Razorback football: Year of transition

[Biggus Piggus]

Since November 2004, Arkansas football has undergone massive change, the benefits of which should return the Razorbacks to winning in 2006. 

The chief problem with the Hogs in 2004-05 happened 2-5 years ago this week, with four consecutive anemic recruiting classes.  Click on the chart below to see.  While 2001 had some big names, many of them did not stick around, the class had few redshirts, and it produced a modest number of starters.  The other three classes were collossally bad, fouled by a coaching staff turnstile, a really rotten hire to replace Fitz Hill, and a prolonged NCAA probe.

If fans had understood how bad recruiting was going back then, Houston Nutt would have been gone long ago.  The 2004-05 downturn was easily visible.

Way back in the middle of the 2000 season, Houston Nutt was forced by injuries to abandon his preferred offensive balance and lean on the run.  In 2001, the Hogs turned into the SEC's leading rushing team, and Nutt found himself in an annual tug-of-war between the talent he had on hand (which leaned run) and the direction he wanted the program to take (balance to enable recruiting of the best offensive talent).

Nutt did not want his Razorbacks to be pigeonholed as a running team, thus the dalliances with Tarvaris Jackson and Ryan Sorahan and the refusal to build the offense around the programs best-ever athlete, Matt Jones.  Meanwhile, the Hogs still ran two-thirds of the time and failed to recruit SEC-caliber talent at receiver.

Perhaps the refusal to feature Jones was the problem, or maybe Jones just wasn't an ideal QB in the head.  Jones as a passer was good enough to beat the beatables but was overwhelmed in tough games, probably because he did not have receivers who could get open against top SEC coverage.

The departure of Jones was supposed to open the door to the star in the backyard, Springdale's Mitch Mustain, most ballyhooed in-state quarterback in generations.  Jones had held back the offense, Nutt insisted.  Arkansas football means a balanced offense.

Things started to come apart in pieces.  Arkansas emerged from the summer with just two of Springdale's five high-major prospects in hand.  The Hogs got into the first post-Jones season and found they depended more than ever on the running game, as Robert Johnson was stunningly ineffective as a passer.  A series of desultory losses, home and away, halted the recruiting momentum and even caused Mustain to have second thoughts.

By the end of a 4-7 season, Arkansas was on the verge of a disastrous recruiting class.  The hires of Springdale coach Gus Malzahn and former pro assistant Alex Wood deserve credit for stopping the bleeding and enabling the best single haul of passing game talent in school history.

The four Springdale additions, possibly topped by receiver Damian Williams, lead the redesign of the Razorback offensive plan after the scrapping of Nutt's eight years of meandering without reaching a desired destination.

The presence of Malzahn and Wood gave the coveted prospects confidence that positive change would be more than a promise.  Then the results clicked in--Mustain, Ben Cleveland, Florida's Carlton Salters, Alabama's London Crawford, and finally Williams.

It would be hard to overemphasize the significance of this change of direction.  For decades, it was nigh impossible for the Razorbacks to sign any serious passer, and as for receivers, it was usually one good one at a time.  What Nutt and Wittke started and Malzahn and Wood finished is unprecedented.  Even if this whole thing eventually falls apart, this recruiting class represents a major milestone, a major break from a history of basic, unremarkable passing offenses.

Real change has come, is coming, and for that Razorback fans should be grateful.  In return, Hog fans also should be patient.  It will take time to put the pieces in new places and get everything organized, get the right combination of talent and experience on the field.  Even if the skill positions are right, this offensive line was not built with Malzahn's offense in mind--who knows whether the available blockers will be suitable.  Not impossible we'll see an instant turnaround, but a learning curve is more likely.

Nutt owes a tremendous debt to Malzahn and Wood for salvaging this class and giving Arkansas football a brighter future.  Implication of this is that Nutt owes these men a full effort to go the distance, finish the job of cleaning his house.

The results, pre-Malzahn/Wood versus post, were stunning.  The entire recruiting process deserves intense scrutiny and decisive remediation.  Nutt's staff has changed significantly but still includes assistants who were profoundly unproductive as recruiters this year.

Nutt owes Malzahn and Wood a serious effort to do whatever is necessary to improve the recruiting of linemen.  On both sides of the ball, line recruiting fell way short of where SEC average landed this year.  The chief help on defense came from junior colleges, and the offensive line signees fell well short of plan.

More new hires and better management are necessary to ensure Arkansas has a competitive recruiting effort that covers the territory early and often enough.

Moreover, ever since Fitz Hill left Nutt has displayed a complete misunderstanding of the role of a recruiting coordinator.  He still intends Chris Vaughn, now a non-recruiting administrator, to manage the process, and that is way out of line with the state of the art.

Reggie Herring, in his first year on the job, discovered the hard way how defensive needs could get lost in the Razorback shuffle.  The Hogs had to sign players ranging from coming off knee injuries to position-switchers to outright reachy in order to address defensive needs.  Definitely below SEC state of the recruiting art.  Herring will be more, um, assertive in the future.

Arkansas has a history of wildly erratic geographic coverage in recruiting, depending on which coach is involved.  Great holes emerge in the map every year, some of them tolerated because of who's involved.

Further, this staff has maintained a misfit between the geographic distribution of recruiting responsibilities and the process employed to evaluate and prioritize recruits.  If the right prospects fall in the wrong geography, too bad for us.

Long ago Nutt felt shamed when trying to recruit in certain areas, frequented by high-major schools, and now shies away from a fight just like Ken Hatfield did.  Exactly like Hatfield.  This attitude has to be snuffed out, because SEC-class linemen by definition are hard to get.

Despite a big budget, Arkansas has pinched pennies on administration.  The program has been way under-resourced, with assistants handling too much crap work that detracts from their recruiting effort.  A resource-poor situation produces erratic contact with those players below our very top priorities.  Coaches even showed a tendency to slack off even top priorities, trying to take them for granted + use that time making up for other lapses.

Yes, Nutt's job probably was saved by two hires that were forced on him by Frank Broyles and Jim Lindsey.  That does not mean the head coach has nothing to do.  Nutt needs to finish the job of remaking the infrastructure of his football program.

Nutt cannot afford to be out of control of his own program now.  It is time to take charge of lots of details heretofore unmanaged.  It is unclear who's going to make the call on lots of major and minor issues ranging from offensive system to offseason work schedule to allocation of practice time.

The staff now is divided between Nutt loyalists, new additions and the Reggie Herring circle: far to go before there's a coherent structure.

Some of the remaining staff members have been obstacles to positive change.  Houston Nutt must sever ties with the old and bolster the new direction with a serious effort to improve line recruiting and upgrade the coaching of special teams.  Further, he needs to hire a legitimate recruiting coordinator and delegate proper responsibility to him.  This year's close shave should have been enough to scare Nutt straight on this issue. 

After next term's six seniors depart, the team won't even have two platoons of offensive linemen for spring 2007 practice. One more year of meager Oline recruiting would cause long-lasting damage.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[clew]

great read, and spot on.

[Tater Salad]

"Great post, Biggus."

[JJHog]

Further, he needs to hire a legitimate recruiting coordinator and delegate proper responsibility to him.  This year's close shave should have been enough to scare Nutt straight on this issue. 


Let's hope so. I hope he has matured as a coach and sees how close he came to a horrible class. He dodged a bullet to say the least.

Good read, thanks.

[Swino]

Thanks and great post Biggus.  Right on the money, but I think you were too kind on Nutt.  His job requires much more than Nutt is capable of. 

[arthurhawgerelli]

Thanks and great post Biggus.  Right on the money, but I think you were too kind on Nutt.  His job requires much more than Nutt is capable of. 

Agreeance

[Biggus Piggus]

Got the chart on there.  I did not try to project out the recent classes.  The 2005 class has a chance to have a good hit rate.  If you click on the chart, it will enlarge.

[Swino]

30 duds over 3 years, ouch.

[PeayHog]

Solid post.  I agree wholeheartedly with two aspects of the post specifically. 

1.)  Nutt needs a drop-back passer (see Stoerner and Mike Cherry at Murray).  Nutt does want to pass.  If he had his druthers, he would run from a pro-style, split back set-up that is relatively vanilla but throws 50% of the time.  That's the way he ran it at Murray and the way he has run it at Arkansas when he had the talent (even witness the games Dick started).  Now, whether he will let Malzahn go completely to the spread will have to be seen.

2.)  Because of this reliance on a "pro-style" offense, Nutt had no idea how to properly use Matt Jones.  Why he ever had MJ drop back when he was sooooooo good rolling out and running the option, I will never understand.

Thanks for the knowledge Piggus.

[razorbacker80]

Very insightful post.  We are all excited about this years class, but looking at the big picture... it is still only ranked in the 25-30th range nationally.  Time for us to start thinking "biggus" again.  This board does have influence...  I think it is time to run with the notion put forward in this thread and insist on a new recruiting coordinator.

And that job begins NOW!  2007 Goal... Top 10 Recruiting class!!

[Marshfieldhog]

Is it too early yet?.......Fire Nutt!!   

[jabohog]

Anyone who wants to argue the cloud needs to read this article and look at the chart. Nice work and thank you, thank you, for pointing out the lack of attention, or just the lack of linemen in the recruiting. It's not mentioned much, but I think you hit the nail on the head at the need to improve a lot in lineman recruiting.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Thanks and great post Biggus.  Right on the money, but I think you were too kind on Nutt.  His job requires much more than Nutt is capable of. 

Agreeance

Agree.  Agree. Agree.

Great Post Biggus Piggus.

[sowmonella]

Great post Biggus. It would be very hard to argue any of your points. We've made some excellent moves in the staff finally but much more is needed. Any chance of a top notch recruiting coordinator being hired?

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Great post Biggus. It would be very hard to argue any of your points. We've made some excellent moves in the staff finally but much more is needed. Any chance of a top notch recruiting coordinator being hired?

Good point sowmonella.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Thanks for giving me an overwhelming stomach ache, Biggus.  Okay, you aren't the one who caused my stomach ache, it is the retelling of so many pitfalls that caused me great indegestion then and now!  What is even more disheartening are the mass of Hog fans who fail to see this whatsoever.  I am not talking this stupid BS of Nutt huggers versus Nutt bashers (I am so tired of this dumb ass crap), I am speaking more of the failure in recognizing the holes in preparation, the homes in our depth cahrt, the holes in personell...that you addresses.  We have been deficient for too long (and not merely because of an NCAA cloud).  Keep beating that drum, BP.

Look, you can make fun of the hugger vs. darkside thing, but you have to admit it is funny and entertaining.  This ordeal we have all had to endure makes you either laugh or cry.  I prefer to laugh.

[jrw11475]

I feel like I am back in business statistics looking at that excel graph.  Good information there.

[HatfieldHog]

Biggus, this is a quality post, and I agree with you completely; yet, I think that the greatest stretch, is to think that Nutt will fire his old buddies that are not D-1 level recruiters.  No matter how much you "coach" some kid up, you simply cannot win consistently without the horses!

Let's hope that Nutt will realize that "Loyalty" in his relationships, does not cover the state of Arkansas Football.  They can be friends, but not to the loss of the program.

Just the way that it is:    See ya

[HogInaStrangeLand]

Nice post.

[JIHawg]

One of your better efforts, BP.  Couldn't agree more.

[Reaganite]

Wow Biggus!!  Post MORE read LESS!

You should give an annual "State of the Union" speech for the Hogs.

[GarySe7en]

That was beautiful BP.  A great compass for the future.  For he that does not honor the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them.

Good Karma

WPS

[Porky OLeary]

Does anyone really believe nutt is going to make any changes without being forced?

I don't.

[othermac]

good post biggus. i had long felt that nutt had botched matt jones because of his dedication to a pro set offense, and his recognition that matt was anything but a pro set qb. it was like he knew if he changed his offense, it could have a long term effect on recruiting,so he tried to go part way, maintaining a form of his pro set offense while putting a few rollouts and options taking advantage of matts explosiveness. to me it was kind of a catch-22 offense. instead of utilizing mj and saving recruiting, he hampered both. i am hoping the state of the oline is not as dire as you infer, it is not unusual for linemen to blossom in college, so here's to hope. thanks for the post, btw, who replaced fritz?

[hawgjowls]

i hope this almost failure of a class scares nutt into a new way of thinking but i will believe it when i see it.  i'm not sure nutt is capable of changing, people like him see it way differently, he is probably saying to himself "see what i did, it didnt fall apart" so i dont have to change yet.

[Hogs4Ever]

Biggus, is this the first chapter to your Hog novel?  Great post and read.

As we know, recruiting is the life blood of a program and Nutt had better pour ALL of his energy into recruiting and let Gus, Alex, and Reggie handle the game plans.

[Chief Mac]

Great post Biggus. It would be very hard to argue any of your points. We've made some excellent moves in the staff finally but much more is needed. Any chance of a top notch recruiting coordinator being hired?

Getting a top notch recruiter should be tied with new OL coach at the top of the things to do.

WPS

Chris

[HognotinMemphis]

There are a lot of posters here who disagree with your statement about the offensive line personnel as evidenced by their responses to my posts over the last two days. Lot of fans with too much optimistism and not enough regard for facts and reality.

[SultanofSwine]

BP spells it out for the slow ones, you talk to fast. 

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Thanks for giving me an overwhelming stomach ache, Biggus.  Okay, you aren't the one who caused my stomach ache, it is the retelling of so many pitfalls that caused me great indigestion then and now!  What is even more disheartening are the mass of Hog fans who fail to see this whatsoever.  I am not talking this stupid BS of Nutt huggers versus Nutt bashers (I am so tired of this dumb ass crap), I am speaking more of the failure in recognizing the holes in preparation, the homes in our depth chart, the holes in personell...that you addresses.  We have been deficient for too long (and not merely because of an NCAA cloud).  Keep beating that drum, BP.

Look, you can make fun of the hugger vs. darkside thing, but you have to admit it is funny and entertaining.  This ordeal we have all had to endure makes you either laugh or cry.  I prefer to laugh.

It was funny...at one time.  Now, it just seems to be a distraction.

Still fun, entertaining and funny.

[Chinese Emperor]

I wonder if Fritz Hill would be willing to come back as recruiting coordinator?

[PigInGulfport]

As much as I dislike and blame Nutt for the problems we are in, I have a problem with the following you posted . . .

"Nutt did not want his Razorbacks to be pigeonholed as a running team, thus the dalliances with Tarvaris Jackson and Ryan Sorahan and the refusal to build the offense around the programs best-ever athlete, Matt Jones.  Meanwhile, the Hogs still ran two-thirds of the time and failed to recruit SEC-caliber talent at receiver."

I find that must be more conjecture than from the "Nutts" mouth.  Never saw or heard that he didn't want to be a "Running Team".

Putting in the Shotgun "Mid Line" Option was catering to Matt's ability too.

Not focusing on recruiting lineman is one of the biggest mistakes he has made.

[wwwtipsyclubcom]

Does anyone really believe nutt is going to make any changes without being forced?

I don't.

If you listened to Gus last night, he said that he would be changing up what was done in the past "a little bit" and incorporating much of what was done in the past. I would not get too excited about the prospects of Gus being allowed to incorporate a spread offense. I recognize the reality of yesterday and why many are happy. However, I have a feeling that the USC game will bring everyone back to where they were a little over a month ago. Not much has changed and this staff has had some amazing talent in the past that it failed miserably to mold into a winning team. To talk about 1998 and 1999 is to talk about a team playing on emotion as we all were when Houston arrived. Once that emotion was broken at various points in those seasons the talent was exposed for what it was as well as the quality of the coaches on campus.

I'm sure I'll get banned after this, but I have got to say it! I AM SO DAMN SICK AND SO darned TIRED OF HEARING YOU WHINEY ASS BABIES! I am NOT one of the idiots who LIES AND SAYS "I have season tickets and give to the foundation", but BY GOD I DO have season tickets and have for the last 3 years! I DON'T GIVE $$$ to the foundation, because I have very little TO give, but ever since I left the Vanderbilt game, I realized HOW MANY MORONS there are that call themselves "Hog fans". I heard SO MANY idiots while walking back to my car (parked acrossed Baum) say "I ain't gettin' no season tickets NEXT YEAR!" I looked at my wife that night and said, "Good, the more bandwagon fans that drop off, the better our season tickets get." I STILL FEEL THAT WAY. I feel so bad that I feel those of you who constantly talk crap don't DESERVE to have better season tickets than me. Arkansas could lose every damn game and I will STILL pay an arseload for tickets and in gas to drive from Bryant EVERY gameday and I would STILL root for the hogs. You idiots who say "I'm a better fan because I want a better coach" are just immature jackasses who apparently FEED off of stirring crap up. Sure, Houston Nutt may not be the best coach, but guess what, morons, YOU AND I DON'T HAVE A SAY-SO! So just GET OVER IT! The minute you have an actual vote to cast in the whole situation is the minute that you have a say-so. So, until then, either jump on the darned bandwagon NOW or find another team to "claim" you root for. We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited! Even if Gus only gets 10% control of the offense, it's that 10% more that's been taken from Houston's control. You people obviously hate him soooo bad, that little bit is at least SOME, so you COULD be optomistic about that! PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING. PLEASE. OR, IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE PISSING AND MOANING, STOP BUYING SEASON TICKETS (IF YOU EVEN BUY THEM) SO THAT MY WIFE AND I (TRUE HOG FANS) CAN STEADILY WORK OUR WAY TO THE 50-yd line SO WE CAN ROOT THE HOGS FROM THERE, 12-0 OR 0-12! Woooooooooooo Piiiiiiiiiiiiiig Sooooooooooie!!!!!!!

[Reaganite]

Actually we do have a say so.  We vote with our dollars and our voices.  Our dollars in not only tickets, but the licensed merchandise.  Our voices on statewide radio and in forums like this. 

Since when do YOU decide whether I or anyone else have a say so?  Are you Hitler reborn?  Are you Stalin trying to ship darksiders to Siberia?  Who are YOU to decide who a true Hog fan is?

Fact is you can be a "TRUE" Hog fan and be on both sides of the HDN debate. 

If you'd pull your head out of your "TRUE FAN" pure Arkansas Pig manure you'd see that any coach at ANY D-1 school that posts back to back season like Nutt has would have maximum heat applied, have the fans ready for heads to roll, and be riddiculed to no end.

You've actually managed to argue against people that say they're true fans and then wrap your rant up by saying you're the "TRUE HOG FAN". 

I do have good news for you though!  Since YOU are the real TRUE hog fan, and are so happy about your good seating, this year your gonna get curb side, vallet service to the games....

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

Does anyone really believe nutt is going to make any changes without being forced?

I don't.

If you listened to Gus last night, he said that he would be changing up what was done in the past "a little bit" and incorporating much of what was done in the past. I would not get too excited about the prospects of Gus being allowed to incorporate a spread offense. I recognize the reality of yesterday and why many are happy. However, I have a feeling that the USC game will bring everyone back to where they were a little over a month ago. Not much has changed and this staff has had some amazing talent in the past that it failed miserably to mold into a winning team. To talk about 1998 and 1999 is to talk about a team playing on emotion as we all were when Houston arrived. Once that emotion was broken at various points in those seasons the talent was exposed for what it was as well as the quality of the coaches on campus.

I'm sure I'll get banned after this, but I have got to say it! I AM SO DAMN SICK AND SO darned TIRED OF HEARING YOU WHINEY ASS BABIES! I am NOT one of the idiots who LIES AND SAYS "I have season tickets and give to the foundation", but BY GOD I DO have season tickets and have for the last 3 years! I DON'T GIVE $$$ to the foundation, because I have very little TO give, but ever since I left the Vanderbilt game, I realized HOW MANY MORONS there are that call themselves "Hog fans". I heard SO MANY idiots while walking back to my car (parked acrossed Baum) say "I ain't gettin' no season tickets NEXT YEAR!" I looked at my wife that night and said, "Good, the more bandwagon fans that drop off, the better our season tickets get." I STILL FEEL THAT WAY. I feel so bad that I feel those of you who constantly talk crap don't DESERVE to have better season tickets than me. Arkansas could lose every damn game and I will STILL pay an arseload for tickets and in gas to drive from Bryant EVERY gameday and I would STILL root for the hogs. You idiots who say "I'm a better fan because I want a better coach" are just immature jackasses who apparently FEED off of stirring crap up. Sure, Houston Nutt may not be the best coach, but guess what, morons, YOU AND I DON'T HAVE A SAY-SO! So just GET OVER IT! The minute you have an actual vote to cast in the whole situation is the minute that you have a say-so. So, until then, either jump on the darned bandwagon NOW or find another team to "claim" you root for. We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited! Even if Gus only gets 10% control of the offense, it's that 10% more that's been taken from Houston's control. You people obviously hate him soooo bad, that little bit is at least SOME, so you COULD be optomistic about that! PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING. PLEASE. OR, IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE PISSING AND MOANING, STOP BUYING SEASON TICKETS (IF YOU EVEN BUY THEM) SO THAT MY WIFE AND I (TRUE HOG FANS) CAN STEADILY WORK OUR WAY TO THE 50-yd line SO WE CAN ROOT THE HOGS FROM THERE, 12-0 OR 0-12! Woooooooooooo Piiiiiiiiiiiiiig Sooooooooooie!!!!!!!

Wow. 

[Fire Numb Nutts!!!]

If we could only get rid of all that dead weight at the top (Numb Nutts, Senile Frank and Lindsey & Assholciates) we might have a chance to accomplish something.

[jkstock04]

Somebody needs to put Houston's face in place of this guys...that'd be classic.  I'd do it but I dont know how to.

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

PM CallMeHog

Somebody needs to put Houston's face in place of this guys...that'd be classic.  I'd do it but I dont know how to.

[afhogfan1980]

dare i say hire regiie herring as coach and def coordinator he doest have time for bs i like his style

[Reaganite]

"FULL SPEED to a National Championship!"

[DukeOfPork]

I'm sure I'll get banned after this, but I have got to say it! I AM SO DAMN SICK AND SO darned TIRED OF HEARING YOU WHINEY ASS BABIES! I am NOT one of the idiots who LIES AND SAYS "I have season tickets and give to the foundation", but BY GOD I DO have season tickets and have for the last 3 years! I DON'T GIVE $$$ to the foundation, because I have very little TO give, but ever since I left the Vanderbilt game, I realized HOW MANY MORONS there are that call themselves "Hog fans". I heard SO MANY idiots while walking back to my car (parked acrossed Baum) say "I ain't gettin' no season tickets NEXT YEAR!" I looked at my wife that night and said, "Good, the more bandwagon fans that drop off, the better our season tickets get." I STILL FEEL THAT WAY. I feel so bad that I feel those of you who constantly talk crap don't DESERVE to have better season tickets than me. Arkansas could lose every damn game and I will STILL pay an arseload for tickets and in gas to drive from Bryant EVERY gameday and I would STILL root for the hogs. You idiots who say "I'm a better fan because I want a better coach" are just immature jackasses who apparently FEED off of stirring crap up. Sure, Houston Nutt may not be the best coach, but guess what, morons, YOU AND I DON'T HAVE A SAY-SO! So just GET OVER IT! The minute you have an actual vote to cast in the whole situation is the minute that you have a say-so. So, until then, either jump on the darned bandwagon NOW or find another team to "claim" you root for. We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited! Even if Gus only gets 10% control of the offense, it's that 10% more that's been taken from Houston's control. You people obviously hate him soooo bad, that little bit is at least SOME, so you COULD be optomistic about that! PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING. PLEASE. OR, IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE PISSING AND MOANING, STOP BUYING SEASON TICKETS (IF YOU EVEN BUY THEM) SO THAT MY WIFE AND I (TRUE HOG FANS) CAN STEADILY WORK OUR WAY TO THE 50-yd line SO WE CAN ROOT THE HOGS FROM THERE, 12-0 OR 0-12! Woooooooooooo Piiiiiiiiiiiiiig Sooooooooooie!!!!!!!

Why would you get banned for that?  You're just stating your opinion - it's an ignorant opinion - but nevertheless, it's just your opinion.

What you need to realize is that there are two types of fans that are doing battle here: 

Fan Type #1:   These fans are just perfectly pleased to pay escalating prices for tickets to watch the Hogs in a dandy stadium with a big, pretty replay screen.  Maybe even do the hog call a couple times early in the game before the score gets out of hand.  This type of fan has an "aw shucks" attitude when Vanderbilt comes into our house and systematically picks us apart.  This type of fan watches us lose 70-17 on national television and says "well, we just can't compete with teams like that - we're just Arkansas......I can't wait till the next home game!"

Fan Type #2:  This fan is mad as hell that we've had our asses handed to us for two years.  This fan gets absolutely pissed everytime he reads about or hears fans of other SEC schools referring to Arkansas as an "automatic win" or a "bunch of chumps".  This fan sees that we can do better.  He can feel it.  But he sees that the athletic department is being run as a business and right now, business is good because we have a hell of a lot of Fan Type #1 fans.  Since money is coming in and we are tolerating higher ticket prices to watch sh*tty football, he sees that we will always be losers unless the fans force a change.

[DukeOfPork]

We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited!

You have a link for this?

Mitch may potentially be the best QB in school history - who knows?

But this is not the best recruiting class in school history.  That would be pretty frickin' sad if it was our BEST CLASS EVER and we still ended up 9th in the SEC and didn't crack the Top 25.

You must be absolutely bonging that kool-aid!!!

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

"FULL SPEED to a National Championship!"

Caption:  "After being fired as HC of the Razorbacks and yet continuing to show up at the U of A athletic dept. as well as trying to get on the sidelines during games stating repeatedly 'I love that helmet', Houston Dale Nutt was admitted to an alternative Farm Mental Health Facility.  'He's a nice guy' said the director of the facility."

[FLKeysGuy]

Fan Type #1:   These fans are just perfectly pleased to pay escalating prices for tickets to watch the Hogs in a dandy stadium with a big, pretty replay screen.  Maybe even do the hog call a couple times early in the game before the score gets out of hand.  This type of fan has an "aw shucks" attitude when Vanderbilt comes into our house and systematically picks us apart.  This type of fan watches us lose 70-17 on national television and says "well, we just can't compete with teams like that - we're just Arkansas......I can't wait till the next home game!"

Fan Type #2:  This fan is mad as hell that we've had our asses handed to us for two years.  This fan gets absolutely pissed everytime he reads about or hears fans of other SEC schools referring to Arkansas as an "automatic win" or a "bunch of chumps".  This fan sees that we can do better.  He can feel it.  But he sees that the athletic department is being run as a business and right now, business is good because we have a hell of a lot of Fan Type #1 fans.  Since money is coming in and we are tolerating higher ticket prices to watch sh*tty football, he sees that we will always be losers unless the fans force a change.

Uh, exactly.

I'm definitely a #2.  When it comes to the restroom, #2 usually means taking a dump.  That's kinda the way I've felt about my $3K per year contribution too.  I'm not a big hitter like Jim Lindsey, nor did I play for the Hogs.  However, I graduated from the U of A and have been a Hog fan since the early 80's, and a $3K contribution ain't chump change for someone like me.  I do not accept failure.  If my daughter came home with D's, I wouldn't tell her that it's all okay and that I'd support her no matter what.  I'd tell her if she didn't bring her grades up, she'd be wearing my size 12 shoe in her butt.  It's about time Hog fans did the same.  Ever heard of 'tough love'?  Well, the Razorback football program is the perfect example of where that 'love' might be shared. 

Just my humble opinion, but I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out areas that need improvement -- even if that area is the head coach.

[FLKeysGuy]

We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited!

You have a link for this?

Mitch may potentially be the best QB in school history - who knows?

But this is not the best recruiting class in school history.  That would be pretty frickin' sad if it was our BEST CLASS EVER and we still ended up 9th in the SEC and didn't crack the Top 25.

You must be absolutely bonging that kool-aid!!!

Just food for thought; take it with a grain of salt.  SHS pulled their starters at halftime in 11 of their 14 games in the 2005 season.  Ben Cleveland was injured for several games in the season and was sidelined.  Imagine what their stats would have been if Gus wanted to run up the score.  Damian is ranked a 4 star recruit.  Yeah, my ass.  He's one of the best receivers in the country; hands down.  Ben at 3 stars is really a 4/5 star recruit -- as is Andrew Norman.  My point is, don't get too caught up in how our class 'ranked' according to the scouting services.  They missed the boat on accurately evaluating talent in the Springdale boys.  I'm sure they made the same errors with other recruits too.  I'm so excited about the future of Hog football I could scream!  Take a step back and pretend that Springdale was a school in Florida.  How excited would you be that those 4 guys are coming here?

[Ugly Uncle]

Fan Type #1:   These fans are just perfectly pleased to pay escalating prices for tickets to watch the Hogs in a dandy stadium with a big, pretty replay screen.  Maybe even do the hog call a couple times early in the game before the score gets out of hand.  This type of fan has an "aw shucks" attitude when Vanderbilt comes into our house and systematically picks us apart.  This type of fan watches us lose 70-17 on national television and says "well, we just can't compete with teams like that - we're just Arkansas......I can't wait till the next home game!"

Fan Type #2:  This fan is mad as hell that we've had our asses handed to us for two years.  This fan gets absolutely pissed everytime he reads about or hears fans of other SEC schools referring to Arkansas as an "automatic win" or a "bunch of chumps".  This fan sees that we can do better.  He can feel it.  But he sees that the athletic department is being run as a business and right now, business is good because we have a hell of a lot of Fan Type #1 fans.  Since money is coming in and we are tolerating higher ticket prices to watch sh*tty football, he sees that we will always be losers unless the fans force a change.

Uh, exactly.

I'm definitely a #2.  When it comes to the restroom, #2 usually means taking a dump.  That's kinda the way I've felt about my $3K per year contribution too.  I'm not a big hitter like Jim Lindsey, nor did I play for the Hogs.  However, I graduated from the U of A and have been a Hog fan since the early 80's, and a $3K contribution ain't chump change for someone like me.  I do not accept failure.  If my daughter came home with D's, I wouldn't tell her that it's all okay and that I'd support her no matter what.  I'd tell her if she didn't bring her grades up, she'd be wearing my size 12 shoe in her butt.  It's about time Hog fans did the same.  Ever heard of 'tough love'?  Well, the Razorback football program is the perfect example of where that 'love' might be shared. 

Just my humble opinion, but I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out areas that need improvement -- even if that area is the head coach.

Couldn't agree more FLKeys...How many size 12's would it take to kick Nutt out?  Personally i am only a size 11...but I would give it my best to help ya.

[oldfart]

Since November 2004, Arkansas football has undergone massive change, the benefits of which should return the Razorbacks to winning in 2006. 

The chief problem with the Hogs in 2004-05 happened 2-5 years ago this week, with four consecutive anemic recruiting classes.  Click on the chart below to see.  While 2001 had some big names, many of them did not stick around, the class had few redshirts, and it produced a modest number of starters.  The other three classes were collossally bad, fouled by a coaching staff turnstile, a really rotten hire to replace Fitz Hill, and a prolonged NCAA probe.

If fans had understood how bad recruiting was going back then, Houston Nutt would have been gone long ago.  The 2004-05 downturn was easily visible.

Way back in the middle of the 2000 season, Houston Nutt was forced by injuries to abandon his preferred offensive balance and lean on the run.  In 2001, the Hogs turned into the SEC's leading rushing team, and Nutt found himself in an annual tug-of-war between the talent he had on hand (which leaned run) and the direction he wanted the program to take (balance to enable recruiting of the best offensive talent).

Nutt did not want his Razorbacks to be pigeonholed as a running team, thus the dalliances with Tarvaris Jackson and Ryan Sorahan and the refusal to build the offense around the programs best-ever athlete, Matt Jones.  Meanwhile, the Hogs still ran two-thirds of the time and failed to recruit SEC-caliber talent at receiver.

Perhaps the refusal to feature Jones was the problem, or maybe Jones just wasn't an ideal QB in the head.  Jones as a passer was good enough to beat the beatables but was overwhelmed in tough games, probably because he did not have receivers who could get open against top SEC coverage.

The departure of Jones was supposed to open the door to the star in the backyard, Springdale's Mitch Mustain, most ballyhooed in-state quarterback in generations.  Jones had held back the offense, Nutt insisted.  Arkansas football means a balanced offense.

Things started to come apart in pieces.  Arkansas emerged from the summer with just two of Springdale's five high-major prospects in hand.  The Hogs got into the first post-Jones season and found they depended more than ever on the running game, as Robert Johnson was stunningly ineffective as a passer.  A series of desultory losses, home and away, halted the recruiting momentum and even caused Mustain to have second thoughts.

By the end of a 4-7 season, Arkansas was on the verge of a disastrous recruiting class.  The hires of Springdale coach Gus Malzahn and former pro assistant Alex Wood deserve credit for stopping the bleeding and enabling the best single haul of passing game talent in school history.

The four Springdale additions, possibly topped by receiver Damian Williams, lead the redesign of the Razorback offensive plan after the scrapping of Nutt's eight years of meandering without reaching a desired destination.

The presence of Malzahn and Wood gave the coveted prospects confidence that positive change would be more than a promise.  Then the results clicked in--Mustain, Ben Cleveland, Florida's Carlton Salters, Alabama's London Crawford, and finally Williams.

It would be hard to overemphasize the significance of this change of direction.  For decades, it was nigh impossible for the Razorbacks to sign any serious passer, and as for receivers, it was usually one good one at a time.  What Nutt and Wittke started and Malzahn and Wood finished is unprecedented.  Even if this whole thing eventually falls apart, this recruiting class represents a major milestone, a major break from a history of basic, unremarkable passing offenses.

Real change has come, is coming, and for that Razorback fans should be grateful.  In return, Hog fans also should be patient.  It will take time to put the pieces in new places and get everything organized, get the right combination of talent and experience on the field.  Even if the skill positions are right, this offensive line was not built with Malzahn's offense in mind--who knows whether the available blockers will be suitable.  Not impossible we'll see an instant turnaround, but a learning curve is more likely.

Nutt owes a tremendous debt to Malzahn and Wood for salvaging this class and giving Arkansas football a brighter future.  Implication of this is that Nutt owes these men a full effort to go the distance, finish the job of cleaning his house.

The results, pre-Malzahn/Wood versus post, were stunning.  The entire recruiting process deserves intense scrutiny and decisive remediation.  Nutt's staff has changed significantly but still includes assistants who were profoundly unproductive as recruiters this year.

Nutt owes Malzahn and Wood a serious effort to do whatever is necessary to improve the recruiting of linemen.  On both sides of the ball, line recruiting fell way short of where SEC average landed this year.  The chief help on defense came from junior colleges, and the offensive line signees fell well short of plan.

More new hires and better management are necessary to ensure Arkansas has a competitive recruiting effort that covers the territory early and often enough.

Moreover, ever since Fitz Hill left Nutt has displayed a complete misunderstanding of the role of a recruiting coordinator.  He still intends Chris Vaughn, now a non-recruiting administrator, to manage the process, and that is way out of line with the state of the art.

Reggie Herring, in his first year on the job, discovered the hard way how defensive needs could get lost in the Razorback shuffle.  The Hogs had to sign players ranging from coming off knee injuries to position-switchers to outright reachy in order to address defensive needs.  Definitely below SEC state of the recruiting art.  Herring will be more, um, assertive in the future.

Arkansas has a history of wildly erratic geographic coverage in recruiting, depending on which coach is involved.  Great holes emerge in the map every year, some of them tolerated because of who's involved.

Further, this staff has maintained a misfit between the geographic distribution of recruiting responsibilities and the process employed to evaluate and prioritize recruits.  If the right prospects fall in the wrong geography, too bad for us.

Long ago Nutt felt shamed when trying to recruit in certain areas, frequented by high-major schools, and now shies away from a fight just like Ken Hatfield did.  Exactly like Hatfield.  This attitude has to be snuffed out, because SEC-class linemen by definition are hard to get.

Despite a big budget, Arkansas has pinched pennies on administration.  The program has been way under-resourced, with assistants handling too much crap work that detracts from their recruiting effort.  A resource-poor situation produces erratic contact with those players below our very top priorities.  Coaches even showed a tendency to slack off even top priorities, trying to take them for granted + use that time making up for other lapses.

Yes, Nutt's job probably was saved by two hires that were forced on him by Frank Broyles and Jim Lindsey.  That does not mean the head coach has nothing to do.  Nutt needs to finish the job of remaking the infrastructure of his football program.

Nutt cannot afford to be out of control of his own program now.  It is time to take charge of lots of details heretofore unmanaged.  It is unclear who's going to make the call on lots of major and minor issues ranging from offensive system to offseason work schedule to allocation of practice time.

The staff now is divided between Nutt loyalists, new additions and the Reggie Herring circle: far to go before there's a coherent structure.

Some of the remaining staff members have been obstacles to positive change.  Houston Nutt must sever ties with the old and bolster the new direction with a serious effort to improve line recruiting and upgrade the coaching of special teams.  Further, he needs to hire a legitimate recruiting coordinator and delegate proper responsibility to him.  This year's close shave should have been enough to scare Nutt straight on this issue. 

After next term's six seniors depart, the team won't even have two platoons of offensive linemen for spring 2007 practice. One more year of meager Oline recruiting would cause long-lasting damage.

[oldfart]

I cant find the post with the results of the previous recruiting classes and sure would love to see it.... where can i find it?

[Hawgman2000]

a bunch of general info without any specifics
which assistants are poor recruiters?
how are they obstructing the changes?
specific instances not opinion or conjecture  or do not waste my time

[Biggus Piggus]

Arkansas could lose every damn game and I will STILL pay an arseload for tickets and in gas to drive from Bryant EVERY gameday and I would STILL root for the hogs. You idiots who say "I'm a better fan because I want a better coach" are just immature jackasses who apparently FEED off of stirring crap up. Sure, Houston Nutt may not be the best coach, but guess what, morons, YOU AND I DON'T HAVE A SAY-SO! So just GET OVER IT! The minute you have an actual vote to cast in the whole situation is the minute that you have a say-so. So, until then, either jump on the darned bandwagon NOW or find another team to "claim" you root for. We have the best recruiting class in our history right now, and you should be excited!

How do you manage to get that angry about other, vastly more knowledgeable fans' opinions & not get that angry about an Arkansas team losing at home to a Vanderbilt team that didn't even go to a bowl game and was obviously coached down to defeat?  Bizarre.  Freakin bizarre.

If you think that was the best recruiting class in school history, your history lessons are lacking about 50 years of context.  You are representative of the same sort of people who back in 2002-03 praised Nutt's recruiting when it was obvious that Nutt was building himself some losing seasons in 2004-05.  Damn, I actually posted that on message boards back then.  You and other goobers swallowed Otis's stupid propaganda whole, and I was telling you the program was headed for back to back losers.  Guys like you insulted me every which way possible for telling you what was going to happen.  It did happen, and guys like you never acknowledged how wrong you were.  Guys like you made it possible for the Arkansas program to accept consecutive losing seasons without a coaching change for the only time in the program's modern history.

Now we have a hybrid coaching staff with some smart grafts onto the mess.  Broyles closed the deal on Herring, Malzahn and Wood.  The result is something bipolar, and though I sure hope it turns out healthy it's pretty weird right now.  We're counting on Nutt to close the circle, finish the job started by his superiors, and I seriously doubt he has the brain wattage to handle it.  If he manages to Frank up this miracle dropped in his lap, it will be tragic, for a state as tiny as Arkansas should not be wasting tens of millions of dollars a year on college football unless it's really darned serious about being the best.