So, Jeff Long Stated that One of the Reasons He Fired Pelphrey Was...

[BigHog396]

Dwindling attendance.

Pel's last year we averaged nearly 12,000 butts in the seats.  This year Anderson is drawing something around 9,750 per game.  We are likely going to set an all-time low attendance average for BWA, and I would bet we have set a new all-time low for a single game at some point this season also.

If dwindling attendance was a legitimate reason for Pel to have been fired, how can a nearly 20% drop from that level not get Anderson fired???  If it was a reason to fire Pel, it's without a doubt a reason to fire Anderson on those numbers.

Enough is enough... MA can't coach.  The quality of the product on the court is absolutely pathetic.  Just look at his average end of season RPI through his first 5 years here.  At this point I don't care if he can manage to squeak into the NCAAT, after seeing the complete meltdowns we have seen over-and-over again this year, it's time for him to be shown the door.

Time to break out the Fire Mike banners!

[East Clintwood]

Can we hire a drone to fly a banner around inside BWA?

[BigHog396]

Can we hire a drone to fly a banner around inside BWA?

Exactly what I'm suggesting!  Time to go all HDN on MA.

[hobhog]

It will only get worse next year. As said earlier, if Long doesn't move its because he doesn't care.....

[Sivad]

Can we hire a drone to fly a banner around inside BWA?

Careful. John Walker will subpoena you as a witness.

[Mr. Porkleone]

.

[hobhog]

.

Next year without a change for sure.

[Captain Morgan]

.

The most truthful thoughts of Razorbacks fans  :razorback:

[mizzouman]

Long fired Pelphrey because he wanted CMA and CMA wanted to go back to Arkansas.  This was a done deal, I believe, that summer before. 

[Biggus Piggus]

Long did not want Anderson. Former players and key boosters wanted Anderson. But that push did begin when you say it did.

[Ex-Trumpet]

Poor attendance...yet the UA still has the audacity to reserve parking--booting students with valid parking permits out--and issuing $100 tickets.  And those reserved lots are empty.  My daughter was unaware of a game last night and was studying (her story!)...missed the move-you-car deadline by an hour.

I hope the Razorback Foundation will consider my daughter's $100 ticket last night a donation to their cause.

Can anyone old enough to remember even fathom being a student in the '80's and not knowing there was a basketball game?!?!  That should really be all anyone needs to know about the state of Razorback basketball.

[rljjr]

Poor attendance...yet the UA still has the audacity to reserve parking--booting students with valid parking permits out--and issuing $100 tickets.  And those reserved lots are empty.  My daughter was unaware of a game last night and was studying (her story!)...missed the move-you-car deadline by an hour.

I hope the Razorback Foundation will consider my daughter's $100 ticket last night a donation to their cause.

Can anyone old enough to remember even fathom being a student in the '80's and not knowing there was a basketball game?!?!  That should really be all anyone needs to know about the state of Razorback basketball.

This is so true. It was an event. It was electric. Even in Nolan's first couple of years Barnhill was alive. Robken roamed the arena generating even more energy. Slobberin' Hog seemed to slobber even more. "Who's She?!?! What's that Smell?!?!?!" when the opposing teams were announced. "We're gonna beat the Hell out of you!" choreographed to the music supplied by the Hogwild Band. Confetti tossed in the air on the first made bucket.

It's nothing like that now. Cold. Sterile. NBA like with canned music. No slobberin' Hog, but a plain ole Razorback. Generic uniforms. The student section is almost invisible and poorly placed.

Sad to know what it was like and see what it has become. The potential is there.

[DeltaBoy]

SAD very sad

[King Kong]

Well it didn't help Pel had a hard time winning 15 games

[oldhog63]

This is so true. It was an event. It was electric. Even in Nolan's first couple of years Barnhill was alive. Robken roamed the arena generating even more energy. Slobberin' Hog seemed to slobber even more. "Who's She?!?! What's that Smell?!?!?!" when the opposing teams were announced. "We're gonna beat the Hell out of you!" choreographed to the music supplied by the Hogwild Band. Confetti tossed in the air on the first made bucket.

Agree. My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I spent a week in line to get student tickets. Barnhill was so loud it disrupted opposing teams. Can't tell you how many times I saw Darrell Walker sneak up on an opposing player and steal the ball during all that noise and chaos.

[BigHog396]

Well it didn't help Pel had a hard time winning 15 games

He was actually 18-13 in his final year, one-half game better than MA did in his first... but don't let a little thing like facts get in the way.

[Sivad]

Long did not want Anderson. Former players and key boosters wanted Anderson.

Correct.
They were never going to let it die until Anderson was hired. Hopefully these 6 years have satiated that nostalgia foolishness and we can move on with a real coach.

[hogsanity]

Long did not want Anderson. Former players and key boosters wanted Anderson. But that push did begin when you say it did.

Note the pattern going back 2 decades: The AD, JFB did not want HDN, he wanted Tubberville. The AD, JFB did not want Hath, he wanted Self. The AD did not want Pelphrey, he wanted BCG ( ugh ), the AD - Long - did not want Anderson ( no idea who he did want ).

Maybe, just maybe if people would let the AD do his job we would have hired better coaches.

[The_Iceman]

The real question is, who was Long going to hire instead of Anderson? I think his two football hires have been excellent (Petrino and Bielema). Anderson was a good hire at the time, but it just hasn't worked out. I'm excited to see who Jeff Long can attract here, especially when we can offer a $3 million+ salary.

[Dirty]

The real question is, who was Long going to hire instead of Anderson? I think his two football hires have been excellent (Petrino and Bielema). Anderson was a good hire at the time, but it just hasn't worked out. I'm excited to see who Jeff Long can attract here, especially when we can offer a $3 million+ salary.

No one good will come because NWA can't get butts in the seats

[HawgAdvocate]

Note the pattern going back 2 decades: The AD, JFB did not want HDN, he wanted Tubberville. The AD, JFB did not want Hath, he wanted Self. The AD did not want Pelphrey, he wanted BCG ( ugh ), the AD - Long - did not want Anderson ( no idea who he did want ).

Maybe, just maybe if people would let the AD do his job we would have hired better coaches.

The real question is, who was Long going to hire instead of Anderson? I think his two football hires have been excellent (Petrino and Bielema). Anderson was a good hire at the time, but it just hasn't worked out. I'm excited to see who Jeff Long can attract here, especially when we can offer a $3 million+ salary.

How quickly some forget Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe. Long wanted to give his former Air Force coaching colleague Bowden a lifeline from Clemson, and he then nearly hired Grobe. Petrino fell in Jeff's lap, for better or worse. Neither Grobe nor Bowden have done much since Long missed on getting them hired here.

[hogsanity]

How quickly some forget Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe. Long wanted to give his former colleague Bowden a lifeline from Clemson, and he then nearly hired Grobe. Petrino fell in Jeff's lap, for better or worse.

That still does not address the pattern I presented of the AD, both JFB and Long, not being allowed to hire coaches but instead having to bow to some committee or the wishes of former players.

[HawgAdvocate]

That still does not address the pattern I presented of the AD, both JFB and Long, not being allowed to hire coaches but instead having to bow to some committee or the wishes of former players.

Point being, the AD isn't infallible.

[Wild Bill Hog]

Can we hire a drone to fly a banner around inside BWA?

Plenty of open space in there.

[The_Iceman]

How quickly some forget Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe. Long wanted to give his former Air Force coaching colleague Bowden a lifeline from Clemson, and he then nearly hired Grobe. Petrino fell in Jeff's lap, for better or worse. Neither Grobe nor Bowden have done much since Long missed on getting them hired here.

To be fair, Jim Grobe was coming off of a 11 win Orange bowl appearance and a 9 win season....at Wake Forest. He was the 2006 coach of the year across college football.

Why exactly would that have been a bad hire at the time?

[HawgAdvocate]

To be fair, Jim Grobe was coming off of a 11 win Orange bowl appearance and a 9 win season....at Wake Forest. He was the 2006 coach of the year across college football.

Why exactly would that have been a bad hire at the time?

Because it was a one-off.

Grobe's five prior seasons at Wake Forrest? He was 26-32, and he won 7 games just once over that span (four years prior to the 11 win season). It was all downhill from there.

[Atlhogfan1]

Have to keep in perspective what WF football is and the incredible disadvantage they are in trying to compete in major college football.  Grobe did a remarkable job there even if you take out the Orange Bowl season. 

Wouldn't have been a good hire for us. 

[Hollywood870]

Dwindling attendance.

Pel's last year we averaged nearly 12,000 butts in the seats.  This year Anderson is drawing something around 9,750 per game.  We are likely going to set an all-time low attendance average for BWA, and I would bet we have set a new all-time low for a single game at some point this season also.

If dwindling attendance was a legitimate reason for Pel to have been fired, how can a nearly 20% drop from that level not get Anderson fired???  If it was a reason to fire Pel, it's without a doubt a reason to fire Anderson on those numbers.

Enough is enough... MA can't coach.  The quality of the product on the court is absolutely pathetic.  Just look at his average end of season RPI through his first 5 years here.  At this point I don't care if he can manage to squeak into the NCAAT, after seeing the complete meltdowns we have seen over-and-over again this year, it's time for him to be shown the door.

Time to break out the Fire Mike banners!

If there has been an average of 9,750 fans in the seats for our games I'll kiss your ass. I don't care what kind of fake numbers they throw out there. The first ten games there were maybe 3500 in the stands.

[BigHog396]

If there has been an average of 9,750 fans in the seats for our games I'll kiss your ass. I don't care what kind of fake numbers they throw out there. The first ten games there were maybe 3500 in the stands.

Oh, I agree about the over-blown numbers for this season, but that's what they are showing as estimated actual attendance.

The point was that even with the pathetic over-estimations, we are still 20+% lower than when Pelphrey was here.  If poor attendance was pointed out as one of THE reasons to fire Pelphrey, MA should be held to the same standards, and he should be canned regardless of how this season finished up since attendance is so much worse under him.

[NWAHog479]

SEC Network wasn't around then........

[HognitiveDissonance]

No one good will come because NWA can't get butts in the seats

Except when there is a good product on the floor, like in 1995 when 20,000 showed up---for practice. (Midnight Madness)

Nice try.

[FrozenHam]

Attendance figures often contribute to coaching changes as discussed above.  I put this together this morning to answer my own questions about Razorback attendance.  These are based on numbers collected from the NCAA stats page cited below.  Numbers speak for themselves.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/statistics/ncaa-mens-basketball-attendance

[Pork Twain]

Long did not want Anderson. Former players and key boosters wanted Anderson. But that push did begin when you say it did.

I am hopeful that this year proves Long's point and that he lets MA go after the season and moves on.

[LRHawg]

15k? LOL. yeah right. Maybe in sold tickets.

[Atlhogfan1]

Attendance figures often contribute to coaching changes as discussed above.  I put this together this morning to answer my own questions about Razorback attendance.  These are based on numbers collected from the NCAA stats page cited below.  Numbers speak for themselves.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/statistics/ncaa-mens-basketball-attendance

Those are ticket sales.  Any of us old enough to have witnessed the Sutton era knows this is the lowest attended season since Van Eman days.  The % to total capacity of actual attendees is below 50% now.  It was 100+% for years.  And now we are in back to back seasons of less than 50% actual avg attendance.

[umpqua]

I watched part of the Oregon/Arizona game. The Oregon fans are what we once were. I remember it. Basketball at Arkansas is irrelevant and I no longer care....which is really too bad.

[Inhogswetrust]

Long fired Pelphrey because he wanted CMA and CMA wanted to go back to Arkansas.  This was a done deal, I believe, that summer before. 

I doubt it was a done deal the summer before. IF Pel had won enough I think Long keeps him. That's true in coaching. Win enough and keep your job unless outside forces such as a scandal or something else pops up. That being said each year, coach and program history can be different on how many wins it takes to keep one's job in a specific year.

[Ironhawg]

Dwindling attendance.

Pel's last year we averaged nearly 12,000 butts in the seats.  This year Anderson is drawing something around 9,750 per game.  We are likely going to set an all-time low attendance average for BWA, and I would bet we have set a new all-time low for a single game at some point this season also.

If dwindling attendance was a legitimate reason for Pel to have been fired, how can a nearly 20% drop from that level not get Anderson fired???  If it was a reason to fire Pel, it's without a doubt a reason to fire Anderson on those numbers.

Enough is enough... MA can't coach.  The quality of the product on the court is absolutely pathetic.  Just look at his average end of season RPI through his first 5 years here.  At this point I don't care if he can manage to squeak into the NCAAT, after seeing the complete meltdowns we have seen over-and-over again this year, it's time for him to be shown the door.

Time to break out the Fire Mike banners!

I would swear I heard a clip played on Bo's show yesterday where, in response to the question if declining attendance factored into Pelphrey's firing, and he replied that it did not.

[GuvHog]

Long did not want Anderson. Former players and key boosters wanted Anderson. But that push did begin when you say it did.

I 100% agree. Jeff Long was force fed Mike Anderson like a baby in a High Chair.

[Inhogswetrust]

I 100% agree. Jeff Long was force fed Mike Anderson like a baby in a High Chair.

Jeff has not been "forced" to do anything.

[GuvHog]

Jeff has not been "forced" to do anything.

Wrong.

[Inhogswetrust]

Because it was a one-off.

Grobe's five prior seasons at Wake Forrest? He was 26-32, and he won 7 games just once over that span (four years prior to the 11 win season). It was all downhill from there.

26 -32 at Wake is compatible to winning the SEC!

[Inhogswetrust]

Wrong.

Right. Jeff has been "influenced" to hire certain people but NOT forced too.

[Sivad]

I 100% agree. Jeff Long was force fed Mike Anderson like a baby in a High Chair.

True. He had no choice. But now comes the hard part.

[GuvHog]

Right. Jeff has been "influenced" to hire certain people but NOT forced too.

Wrong again. He had no choice BUT to hire Anderson. If he hadn't offered Mike the job, he wouldn't have been here to fire BP or hire CBB.

[Sivad]

One thing for sure - Mike Anderson is going to leave this program in a hell of a lot worse shape than he found it.

[Pork Twain]

Wrong again. He had no choice BUT to hire Anderson. If he hadn't offered Mike the job, he wouldn't have been here to fire BP or hire CBB.

You make things up so quick, it just messes me up

[GuvHog]

You make things up so quick, it just messes me up

Seriously?? An AD doesn't come out publicly stating that he doesn't want a certain HC and that coach is not on his list of prospects then 2 weeks later that certain coach is the first to be offered the job. Crap like that doesn't happen unless that AD's hand is forced and it DID happen.

[Atlhogfan1]

I don't hold Long responsible for the hiring of Anderson. 

I do believe he has given it enough time to where he can respond to those who insisted on this that it isn't working.

[Inhogswetrust]

Wrong again. He had no choice BUT to hire Anderson. If he hadn't offered Mike the job, he wouldn't have been here to fire BP or hire CBB.

Quit trying to Guv guess and support that with factual evidence.