Ole Miss writer's thoughts about Arkansas' program

[WizardofhOgZ]

The Ole Miss writer for Rivals.com interviewed Arkansas coaches and players after the game in Oxford so the Arkansas Rivals guy (T. Biddy) didn't have to make the trip.  In doing so, he got some perspective on our personnel, and he shares some of his thoughts in his weekly column (free) below. 

I thought that the insight of an outsider was interesting.


https://olemiss.rivals.com/news/mccready-10-weekend-thoughts-presented-by-harry-alexander-85

[Pigasaurus]

Writer is the one that Nutt goes off on for predicting a big Arkansas win in Nutts last season at Ole Miss. Video is still on YouTube.

[East TN HAWG]

CBB does everything right but win. 

[smb]

Things that make you go huh!

[azhog10]

I think most everyone agrees and likes what CBB says and does off the field. IT's winning, and preparing his teams that are the problem. I admire how he handles his teams and the character our boys play with. I am also proud of the accomplishments off the field as well, but we aren't Vanderbilt and we should be better than 3-5.

[regi]

I agree, we have a nice, funny, decent guy for a Coach, who cares about his kids, who are  mostly a bunch of really good kids to boot. But, 11-26, terrible defense 4 of 5 years, 0-5 vs Aggies, 1-4 vs AU, 1-2 vs Mizzou, 1-3 vs State, 0-2 vs South Carolina and all the other negative numbers we all know, are to much to over come. However, if they win out, I would not be shocked, if he gets a 6th year. It would suck, but I would not be shocked.

[Atlhogfan1]

Goes to the discussion of what kind of program a new coach would inherit.  The piece touches on the differences on what would be inherited at Arkansas following Bielema and at Ole Miss. 

[Razorbackers]

Gah, I wish Bielema would have worked out here. He is everything this author says. And I thought we were going to be something special after 2015.

Just makes me sad.

[razorbackfaninar]

"Bielema is candid, funny and professional with media. He has solid relationships with the people paid to cover his program. They all like and/or respect him. His players, at least the ones brought into the interview area Saturday afternoon, were excellent with media. They were open. They weren't on a "leash." They talked freely. They were, in short, impressive."

Man this matters a lot to me.  I like being able to be proud of the team that I pull for.  I wish Bielema had turned out to be as good at the X's and O's as he seems to be at all the other stuff.  I would say this type of stuff carries almost equal weight to me as winning, unfortunately we aren't winning and it doesn't look like we are going to be anytime soon under this current staff. I could over look an unexpected loss here or there to keep a coach who could handle this side of things so well, but I think things have gone too far.  ijust hope the next coach can manage to be as successful at both sides of the job.

[Hoggish1]

"Bielema is candid, funny and professional with media. He has solid relationships with the people paid to cover his program. They all like and/or respect him. His players, at least the ones brought into the interview area Saturday afternoon, were excellent with media. They were open. They weren't on a "leash." They talked freely. They were, in short, impressive."

Man this matters a lot to me.  I like being able to be proud of the team that I pull for.  I wish Bielema had turned out to be as good at the X's and O's as he seems to be at all the other stuff.  I would say this type of stuff carries almost equal weight to me as winning, unfortunately we aren't winning and it doesn't look like we are going to be anytime soon under this current staff. I could over look an unexpected loss here or there to keep a coach who could handle this side of things so well, but I think things have gone too far.  ijust hope the next coach can manage to be as successful at both sides of the job.

Well said.  I'm with you about the disappointment in Bret.  Looks like WI was because he was under Barry's wing.  Wish it weren't true!

[WaltonCollege]

Just way too many bad losses, I'll let go of a couple 40 or 50 pt  blowouts over the course of 5 years but we have them every year. Just not competitive against some even mediocre SEC teams. For 4.5 mil be competitive every Saturday.

[Hogdomer]

Looks like Shea Patterson's dad is a real headache.  Also, since he describes us as a "poop" team I wonder how he describes the team his son is supposed to lead and what his son's teammates would think about that description.

[go hogues]

Gah, I wish Bielema would have worked out here. He is everything this author says. And I thought we were going to be something special after 2015.

Just makes me sad.

[Sivad]

Looks like Shea Patterson's dad is a real headache.

That is the general consensus.

[Razorbackers]

"Bielema is candid, funny and professional with media. He has solid relationships with the people paid to cover his program. They all like and/or respect him. His players, at least the ones brought into the interview area Saturday afternoon, were excellent with media. They were open. They weren't on a "leash." They talked freely. They were, in short, impressive."

Man this matters a lot to me.  I like being able to be proud of the team that I pull for.  I wish Bielema had turned out to be as good at the X's and O's as he seems to be at all the other stuff.  I would say this type of stuff carries almost equal weight to me as winning, unfortunately we aren't winning and it doesn't look like we are going to be anytime soon under this current staff. I could over look an unexpected loss here or there to keep a coach who could handle this side of things so well, but I think things have gone too far.  ijust hope the next coach can manage to be as successful at both sides of the job.

For me, it's not quite 50-50. Winning is like, 55-45. I could handle the occasional 6-7 win season if we also had the occasional 9-10, with 8 being a pretty standard bottom line. I thought we had gotten to that point after 2015 when we turned the season around and won 8. We came stupid close to winning 9 last year despite blowouts and having a decidedly worse team than the year before, so I even had hope coming into this season since we returned so much.

But man....I can only handle so much crappy football before I jump off the ship. I stayed on until TAMU this year, and after USC-E, I never looked back. Beating Ole Miss is great. But it's just not enough.

[HawgTide]

The Ole Miss writer for Rivals.com interviewed Arkansas coaches and players after the game in Oxford so the Arkansas Rivals guy (T. Biddy) didn't have to make the trip.  In doing so, he got some perspective on our personnel, and he shares some of his thoughts in his weekly column (free) below. 

I thought that the insight of an outsider was interesting.


https://olemiss.rivals.com/news/mccready-10-weekend-thoughts-presented-by-harry-alexander-85

Thanks for the article

[Cartoon Man]

Let him do something right somewhere else.

[1highhog]

Looks like Shea Patterson's dad is a real headache.  Also, since he describes us as a "poop" team I wonder how he describes the team his son is supposed to lead and what his son's teammates would think about that description.

What does that say about Ole Miss then since they've now lost 4 straight to that poop team?

[Mr Jade]

Great summation of Bielema's strengths and weaknesses. I do also think its interesting that Long was seen furious, because it does mean that he has some desire for the football team to win and a desire to hold CBB to some standard.

I still don't think CBB will be here next season, and I don't see a 6-6 as possible. LSU and Miss St. are almost guaranteed losses, we had a much better shot against TAMU and AU and lost both.

[srange98]

CBB does everything right but win.

So very, very true. 

[LRHawg]

If he's recruiting and preparing the team "right", then he'd be winning more. I don't believe he's doing "everything right but winning". Many facets of his program are broken.

[KennyForAD]

Its as simple as this:  Everyone likes BB and wishes him well.  But, he has NO CLUE how to coach football.  He just drove the train at Wisconsin that Alvarez already had steaming down the tracks.  Even he didn't realize that he didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.  NOW, everyone, including him, knows he has no clue.

Sucks, but that's how it is. 

[SooieGeneris]

That was a very well written piece. Informative, also. Especially the part about the look on Long's face with 7 minutes left in the game. 

Unlike some, this guy appears to be more than just a mouthpiece for the company line. I wish we had more, or any, writers covering the Hogs in such an objective manner...

Like most, I don't see much more than a tiny glimmer of hope for the Hogs getting to 6 wins. 5-7 is most likely.

If Fitzgerald was to suffer an injury getting off the bus, that's about the only way he doesn't run for 100+ yards and a minimum of 2 TDs, so beating Moo U is unlikely.

Guice may have another career game, so LSU is the least likely win of the 4 remaining games.

Don't rule out Mizzou scoring 50 with Lock throwing for 500 yards or so, so that's game is hardly a sure thing.

5-7 should mean a one way ticket out of town for BB, 4-8 would lead to a near certain firing. A 6-6 season with 3 cupcake wins + OM and 2 of the 3 shouldn't change anything, but unfortunately could.

I can't see this team with all the problems getting to 6 wins, but we shall see.

[factchecker]

Unlike some, this guy appears to be more than just a mouthpiece for the company line. I wish we had more, or any, writers covering the Hogs in such an objective manner....

Looks like the rebel media guy appreciated the job our media relations did:

I don't believe college football has to be so serious. I don't believe media relations departments should focus on propaganda and coaching players to be robotic. I believe college football should be fun. I think programs should allow _ hell, should promote _ atmospheres that allow fans to get to know their players via the media.

That appears to be the case at Arkansas, and I found it refreshing.

[davglo35]

Almost every college football talk show that I have listened to predicts that Bielema's job is safe. They say he is not going anywhere. Lots of talk about Butch Jones and What happened to McElwain but hardly any about Bielema and his job security. It's like he isn't really even on the hot seat. They've pretty much got me convinced. I've been thinking all along he was a goner but after the win Saturday and with numerous schools potentially looking to hire a coach Bielema's job security seems much stronger than I anticipated.