Knile Davis. He called the hiring of Smith “the happiest day of his life.”

Maybe the uber-talented, oft-injured jewel that is Knile is an emotionally wrung out young man who is vulnerable to overstatement during these rocky times in Fayetteville.

But, can you blame him? If this saga was on the big screen, I would walk out in protest of its absurdity. Temporary suspension of disbelief can only last so long.

Nevertheless, I agree with Knile in principle (but maybe not in degree)– today is a good day–probably not the best day of my life (OK, definitely not), but a good day, nonetheless.

That’s because the Hogs have a loaded roster (unanimous preseason Top 10 to be sure), an intact coaching staff, a singular focus and a new/old leader who knows the landscape and has the potential to lead the Hogs to the promised land.

If you don’t believe me, you also probably think Chizik is a cheese cracker and “Dear John” letters always end in sorrow.

To the contrary, sometimes, breaking up is the right thing to do and is not just a backside-saving measure. That’s why, whether this blows up in Long’s face or not, I applaud the firing of Petrino and the decision to give the team a puncher’s chance in 2012.

And, while John L. Smith probably isn’t “Mr. Right” for the U of A in the long-term, he is a pretty good “Mr. Right Now” that Arkansas fans can trust to do right by them for the next 10 months. To exchange one strained sports analogy (the one about a home run hire) for another, he’s a decent, two-handed rebound in traffic.

No one knows what will happen, but one would have to think Arkansas’ fans are due for some good fortune.

Razorback Nation can only hope that things will mesh perfectly, and an old coach, who has traveled this road before, can keep himself and the Arkansas program upright and steer us all safely through a beautiful, Sunday Monday evening ride all the way from the Ozarks to South Beach.

Posted in Commentary, Sports | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

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