What's left?

[Vantage 8 dude]

Or Porter last weekend...

Personally that's the one that I was the most surprised about. While I definitely held out some hope for Jones, Cleveland and Fulton, especially the latter two, Porter was to somewhat a shocker.

I felt that with our history of producing very good RBs and losing two to graduation/early NFL entry, we would be prime to replace each with two new Texas runners. Whaley was a great get; I just felt that Porter might follow as well. Unfortunately the UT pull was obviously just too strong.

I knew that with Cleveland and Fulton it would be a "dog fight". As things progressed and I found out more about Cleveland's Florida background I began to get a sneaking hunch he might go that way.

In the case of Fulton perhaps we'll never really know how close the his decision might have been. If many are to be believed, he really was torn between the Hogs and LSU. I just felt that even if that were the case, the pressure at home was just going to be too great for us to overcome. For whatever reason(s) I was (sadly) correct.

[Atlhogfan1]

Yep, I get so tired of hearing that excuse. Would it make it easier to have more in state? Sure would. Is there anything we can do about that? Fixing the school districts and increasing the state population come to mind, but that's about it.

MS has a similar population to us but they have more top talent, BUT they also have two SEC schools competing for that talent. We have no other power 5 schools in state so that is an advantage for us. And as you pointed out, if you look at Ole Miss recruits this year, they are sitting the same as us on in-state - but they are drawing in a lot of top talent from out of state. There are a lot of schools that recruit really well that rely on a lot of out of state talent, it's not a very good excuse.

African American population.  Look at the differences by state.  Our home recruiting base is more similar to the old Big 8 states. 

[LJHOG]

What's left?  Cryin' in our beer seems about right.

[Atlhogfan1]

What's left?  Cryin' in our beer seems about right.

It could have been so much worse. 

[DeltaBoy]

What we need is homegrown talent.  That has been the biggest disadvantage for Arkansas in the last century.  It's gotten worse as the LR school district detioriated.

That is the Truth the real secret to Hatfield's success was all those stellar kids he got from Central Ark and Pine Bluff.

[tbhogfan]

This wasn't the best class we've had in a long time at all. Could actually end up worse than last year

Just going by 247 for the past few years:
2016 National 24, SEC 9, Avg Rating 0.8660
2015 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8638
2014 National 29 SEC 11, Avg Rating  0.8470
2013 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8023

No! I bleed redder than anyone. Look at the class! I am not exagerating. It is right on par. I am happy with it, but it isn't unreal. The hype of it being unreal was built on the premise that we land 1-3 of the 8 or so top 100 players we had on campus. We got zero. Thus it is going to end up right on par, as someone else pointed out, below UK.

According to Scout and Rivals.  According to 247 and ESPN, we're ranked well above Kentucky. 

I don't know anyone who seriously follows recruiting who uses Scout or Rivals anymore.

http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=SEC
http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/classrankings/_/class/2016/date/20160203

[RaisinHog]

Honestly u gota think had guys like Jordan Jones and dejon harris would have been rated higher had they chose a

[RaisinHog]

Honestly u gota think had guys like Jordan Jones and dejon harris would have been rated higher had they chose alabama

[rustr]

African American population.  Look at the differences by state.  Our home recruiting base is more similar to the old Big 8 states.

I understand that, which is why the state of MS has more D1 talent despite being a similar population to us.

My point was the number of in-states Ole Miss is signing compared to us. They have 6 MS recruits that they are signing. We have 5 AR recruits we are signing. Three of our recruits from AR are 4/5*. Five of Ole Miss recruits from MS are 4/5*. Those are very similar, yet Ole Miss has a class currently ranked 5th. We have a class currently ranked 24th. The point is that people saying Ole Miss recruiting so much better because of instate talent is BS. They are recruiting extremely well from out of state, which is what we have to do.

Yes it makes it easier if you have the instate talent. But to say it can't be done if you don't have it is an excuse and a poor one at that. We have to get better at recruiting out of state talent, not just bitching about not having enough at home. Other schools do it extremely well, we have to figure out how.

[JayBell]

Honestly u gota think had guys like Jordan Jones and dejon harris would have been rated higher had they chose a

I don't see how anyone can be disappointed with the upper tier in this class.  Agim, Whaley, Guidry, Hammonds, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Marshall, etc. are about as good as the star players Arkansas usually signs.  There's a lot of talent in there and it's filling some needs.

I think everyone was just hoping for a better finish than the big, huge egg Arkansas laid today.

[Tony Perkis]

I don't see how anyone can be disappointed with the upper tier in this class.  Agim, Whaley, Guidry, Hammonds, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Marshall, etc. are about as good as the star players Arkansas usually signs.  There's a lot of talent in there and it's filling some needs.

I think everyone was just hoping for a better finish than the big, huge egg Arkansas laid today.

This sums up my feelings.

[Atlhogfan1]

I understand that, which is why the state of MS has more D1 talent despite being a similar population to us.

My point was the number of in-states Ole Miss is signing compared to us. They have 6 MS recruits that they are signing. We have 5 AR recruits we are signing. Three of our recruits from AR are 4/5*. Five of Ole Miss recruits from MS are 4/5*. Those are very similar, yet Ole Miss has a class currently ranked 5th. We have a class currently ranked 24th. The point is that people saying Ole Miss recruiting so much better because of instate talent is BS. They are recruiting extremely well from out of state, which is what we have to do.

Yes it makes it easier if you have the instate talent. But to say it can't be done if you don't have it is an excuse and a poor one at that. We have to get better at recruiting out of state talent, not just bitching about not having enough at home. Other schools do it extremely well, we have to figure out how.

They are recruiting well out of state.  We know why Greg Little chose them - the offense.  Probably the reason Whaley chose us.  Do you just want to focus on the exception right now in OM?  OM isn't just beating Arkansas right now.  They are beating most of college football in recruiting including a number of better programs than ours. 

[Atlhogfan1]

I don't see how anyone can be disappointed with the upper tier in this class.  Agim, Whaley, Guidry, Hammonds, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Marshall, etc. are about as good as the star players Arkansas usually signs.  There's a lot of talent in there and it's filling some needs.

I think everyone was just hoping for a better finish than the big, huge egg Arkansas laid today.

Huge egg laid by having 3 recruits choose Texas, LSU and Florida? 

[snoot hoggy hog]

Huge egg laid by having 3 recruits choose Texas, LSU and Florida? 

They still got to play us.

[JayBell]

Huge egg laid by having 3 recruits choose Texas, LSU and Florida?

It's a huge egg when you go 0-for like the last 10 guys you have on the board.  Putu just flipped too.  I don't know how you can think today could have gone much worse considering, as has been said, much of the class was secured a long time ago.

[hogcard1964]

It's a huge egg when you go 0-for like the last 10 guys you have on the board.  Putu just flipped too.  I don't know how you can think today could have gone much worse considering, as has been said, much of the class was secured a long time ago.

I think it may get worse, before it gets better.

[Atlhogfan1]

It's a huge egg when you go 0-for like the last 10 guys you have on the board.  Putu just flipped too.  I don't know how you can think today could have gone much worse considering, as has been said, much of the class was secured a long time ago.

Agim, Whaley or many others to have went elsewhere. 

Again, list the programs we supposedly laid an egg to:  Florida, Texas, LSU

Putu was a surprise.  Otherwise, you were hoping for things to happen that probably really shouldn't have been very hopeful. That is on you. 

[covert]

I'm happy and excited about the young men who wanted to be Razorbacks!!! Good class!

[lefty08]

That's just part of recruiting. You don't win them all.

It's a bit like selling cars. You won't make a sale to everyone on the lot, but it's hard to make a sale to say someone you can't get on the lot.

These kids get 5 visits, 4 teams are disappointed. It's recruiting, you win or you lose, just like playing the game

I'm certain we will field a competitive team again this season regardless

[hogcard1964]

We still have to find two corners somewhere.

[lefty08]

We still have to find two corners somewhere.

Why?

[passinghog]

If something isn't against the rules, I would have no problem with our coaching staff doing it to get the best players they can get to Arkansas. They're already against the 8-ball due to the location and in-state talent. Most on here seem to want to stay away from the grey area. An eye for an eye basically. If you're going against a school that's negatively recruiting you or talking trash, I want our guys giving it right back to them and beating them at their own game.

Good class, but we lost momentum. Maybe have our big recruiting weekend the weekend before signing day to possibly get the last visit?

[Oklahawg]

UA has a pattern developing. It is a bad pattern if you look through a certain lens. It is a good pattern if you look through a different lens.

We establish long-term relationships that pay off with summer and fall commitments. We struggle with last-minute deals where rash promises or half-truths are a stonger part of the equation.

The long-term relationships begat players who trust the system, believe in the coaches, and live the program. The others are swinging in the wind. Doesn't make them lesser people or unvaluable players (why have a recruiting forum, if they aren't valuable, right?).

"What's left?" is a situation that this staff is not optimized to deal with. Where we will flourish is having 4 scholies to hand out when the dust settles and players defect. The calmer, long-term approach landed us players like Josh Williams and Ricky Town.

Even if that doesn't excite you, and you have a complex because your friends who root for schools invested in the "signing day" dramas, it is who we are. The culture of UA football is now tethered to a smoother, long-term vision that is hellbent on reinventing the UA brand. Flinging reckless offers on signing day doesn't seem within "the plan."

[hogcard1964]

Why?

Because offenses do this thing called "passing" a lot.

[DeltaBoy]

UA has a pattern developing. It is a bad pattern if you look through a certain lens. It is a good pattern if you look through a different lens.

We establish long-term relationships that pay off with summer and fall commitments. We struggle with last-minute deals where rash promises or half-truths are a stonger part of the equation.

The long-term relationships begat players who trust the system, believe in the coaches, and live the program. The others are swinging in the wind. Doesn't make them lesser people or unvaluable players (why have a recruiting forum, if they aren't valuable, right?).

"What's left?" is a situation that this staff is not optimized to deal with. Where we will flourish is having 4 scholies to hand out when the dust settles and players defect. The calmer, long-term approach landed us players like Josh Williams and Ricky Town.

Even if that doesn't excite you, and you have a complex because your friends who root for schools invested in the "signing day" dramas, it is who we are. The culture of UA football is now tethered to a smoother, long-term vision that is hellbent on reinventing the UA brand. Flinging reckless offers on signing day doesn't seem within "the plan."

Great post !

[3kgthog]

It appears that getting a handful of those kids on campus only occurred because they were recruiting for other schools. I don't think that's progress.

[JayBell]

Agim, Whaley or many others to have went elsewhere. 

Again, list the programs we supposedly laid an egg to:  Florida, Texas, LSU

Putu was a surprise.  Otherwise, you were hoping for things to happen that probably really shouldn't have been very hopeful. That is on you.

You're making up scenarios just to make the reality not seem so bad.  Agim is already enrolled.  Whaley was solid.  We knew he was.  That's why, going into national signing day, it could not have gone much worse for Arkansas because we already knew the commitments were solid.  Putu was the main question mark and Arkansas lost him too.

You cannot lose every single recruiting battle on signing day and say that's not a failure.

[Atlhogfan1]

You're making up scenarios just to make the reality not seem so bad.  Agim is already enrolled.  Whaley was solid.  We knew he was.  That's why, going into national signing day, it could not have gone much worse for Arkansas because we already knew the commitments were solid.  Putu was the main question mark and Arkansas lost him too.

You cannot lose every single recruiting battle on signing day and say that's not a failure.

I don't view losing a La recruit to LSU, a south Texas recruit to Texas or a south Texas recruit to Florida as failure.  It is the norm.  The achievement was getting them to visit and possibly even consider us.  You want to view this as a failure.  You cannot lose what you don't have.  Our reality is similar to what it is every recruiting class.  I can't help some of you keep thinking something dramatically different will happen. 

[hawginbigd1]

Just going by 247 for the past few years:
2016 National 24, SEC 9, Avg Rating 0.8660
2015 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8638
2014 National 29 SEC 11, Avg Rating  0.8470
2013 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8023

This speaks to why I am disappointed, I expected this trend to continue and it did not, maybe a smidge backwards this class IMO. We needed one of those big 3 or 4 fish and got 0, and lost one of the most likely early difference makers in the class in Putu. Putu was the security blanket in the scrap for Fulton IMO. Additionally I was disappointed we couldn't get Alexander away from OSU, we had been on that guy for a long time, when we didn't get a flip from him, I thought the coaches knew something we didn't about filling this class.

If anybody wants to make the case that this week has not been a complete and utter let down, IMO you are being disingenuous! Additionally if you are making snide comments about others being disappointed you are being asinine!

[Rocky&Boarwinkle]

WTH are you talking about? There is nothing to suggest that.

Composite average 24/7
2016:  0.8675     25th      21 signees    Agim, Whaley, Capps, Hammonds, Guidry
2015:  0.8638     23rd      25 signees    Froholdt, Gragg, Storey, Ledbetter, Williams
2014:  0.8470     29th      24 signees    Jackson, Wallace, Ragnow, Tretola  (Pruit no show)
2013:  0.8023     23rd      24 signees    Collins, Henry, Kirkland, Skipper, Ellis
2012:  0.8633     28th      25 signees    JWill, Hatcher, Philon fell in our lap,(the Legend, Vin Ascolese)no sho

So one could argue in the last 5 classes, this one is the highest ranked according to the average of the guys brought in, not the floating up and down based on how other schools did.  The class last year that ranked 23rd, had a lower average rating.  The class in 2013 with Collins and Henry was ranked the lowest in average of the class, but 23rd in the ranking, while 2012 was a stout class with almost as high an average as this year, but it ranked 28th.

It's all semantics.  Think of like this.  We are in a race, like at a track meet. 24 teams theoretically placed ahead of us, but we just ran our fastest time on record.  So it is our best class ever, but other teams were ahead of us.  Does that make any sense to any of you knuckleheads.  We ran a slower time last year, but finished 2 spots better because teams last year didn't run as fast around us.

Either way, it is not any worse than any previous 5 years, and depending on how you slice, it is the best of the last 5 years.  And the 3 guys that didn't pick us today, would probably not even have had us in the top 5, let alone the top 3.  I know it feels bad, because we didn't finish today on a winning note, but it is a lot like last year in basketball.  We lost our last game and didn't go to the sweet 16.  But we won the most games than we had ever won in the last 10+ years.

Perspective is everything.

[Rocky&Boarwinkle]

This speaks to why I am disappointed, I expected this trend to continue and it did not, maybe a smidge backwards this class IMO. We needed one of those big 3 or 4 fish and got 0, and lost one of the most likely early difference makers in the class in Putu. Putu was the security blanket in the scrap for Fulton IMO. Additionally I was disappointed we couldn't get Alexander away from OSU, we had been on that guy for a long time, when we didn't get a flip from him, I thought the coaches knew something we didn't about filling this class.

If anybody wants to make the case that this week has not been a complete and utter let down, IMO you are being disingenuous! Additionally if you are making snide comments about others being disappointed you are being asinine!

I don't think you understand what the word "trend" means

Just going by 247 for the past few years:
2016 National 24, SEC 9, Avg Rating 0.8660
2015 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8638
2014 National 29 SEC 11, Avg Rating  0.8470
2013 National 23, SEC 11, Avg Rating 0.8023

That is staying steady or slightly improving, inside the conference and in the average rating of our recruits. While disappointed that we didn't jump up to 7 in the SEC and get up to say a 88 average which would be an upwards trajectory, that is a TREND, my friend.

[jgphillips3]

UA has a pattern developing. It is a bad pattern if you look through a certain lens. It is a good pattern if you look through a different lens.

We establish long-term relationships that pay off with summer and fall commitments. We struggle with last-minute deals where rash promises or half-truths are a stonger part of the equation.

The long-term relationships begat players who trust the system, believe in the coaches, and live the program. The others are swinging in the wind. Doesn't make them lesser people or unvaluable players (why have a recruiting forum, if they aren't valuable, right?).

"What's left?" is a situation that this staff is not optimized to deal with. Where we will flourish is having 4 scholies to hand out when the dust settles and players defect. The calmer, long-term approach landed us players like Josh Williams and Ricky Town.

Even if that doesn't excite you, and you have a complex because your friends who root for schools invested in the "signing day" dramas, it is who we are. The culture of UA football is now tethered to a smoother, long-term vision that is hellbent on reinventing the UA brand. Flinging reckless offers on signing day doesn't seem within "the plan."

We are entering CBB's fourth year.  I love the long term relationship commitments we are developing.  However, shouldn't that mean we had 22 or 23 locked up and were just left holding the bag on 1 like KJ last year which turned out to be a blessing in the form of Ricky Town?  This staff screwed up with Daniels and badly, badly miscalculated their ability to get at least a couple of the elite out of state players to choose us leaving us deficient at certain positions and couldn't keep Pollard or Putu on board.  Long term is great, but you can't praise that and not recognize that if they were doing a bang up job, today would have been ho-hum other than maybe one or two announcements and they should have been gravy type players.  Instead, we are short a RB that we need, our OL recruits are not at the level they should be and by my estimation at least two DB's short.  I don't think anyone wants us to be throwing out offers on NSD. Instead, under the long term approach, we should be basically done and to have a strong backup when a Fulton, Cleveland, Jones, Porter, Daniels and all the rest turn us down.  Instead, we missed on all and had Pollard and Putu stolen from us.  Not good.

[JayBell]

I don't view losing a La recruit to LSU, a south Texas recruit to Texas or a south Texas recruit to Florida as failure.  It is the norm.  The achievement was getting them to visit and possibly even consider us.  You want to view this as a failure.  You cannot lose what you don't have.  Our reality is similar to what it is every recruiting class.  I can't help some of you keep thinking something dramatically different will happen.

Isolated, on their own, none of those is a failure.  When you whiff on every single one of them, and it's a lot more than just three players, that's failure.  It doesn't make the class a failure, just signing day.

[hawginbigd1]

I don't think you understand what the word "trend"

Sorry I don't think the Hundredths better that the average rating shows comes close to the trend of improvement from the last 3 classes year over year! That is the trend I was referring to. You don't math so well my friend

[go hogues]

Fans have to hope this is the last year before Arkansas gets over the hump. 

2016 is gonna be tough sledding with new RB's, new QB, new Oline and the defense we had this past season.
I also hope it is but it's hard to find more than 6 wins on the schedule and that's being generous.

[hawg IQ]

Invest more, how?  Bielema and his staff are already in constant communication with recruits.  He flew, what was it, 20,000 miles during recruiting season? 

There's no reason to make more of it than it is.  Arkansas aimed high and missed.  They could have chased some lower rated players and had a bigger class.  They chased some difference makers and missed on all of them.  I don't think that represents some higher failure.

Listen, you asked how ?  How about a year around recruiting department, invest into likes, dislike in recruiting. What turns a players head, what makes him feel he belongs ? Are you kidding me and dont's see or feel improvements can be made.
what makes a good recruiting coach ? facilities ? campus enticements, opportunities after college? City attractions, night life? Dorms, apartments?
  Research other recruiting practice besides money ? Its a big business, you can't miss- ever !?
Research, research research ? What does it take find the answers ? get them !