Can Mike Anderson win Coach of the year

[jdunhog]

if we finish 5th with 13% of scoring coming back and 0 starters.

[labb]

no

[TomBigBeeHog]

if we finish 5th with 13% of scoring coming back and 0 starters.

He will never get it on Hogville. That I can tell you.

[HoopS]

I would say Kennedy is the front runner.

Martin was up there but I would say MA would jump him in the voting with a win tomorrow.

Cal will get votes too but my guess is Kennedy.

[Uncommon]

Just...no.  To me, you give it to coaches who have improved their team ranking the most from last year to this year.  After looking at all the SEC schools, even though they will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament or NIT, I think Mississippi State's Ben Howland has done a very good job this year.  Mississippi State's final ranking last year was 208th and now their current ranking is 145th.  He's the only SEC coach who improved their team ranking last year by 50+ spots.  Here are the 3 finalists in my opinion:
1 Mississippi State's Ben Howland     208th final 2015 ranking to 145th current 2016 ranking    +67 spots
2 Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings           88th final 2015 ranking to 45th current 2016 ranking        +43 spots
3 Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy            66th final 2015 ranking to 26th current 2016 ranking        +40 spots

[TomBigBeeHog]

Just...no.  To me, you give it to coaches who have improved their team ranking the most from last year to this year.  After looking at all the SEC schools, even though they will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament or NIT, I think Mississippi State's Ben Howland has done a very good job this year.  Mississippi State's final ranking last year was 208th and now their current ranking is 145th.  He's the only SEC coach who improved their team ranking last year by 50+ spots.  Here are the 3 finalists in my opinion:
1 Mississippi State's Ben Howland     208th final 2015 ranking to 145th current 2016 ranking    +67 spots
2 Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings           88th final 2015 ranking to 45th current 2016 ranking        +43 spots
3 Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy            66th final 2015 ranking to 26th current 2016 ranking        +40 spots

I like your list but Howland had I.J. Ready and Craig Sword come back as returning starters and a top 10 player in Newman, they just needed an upgrade at coach which they accomplished. Being so far down in the rankings, there was basically no where to go but up.

I bet CMA, Stallings or Kennedy could have done something similar with those guys. Look at what CMA did with what he had coming back this year. Very impressive that he managed to field a competitive team that is still fighting down to the wire.

[HotlantaHog]

Nope. But Anderson may win it next year if Arkansas shows the same kind of progress with more of the team coming back.

[RazorPiggie]

Why would he? Should go to Frank Martin hands down.

[Hawg Red]

Nope. Has done a good job with the roster he has, but he's largely responsible for the lack of talent on the roster. Have to be able to go out and find guys that can play in the spring. Everyone knows it tough and not ideal, but it's part of the game. Maybe next time don't just believe that a sure 1st round pick is going to come back or take a huge gamble on a massive eligibility risk when you have limited "officially open" scholarships. That's (recruiting/roster management) as big of a part of coaching as anything. Just look at LSU. Their coach couldn't coach himself out of a wet paper bag, but they have a better record than we do because they can recruit better.

I don't believe in honoring someone for shining up the mess they had a big part in making. I'm glad we're having this discussion instead of talking about how horrible we're going to finish the season, but I see no need for awards here. I expect for him to contend for COY next year as we via for the top spot in the conference, though.

[LA Football fan]

Thought he should have gotten it last year.  Any coach with a pulse could have had the season Cal had at Kentucky with the talent he had on hand.  Finishing second with our best record in 20 years was more than enough to deserve COY last year.   I have no problem giving Mike credit when he deserves it and last year he was deserving of it.   He built that roster and got them to win on the road which is a big plus also.   This year he has finished strong but the early losses coupled with some bad late season losses pretty much eliminated him for consideration UNLESS he can somehow get this team to win the SEC tourney and make a run in the NCAA tourney.  He does that, then he most definitely should be in consideration for COY.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Sure he can win if the coaches and sportswriters think he deserves it. Maybe they will pick one of the others, which is likely. Not impossible for him to win though.

The most obvious candidates aren't always picked whether deservingly or not. No matter who they choose, sides will be taken and arguments made. But yes he can win, especially if they win against SC and make it to the SEC championship game. Would be a nice run to end the season and we would finish with a 10-8 record in the league. Not bad for a team picked to finish 11th.

[nwahogfan1]

if we finish 5th with 13% of scoring coming back and 0 starters.

Mike has done an above average job and I give him a coaching grade of a B with what he brought back but a huge part of coaching in college is feeding the monsters by recruiting at a high level. I give him a recruiting grade of a D.   He will end up with nearly above .500 winning pct.  No vote from me.

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

He could.
I don't think he will.

Just like Nolte in Blue Chips, the perception of good coaching has a minimum number of wins attached to it despite the roster, opponents,  and circumstances.

MA is partially to blame for our roster.
Granted.
A large portion was beyond his control.

Overall, he did a pretty good job with this crew.
We blew some games we should have won, like Auburn.

In all fairness,  he shouldn't get it barring a miraculous,  fairytale ending to the season.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Mike has done an above average job and I give him a coaching grade of a B with what he brought back but a huge part of coaching in college is feeding the monsters by recruiting at a high level. I give him a recruiting grade of a D.   He will end up with nearly above .500 winning pct.  No vote from me.

I predict that this will have no effect on the outcome, but that's just me.

[Hawg4life33]

Just...no.  To me, you give it to coaches who have improved their team ranking the most from last year to this year.  After looking at all the SEC schools, even though they will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament or NIT, I think Mississippi State's Ben Howland has done a very good job this year.  Mississippi State's final ranking last year was 208th and now their current ranking is 145th.  He's the only SEC coach who improved their team ranking last year by 50+ spots.  Here are the 3 finalists in my opinion:
1 Mississippi State's Ben Howland     208th final 2015 ranking to 145th current 2016 ranking    +67 spots
2 Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings           88th final 2015 ranking to 45th current 2016 ranking        +43 spots
3 Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy            66th final 2015 ranking to 26th current 2016 ranking        +40 spots

If that is your qualification for good coaching you might as well call the award the Most Returning Talent award. Miss St. is 13-16 led by three seniors (Ware, Sword, Thomas) who have played a ton of minutes over the past four years.  Throw in Newman who possibly leaves and they will likely be pretty terrible next year. Vandy came into the year returning almost every important piece from last year and were a consensus top 20 team.  Now they are a bubble team, not even close to living up to expectations.  Texas A&M pretty much the same boat as a borderline top 25 team with a ton of returning talent and a very good recruiting class. They ran out to a quick start but have hit a rough patch the second half of the SEC year.  We had one player return from last year who played meaningful minutes and we went 4-1 against the listed group. Coach of the Year should go to the Coach who most exceeded expectations in my opinion and if that is the case Anderson should be considered.

[SWD26]

One of the "gurus" on SEC channel the other day said he thought Mike Anderson has done a great job and, to him, was the coach of the year. Of course, that's just one man's opinion.

[Breems]

Nope. Has done a good job with the roster he has, but he's largely responsible for the lack of talent on the roster. Have to be able to go out and find guys that can play in the spring. Everyone knows it tough and not ideal, but it's part of the game. Maybe next time don't just believe that a sure 1st round pick is going to come back or take a huge gamble on a massive eligibility risk when you have limited "officially open" scholarships. That's (recruiting/roster management) as big of a part of coaching as anything. Just look at LSU. Their coach couldn't coach himself out of a wet paper bag, but they have a better record than we do because they can recruit better.

I don't believe in honoring someone for shining up the mess they had a big part in making. I'm glad we're having this discussion instead of talking about how horrible we're going to finish the season, but I see no need for awards here. I expect for him to contend for COY next year as we via for the top spot in the conference, though.

Very accurate.

It was a good coaching job to hold this season together but not a miracle. Getting a team to the Big Dance should be an absolute requirement for COY.

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

Very accurate.

It was a good coaching job to hold this season together but not a miracle. Getting a team to the Big Dance should be an absolute requirement for COY.

I guess I just don't get the enamored for X wins vs accomplishment balanced for circumstances.

While I'm not sure MA should get it (leaning towards not), I think allowance for circumstances should play a role.

What if Kansas State's entire team got injured two weeks before the season,  and the coach took walk ons and coached them to a 14 and 17 record?

I'd say that would be pretty remarkable.

More realistically, I think it's awfully easy to look like a great coach when your recruiting classes consistently rank in the top 10.

This is why I don't have the respect for Phil "The Prezender" Jackson.
Pop is a much better example of good coaching to me.

[Uncommon]

If that is your qualification for good coaching you might as well call the award the Most Returning Talent award.

Isn't one of the biggest responsibilities among a head coach Roster Management?

[Atlhogfan1]

As bad as Bama is offensively and rebounding, Avery should get a mention even though they have come back to reality the last few games.  They have won more perhaps than they should have. 

[Hawg Red]

I guess I just don't get the enamored for X wins vs accomplishment balanced for circumstances.

While I'm not sure MA should get it (leaning towards not), I think allowance for circumstances should play a role.

What if Kansas State's entire team got injured two weeks before the season,  and the coach took walk ons and coached them to a 14 and 17 record?

I'd say that would be pretty remarkable.

More realistically, I think it's awfully easy to look like a great coach when your recruiting classes consistently rank in the top 10.

This is why I don't have the respect for Phil "The Prezender" Jackson.
Pop is a much better example of good coaching to me.

Circumstances being what? Him not handling the roster properly and taking an academic risk when he had very little room to do so?

We did lose JaCorey out of the arrests, and that couldn't be predicted, but he had time to go out and get some decent players for this team and he did the exact opposite. He signed a decent player for next year's team and two borderline SEC players. That's on him. He created the void in talent by not adequately replacing it, and people have to quit making excuses for that. Again, you shouldn't get added credit for doing a serviceable job in a tough situation that you created.

[TeufelHog]

No . . . especially when he can't win recruiting battles in his own state.

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

Circumstances being what? Him not handling the roster properly and taking an academic risk when he had very little room to do so?

We did lose JaCorey out of the arrests, and that couldn't be predicted, but he had time to go out and get some decent players for this team and he did the exact opposite. He signed a decent player for next year's team and two borderline SEC players. That's on him. He created the void in talent by not adequately replacing it, and people have to quit making excuses for that. Again, you shouldn't get added credit for doing a serviceable job in a tough situation that you created.

This is more of a recruitnik question which I am not.

I realize Kapita was a gamble, but gambling is a luxury you can indulge when you have disposable income.   I'm guessing MA felt he was a good risk/reward at the time and got blindsided by Qualls and Jacorey as well as the guard that transferred.

But you say what you did, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that there wasn't a player available that would be serviceable and warrant eating a scholarship late in the recruiting game.
So he spent the scholarships in the best way he could.

Now, if you're going to tell me there were players available that we had a legitimate shot at and he just played grab rear instead, or he was totally inept and whiffed on 13 players, please enlighten me.

I've not encountered that stance before though.  Just a complaint of losing two players unexpectedly and MA should have pulled out his phone and replaced them both within 4 calls and 20 minutes. If this is the case though, there shouldn't be any dissension about MA.  He should be fired immediately for gross misfeasance.

Don't make me defend MA.  I'm upset with him for not having more depth and more players "grown up" in the system.   I'm tired of all the transfers and JUCOS. Having high school players being developed to play D1 ball and in MA's system would have been the savior of this season.   Not some last second Hail Mary recruiting maneuver.

That's why I say he's at fault,  but some circumstances were beyond his control as well.
Sheesh.  Some of you act like a coach can have absolute knowledge and control over other thinking, feeling human beings.

[Hawg4life33]

Isn't one of the biggest responsibilities among a head coach Roster Management?

Sure it is and I think enough has been made of how much he dropped the ball between last season and this season. That has been rehashed endlessly in almost every thread. This isn't an off season achievement award though. Despite a complete disaster of an off season I think he exceeded expectations and coached this team up based on what we had coming back. If you had told me we would be at or over .500 in the SEC I would have said it was impossible being that we lost 87% of our scoring from last year. You think Howland did a great job and should be a favorite to win the award despite inheriting a senior laden squad and adding a top recruiting class and finishing with almost the same record as last year (13-19 to 13-16).  The other two guys you think should lead for the award returned boatloads of talent and were expected to be top 25 teams and haven't even met those expectation. I'd give the award to Avery Johnson, Andy Kennedy or Anderson. They did the most with less and coached up what they had. Otherwise just give the award to B. Kennedy, Calipari or Stallings because they have the most talent.

[ShadowHawg]

Just...no.  To me, you give it to coaches who have improved their team ranking the most from last year to this year.  After looking at all the SEC schools, even though they will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament or NIT, I think Mississippi State's Ben Howland has done a very good job this year.  Mississippi State's final ranking last year was 208th and now their current ranking is 145th.  He's the only SEC coach who improved their team ranking last year by 50+ spots.  Here are the 3 finalists in my opinion:
1 Mississippi State's Ben Howland     208th final 2015 ranking to 145th current 2016 ranking    +67 spots
2 Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings           88th final 2015 ranking to 45th current 2016 ranking        +43 spots
3 Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy            66th final 2015 ranking to 26th current 2016 ranking        +40 spots

I like your premise but there is still a lot wrong here. It could be better with a little tweaking.

First you are treating moving up one spot as equal regardless of where the starting point is. Moving from 208th to 145th is so close to being nothing it isn't even funny.

Stallings is underachieving with the roster he has. They were a preseason top 25 team that is performing at least 20 spots lower than they should be.

Of the three you have mentioned, Kennedy has done the best job by far. He jumped 40 spots after starting at 66th. Much harder than going from really sucks to sucks like Mississippi State did. Kennedy is doing an impressive job and unlike Frank Martin his team's record isn't a smoke mirrors job of playing trash non con opponents.

[goodguytex]

Kennedy or Cal will win it. Count on it!

[Dominicanhog]

Winner will be B Kennedy

notables: .. Martin, Stallings, A. Kennedy and Anderson...  Martin had it, but as mentioned, his team was not as good as perceived.

MSU has underachieved in my opinion.. returning starters, great recruits...could have been a really good team.. look who they beat and how they beat them, especially late.

but the underachievement award stays home where it belongs and for the 3rd straight season.. Mr. LSU

Cal had most talented team and accomplished about what you'd expect...

[Hawg Red]

This is more of a recruitnik question which I am not.

I realize Kapita was a gamble, but gambling is a luxury you can indulge when you have disposable income.   I'm guessing MA felt he was a good risk/reward at the time and got blindsided by Qualls and Jacorey as well as the guard that transferred.

But you say what you did, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that there wasn't a player available that would be serviceable and warrant eating a scholarship late in the recruiting game.
So he spent the scholarships in the best way he could.

Now, if you're going to tell me there were players available that we had a legitimate shot at and he just played grab rear instead, or he was totally inept and whiffed on 13 players, please enlighten me.

I've not encountered that stance before though.  Just a complaint of losing two players unexpectedly and MA should have pulled out his phone and replaced them both within 4 calls and 20 minutes. If this is the case though, there shouldn't be any dissension about MA.  He should be fired immediately for gross misfeasance.

Don't make me defend MA.  I'm upset with him for not having more depth and more players "grown up" in the system.   I'm tired of all the transfers and JUCOS. Having high school players being developed to play D1 ball and in MA's system would have been the savior of this season.   Not some last second Hail Mary recruiting maneuver.

That's why I say he's at fault,  but some circumstances were beyond his control as well.
Sheesh.  Some of you act like a coach can have absolute knowledge and control over other thinking, feeling human beings.

Anderson recruited and missed on several players (3 of them 6'9 and over) that would have been better than Kouassi. But the bigger problem was that he inexplicably quit recruiting, essentially, after Kapita verballed. There were no offers out or visits made after that until the season was over (or thereabouts). If you want to see here and downplay the importance of recruiting and roster management and somehow separate it from coaching when it is all tied together, but still give him a credit basically when something truly unforeseen happens (like the arrests), you're going to have to do that with someone else because I think it's foolish. You may thing my stance is foolish. But I'm not up for rewarding people for leading well through circumstances they largely created because the more important aspect than the coaching job, to me, is the horrible job done to lower expectations to make it look like a good coaching job. Maybe agree to disagree? I think Mike has done a good job coaching them up this season but he deserves no awards.

[MountieDawg]

Winner will be B Kennedy

notables: .. Martin, Stallings, A. Kennedy and Anderson...  Martin had it, but as mentioned, his team was not as good as perceived.

MSU has underachieved in my opinion.. returning starters, great recruits...could have been a really good team.. look who they beat and how they beat them, especially late.

but the underachievement award stays home where it belongs and for the 3rd straight season.. Mr. LSU

Cal had most talented team and accomplished about what you'd expect...

If consideration goes to how much talent you lose and the success of the season.  Cal last more talent than any other coach and only returned 11 percent of his scoring.  I think Martin or Kennedy will win COY.

[Pork Twain]

I am very happy with the last few games, but recruiting a full team still rests on the coach's shoulders and not having a full stable of recruits is on him.  Next year, I hope they all show up and that we do such an amazing job that he is at the tp of this list.

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

Anderson recruited and missed on several players (3 of them 6'9 and over) that would have been better than Kouassi. But the bigger problem was that he inexplicably quit recruiting, essentially, after Kapita verballed. There were no offers out or visits made after that until the season was over (or thereabouts). If you want to see here and downplay the importance of recruiting and roster management and somehow separate it from coaching when it is all tied together, but still give him a credit basically when something truly unforeseen happens (like the arrests), you're going to have to do that with someone else because I think it's foolish. You may thing my stance is foolish. But I'm not up for rewarding people for leading well through circumstances they largely created because the more important aspect than the coaching job, to me, is the horrible job done to lower expectations to make it look like a good coaching job. Maybe agree to disagree? I think Mike has done a good job coaching them up this season but he deserves no awards.

No awards from me either.

I think where we have a small variation of opinion is in how much blame falls on him for the departures and recruiting during /after.

I'll give some allowance,  you apparently not.

Again, the lack of players grownup and developed in the system is his greatest failing, IMO.   With proper depth from developed, high school players,  this season could have been a drop-off rather than a fall.

As excited as everyone is over the crew coming in for next season,  we're going to have a terribly unbalanced roster as far as their grades.

These, to me, do lie on MA without a lot of room for speculation.

[ErieHog]

Could he?  Yes.  Will he?  Very unlikely.

[Arkygrocer]

"Coach of the year" ? You're kidding, right? Not? Okay then, no.

[rickfahr]

I wouldn't rank him as the best coach in that county, let alone in the state.

[JenksHawg]

Nope. But Anderson may win it next year if Arkansas shows the same kind of progress with more of the team coming back.

"same kind of progress"?

[JenksHawg]

if we finish 5th with 13% of scoring coming back and 0 starters.

apparently you're not watching the game?

[TNhawgfan]

16-15 COY!!

[Atlhogfan1]

Should probably lock this thread. 

[ICEman]

This must be one of those joke threads.

[Redbug]

This must be one of those joke threads.

The joke's on us....$2.2MM worth....

[Mr. Porkleone]

The joke's on us....$2.2MM worth....

Laughable....COY honors winners, not losers

[Pyotr Tchaikhogsky]

[pigmailyen]

Coach of the Year in Fayetteville?

[TNhawgfan]

We won 9 conference games and 4 of them were against terrible TN and mizzou. COY!

[Redbug]

Coach of the Year in Fayetteville?

Sure...jump on in...the water's fine...did ya hear?...27 wins last season...no really....and the #1, #3, & #7 players signed and coming in next year...but MOST IMPORTANT...still has that never had a losing season record intact....WPS baby....the sun's shining somewhere everyday....

[Uncommon]

We won 9 conference games and 4 of them were against terrible TN and mizzou. COY!

Dat roster he was "handed" though

[pigmailyen]

Sure...jump on in...the water's fine...did ya hear?...27 wins last season...no really....and the #1, #3, & #7 players signed and coming in next year...but MOST IMPORTANT...still has that never had a losing season record intact....WPS baby....the sun's shining somewhere everyday....

I envy your optimism.

I hope your prediction comes true and that I'm wrong in thinking Anderson can't get it done. 
It would make me very happy to see us go deep into next year's NCAA tourney.  And the next one, and so on.  Been following the Hogs since the Mad Hatters & Overalls Gang roamed the student section, and it's what our Razorbacks deserve.

[ICEman]

Sure...jump on in...the water's fine...did ya hear?...27 wins last season...no really....and the #1, #3, & #7 players signed and coming in next year...but MOST IMPORTANT...still has that never had a losing season record intact....WPS baby....the sun's shining somewhere everyday....

I don't understand where you got these numbers?

[Redbug]

I don't understand where you got these numbers?

JUCO's buddy....TOP Juco's...mature, developed, ready to step in and STAR...none of this underdeveloped, immature, hit the wall high school freshman hit or miss....JUCO's....it's the wave of the future...

[3kgthog]

Kennedy with Anderson a distant last with zero votes.

Kennedy took a program with little to no history and in only 5 years he has knocked the Kentucky machine off the top of the SEC. Mike will never, and I repeat NEVER, win an SEC title here. Not if he stays 10,15, or 20 years.

Mike will likely end the season at .500. Gee what an accomplishment.