Chad Morris PC After Scrimmage

[BearsBisonsBoars]

But again, that isn't the point. I agree with you that the program isn't worlds better and he didn't justify his pay. But the conversation is about whether the program is better or worse now than in 2012,  it by BOW MUCH its better or worse. Twist makes the argument that it's worse, and he's wrong, as many posters have pointed out.

The funny thing is the whole argument has zero to do with Chad Morris, but Twist backed himself into a corner and made it about CCM, so now he's having to throw haymakers defending himself. It's been fun to watch

Oh yeah, I disagree with Twist. We were utterly bereft when Bret got here.  I knew we'd win 0 P5 games in 2013 before it even happened. Wouldn't have mattered who the coach was. Saban could have coached us and we still would have lost to Rutgers, all other things being equal.

[twistitup]

Are you typing on braile?

You cannot 'see' this teams overall athletic ability. Dumb Shiite...

They show it on the field or they don't - what you 'see' means nothing

As of now CBB left us w an overweight, out of shape squad - we will see what CCM does.

[bennyl08]

This is not the first time I have read of a Ford to Nutt transition in comparison to Bielema/Morris transition.

So...you are of the opinion as well that we have similar talent on this roster as the '98-99 squad? 9 or 10 win season this year? Truthfully, if everything you guys have said over the past few years is true we should be in line for a 10 win season.

Like I said above...if it happens I'll be first in line to give Bielema props. Not trying to be snarky or take a shot at Bielema...I literally don't see that type of talent on this team. I think back to Nutts best teams, Petrinos last couple of years....I don't see many of those type of play makers. I think we are better than the 4 win team of 2017 but we will see.

If it doesn't happen like Nutts first year, I hope you guys won't simply blame Morris for not knowing how to utilize the talent on hand in year one.

You keep talking about 10 wins, but nobody is saying that has to be the threshold to whether or not we have a talented team. It'd be akin to me saying if we don't win more than 3 games this coming season, then I'll admit that we don't have a good roster.

Heck, even if we somehow won 12 games last year and Bielema left for some other reason, we could win 3 or 4 games this coming season just due to the potentially massive scheme change and honestly nobody really knows if Morris will be a successful HC or not.

[twistitup]

nobody really knows if Morris will be a successful HC or not.

At Arkansas?

He's already proven himself a successful HC.

One thing everybody knows....CBB failed here and it's nice to have a new HC after 5yrs of mediocrity

[PorkSoda]

You keep talking about 10 wins, but nobody is saying that has to be the threshold to whether or not we have a talented team. It'd be akin to me saying if we don't win more than 3 games this coming season, then I'll admit that we don't have a good roster.

Heck, even if we somehow won 12 games last year and Bielema left for some other reason, we could win 3 or 4 games this coming season just due to the potentially massive scheme change and honestly nobody really knows if Morris will be a successful HC or not.

the SEC won 3 NC's in the 90's
5 from 2000-2009
and 6 so far this decade.

even if the team was as talented as the 98 team, its a different SEC.  nutt would not have won near as many games now as he did then.

[LRrazorback]

Oh yeah, I disagree with Twist. We were utterly bereft when Bret got here.  I knew we'd win 0 P5 games in 2013 before it even happened. Wouldn't have mattered who the coach was. Saban could have coached us and we still would have lost to Rutgers, all other things being equal.

So wrong. This has been disproven over and over again

[bennyl08]

At Arkansas?

He's already proven himself a successful HC.

One thing everybody knows....CBB failed here and it's nice to have a new HC after 5yrs of mediocrity

3 years to get SMU back to where they were for 5 years straight after a single bad year isn't a proven successful coach. John L. Smith had a better resume coming into the 2012 season than Morris currently has. Think about that for a second.

Unless you have way, way, way weaker a rubric for "success" than me, Morris has not proven to be a successful HC yet. What he is is like the Obama of college coaches. Meteoric rise up the ladder, with a really short resume such that it's hard to say anything good or bad just because there's not a lot there yet. The only thing most have to judge him on are his words. For example, take the subject of TE's. At SMU, TE's combined for a total of 4 receptions last season. 4. Now, you can bring up that his OC said they didn't have a TE that first spring at SMU, but Morris had 3 recruiting cycles to fix that and with nobody telling him what to do, he used the TE less and less. The only time he's really used a TE was at Clemson when he wasn't the guy calling the shots and was on Dabo's leash. Now that he's here, oh, he's making the speeches about TE's that the fan base wants to hear, but actions speak louder than words and time will tell if what he says here is what he means, or not.

I do agree with your last statement though.

[twistitup]

actions speak louder than words

Morris took on an historically bad program at SMU and improved it year after year...he has been a winner everywhere he's been.

CBB failed miserably or he would still be here....thankfully we chose to go in a new direction with more energy and a 'up and comer' as a coach. His pedigree is good....we will see.

Go Hogs...Go Coach Morris


And yes....hes a proven head coach:

"Morris had an Art-Briles-like career path. He began as a high school head coach, and then got hired as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. He had a 169-38 record at the high school level, including two straight 16-0 seasons and championships at Lake Travis."

[jkstock04]

You keep talking about 10 wins, but nobody is saying that has to be the threshold to whether or not we have a talented team. It'd be akin to me saying if we don't win more than 3 games this coming season, then I'll admit that we don't have a good roster.

Heck, even if we somehow won 12 games last year and Bielema left for some other reason, we could win 3 or 4 games this coming season just due to the potentially massive scheme change and honestly nobody really knows if Morris will be a successful HC or not.

I say 10 wins because of everything I've read and heard concerning recruiting and player retention the last few years. Bielemas plan has "worked" as evidenced by the small number of recruits taken for this past signing class.

I also throw out 10 wins because you (and others) are comparing this transition to the Ford/Nutt transition or the Chisit/Malzahn transition. If that's the way it is talent wise we should be talking about a possible 10 win year.

[Al Boarland]

Morris took on an historically bad program at SMU and improved it year after year...he has been a winner everywhere he's been.

CBB failed miserably or he would still be here....thankfully we chose to go in a new direction with more energy and a 'up and comer' as a coach. His pedigree is good....we will see.

Go Hogs...Go Coach Morris


And yes....hes a proven head coach:

"Morris had an Art-Briles-like career path. He began as a high school head coach, and then got hired as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. He had a 169-38 record at the high school level, including two straight 16-0 seasons and championships at Lake Travis."

Improving something doesn't make you a winner unless you subscribe to everyone getting a trophy.

[oldhawg]

Morris took on an historically bad program at SMU and improved it year after year...he has been a winner everywhere he's been.

CBB failed miserably or he would still be here....thankfully we chose to go in a new direction with more energy and a 'up and comer' as a coach. His pedigree is good....we will see.

Go Hogs...Go Coach Morris


And yes....hes a proven head coach:

"Morris had an Art-Briles-like career path. He began as a high school head coach, and then got hired as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. He had a 169-38 record at the high school level, including two straight 16-0 seasons and championships at Lake Travis."

Well, it's all pretty subjective right now

Gerry Faust was 178-23-2 as a coach at Archbishop Moeller High School in Ohio.
Went to Notre Dame for five seasons where he was 30-26-1.
Wound up with an overall record 73-79-4 at the collegiate level.

I am firmly on the Morris bandwagon, but am not ready to anoint him with the imaginary, coveted J. Frank Broyles roadmap to success award yet.

However, I am looking forward to next season very optimistically.  Change was overdue, and Morris deserves a chance with optimal fan support to right the ship.

[twistitup]

Improving something doesn't make you a winner unless you subscribe to everyone getting a trophy.

It's called trajectory - he's been a winner everywhere he's ever been. From the H.S level up...now he has a chance to prove himself here.

After the last five years - I'm ready for ANYTHING other that seeing CBB in front of a camera telling us how good the week of practice was, just to get pounded on Sat

I'm glad we hired an up and comer, this will be fun to watch

[twistitup]

I am firmly on the Morris bandwagon, but am not ready to anoint him with the imaginary, coveted J. Frank Broyles roadmap to success award yet.

We can all find examples to fit our agenda....I'm not anointing him - just enjoying the positive, high energy vibe. Like you, I'm looking forward to the fall.

His ability to pull a team together and win big in TX highschool football is a huge positive - it means he can motivate young men. CBB seemed to struggle motivating himself which led to the team following that example and not being motivated.

Go Hogs

[LZH]

Most with a brain know that what CBB stepped into was much worse than what CMM has. Literally EVERYONE was in agreement that when CBB left, he left it "better than he had found it." Kids are going to class, have good grades, have very few discipline issues, accountability, etc. These are all things that weren't at all present in 2012 under JLS.

Not EVERYONE....certainly of all not me. Fat boy ran this program into the ground. And a kid's attendance in class doesn't win games - I couldn't give a darn. Coaches aren't freekin babysitters.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Not EVERYONE....certainly of all not me. Fat boy ran this program into the ground. And a kid's attendance in class doesn't win games - I couldn't give a darn. Coaches aren't freekin babysitters.

Maybe, but we all want a respectable program with kids that represent the program and the school well. Naturally, we want to win as well. I can certainly understand that. No one would be taking this attitude had Bielema won those that he should have which really probably should have included a couple of 9 win seasons and no less than 7-8 wins otherwise and even a possible 10 win season mixed in. But he didn't do that. That is his fault.

As for the kids on the team, I still want them to be good students and good citizens and there isn't any reason why we can have both...more wins and kids we can be proud of in representing the Hogs.

[BearsBisonsBoars]

So wrong. This has been disproven over and over again

How has a hypothetical which can never be tested against a control been "disproven"?

[LZH]

Maybe, but we all want a respectable program with kids that represent the program and the school well. Naturally, we want to win as well. I can certainly understand that. No one would be taking this attitude had Bielema won those that he should have which really probably should have included a couple of 9 win seasons and no less than 7-8 wins otherwise and even a possible 10 win season mixed in. But he didn't do that. That is his fault.

As for the kids on the team, I still want them to be good students and good citizens and there isn't any reason why we can have both...more wins and kids we can be proud of in representing the Hogs.

I don't want bad kids, I just think if a boy wants a degree he'll get one. Plus, I've pretty much have always had the opinion the hellraisers off the field are usually hellraisers on the field. I grew up a Raiders fan lol.

[LRrazorback]

How has a hypothetical which can never be tested against a control been "disproven"?

Because it's a fact we weren't bereft of talent when CBB got here. Look at the NFL draft picks he inherited. It's the most talented team a razorback coach has ever inherited.

[CFB_Fanatic]

Not EVERYONE....certainly of all not me. Fat boy ran this program into the ground. And a kid's attendance in class doesn't win games - I couldn't give a darn. Coaches aren't freekin babysitters.

Correct. And, if morality wasn't involved at all, Petrino would still be the coach. And I don't know that I wouldn't be okay with that, because I do want to win.

But, all those things I listed are signs of a healthy program. Generally speaking, players have to be motivated and accountable off the field in order for them to be successful on the field. This isn't an absolute, of course. You can provide plenty of examples to the contrary. But I would hope we could agree that all those things I listed aren't themselves detrimental to football, but they could be a positive in that a positive lifestyle could help promote a positive work ethic, thus positive football outcomes, etc.

Im just of the opinion that if you look at the state of the program in all aspects, everywhere from disciplinary to player quality, overall I believe the program is in much better shape since CBB left than it was before his arrival.

[bennyl08]

Morris took on an historically bad program at SMU and improved it year after year...he has been a winner everywhere he's been.

Depends on what part of history you are talking about. SMU did have some really bad decades post-death penalty. However, Morris wasn't the guy who turned that program around. June Jones did. 4 straight years with bowls games and he kept the program very competitive when they upgraded conferences.

Morris took over a program that had 5 straight years of way above normal (post-death penalty normal) performance with only a single year of bad coaching in between.

He was a part of Clemson improving, but they improved even more after he left. Seriously, look at the OL production (I've posted it somewhere on mmqb earlier) at the schools before, during, and after he leaves. He improves the points scored but the number of tfl and sacks allowed look Kurt Anderson look good in comparison. He hasn't had the same OL coach at Tulsa, Clemson, and SMU so that can't be the reason. The teams are always significantly better at not allowing lost yardage plays before and immediately after he leaves. In his defense, he has still been able to generate points and yards despite that, albeit in much easier conferences.

CBB failed miserably or he would still be here....thankfully we chose to go in a new direction with more energy and a 'up and comer' as a coach. His pedigree is good....we will see.

No, Bielema could have gone 7-5 and still been fired this season. He didn't have to fail miserably to be gone. He could have been average and done the same.

However, we did need to go in a new direction and the 'up and comer' approach seems to have just as high a success rate as any other method.

Go Hogs...Go Coach Morris

Go Hogs and hopefully Morris will represent the hogs well. A second failed hire in a row would IMO wipe away all the success and national attention from our 10+ win seasons that our recruiting is still feeding off of to this day. So, I do hope that this flip of the coin comes up heads.

And yes....hes a proven head coach:

"Morris had an Art-Briles-like career path. He began as a high school head coach, and then got hired as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. He had a 169-38 record at the high school level, including two straight 16-0 seasons and championships at Lake Travis."

Yeah, being proven at the HS is about as useful as being proven on the X-box level. Heck, Bielema was a proven coach at the Big 10 level winning the conference three years in a row and thats way more relevant that playing in HS which is the football equivalent of tic tac toe relative to the SEC's chess. The most talented HS in all of Texas would be crushed by virtually any JUCO level program.

That's not to say that being successful in college precludes anybody from success later on. It's just that the two are not related whatsoever.

[bennyl08]

I say 10 wins because of everything I've read and heard concerning recruiting and player retention the last few years. Bielemas plan has "worked" as evidenced by the small number of recruits taken for this past signing class.

I also throw out 10 wins because you (and others) are comparing this transition to the Ford/Nutt transition or the Chisit/Malzahn transition. If that's the way it is talent wise we should be talking about a possible 10 win year.

Nutt didn't even win 10 games after Ford, so not sure why suddenly that analogy leads you to assume 10 wins. Also, most every time the Chizik/Gus transition is mentioned people, myself included, will usually note that we aren't saying the analogy is 1:1 and we don't expect a playoff appearance in year 1.

If you say 10 wins because of everything you've read and heard, I'd venture to say you have selective hearing.

10 wins is absolutely possible next season. My only surprise in us reaching that win total next year would be that Morris was able to get a system installed and operating so smoothly in year one. And that has nothing to do with Morris, I'd be surprised if Saban or Urban Meyer could do that as well.

However, another season of 3-4 wins is very possible as well. We are installing a new system. Possible that there is mental damage from last season lingering into this coming season as well.

Another factor completely out of our control is what happens with other teams. Mullen was able to go toe to toe coaching with Petrino and was a better coach than Bielema. He's gone from MSU who just hired an offensive coordinator with no HC experience. Good chance they will be significantly easier an opponent but there's a real chance that their up and comer will be the next big deal. Check out the aggies. Even with Petrino, our games were neck and neck. The difference is that with Petrino and their old old coach, we were able to barely squeak out a win against them. With Bielema and Sumlin, the games were neck and neck, but they were the ones to barely squeak out the wins against us. Does Jimbo lead the aggies to similar success at FSU and make them a perennial national championship contender? Or will aggies simply aggie and maybe Morris can tip the scales that have been so tight back into our favor? Nobody yet knows.

[BearsBisonsBoars]

Because it's a fact we weren't bereft of talent when CBB got here. Look at the NFL draft picks he inherited. It's the most talented team a razorback coach has ever inherited.

If there's anything we've learned the past five years, it's that depth is the make or break factor at high level football.

Sure, we had some studs. And we had absolutely nothing behind them. Remember Derby? Remember him attempting to play QB? That's where we were in 2013.

[SooieGeneris]

Anybody that has paid attention knows we don't have SEC speed.  Just look at the NFL combine from this weekend.

We only had 3 players there... one was an O lineman, where 40 yard speed is not really that big a thing.

Orlando Brown of OU was a 1st team AA who ran a 5.86. I'd be surprised if he's not still drafted in the first 4-5 rounds, if not earlier.

Our ex QB ran a faster 40 time than the Heisman winner who gave the SEC champs all they wanted in the CFB..

Do we need more speed? Absolutely yes I'd say, but using a sample size of 3 players who will not be suiting up for us this fall proves nothing.

The new HC has said we need more speed and is changing our recruiting approach to try to get more of it.

IMO, we have more speed than has been apparent on the squad because the previous HC did not realize the importance of it in the SEC. The new HC has experimented, moving a few players around, Curl to safety with Calloway getting more work at CB is an example of more emphasis on speed.

I firmly believe we have been lacking in that area due to the S&C program of the old HC, emphasizing strength over speed. Players like Agim, Harris, Whaley, Pettway, Gragg and many others did not accumulate several other SEC offers by being slow.

They slowed down after they got here by gaining too much weight and not having their speed developed and just the overall culture of the Humpty Dumpty regime.

Putting players in the NFL is one indicator of developing talent, but can be deceiving. There was a coach back before Broyles, I can't even recall which one or his name, but the guy put a bunch of guys in the NFL but didn't win here. Sound familiar?

He won even less than BB. I will find out who he was tomorrow and post who it was..

[twistitup]

Remember Derby? Remember him attempting to play QB? That's where we were in 2013.

That was CBB's boy....him and his dad were friends. He was giving Derby a shot at QB - we had better QB's on the roster

[twistitup]

He's gone from MSU who just hired an offensive coordinator with no HC experience. Good chance they will be significantly easier an opponent but there's a real chance that their up and comer will be the next big deal.

Oh really....now 'their' up and comer is the next big deal...not our up and comer even though he's got HC experience.

You are a real piece of work, true b.s. artist.

oh...and if we win 10 it's doesn't mean CCM is a good HC....ridiculous.

[rtr]

I think Biggus Piggus post of November 21, 2017 should be stickied.  I would link it but am not keyboard proficient enough to do so. 

[The NewEra]

It's the same reason Chizik went 3-9 with a team that went on to play in the national championship the next year with virtually the same starters.

Bielema lost the team last year.

I was apparently in the mood to self inflict punishment a few nights ago.  While traversing YouTube I ran across a Bielema post game press conference after the South Carolina loss.  You could see a guy with no answers and no energy.  I decided to watch the reaction of Bielema in subsequent press conferences starting with Costal Carolina, LSU and Miss State.  You could tell that the man was bewildered as how to fix the problem.  I'm confident he knew he was never going to be successful here, even though he half heartily said he should get another year.  Watching his demeanor change through that series of video was telling.  By the time Bielema was fired I think he believed Arkansas should be happy with a ceiling of eight wins and seasons averaging 6 wins.  The guy who was going to win the SEC had been beaten into submission.  He definitely lost the team last year, but more likely the previous year too.  One thing about Arkansas, they are patient with their coaches.

[LRrazorback]

If there's anything we've learned the past five years, it's that depth is the make or break factor at high level football.

Sure, we had some studs. And we had absolutely nothing behind them. Remember Derby? Remember him attempting to play QB? That's where we were in 2013.

I see your point, AJ was the backup. But understand this, we had some good backups at other positions. Deatrich wise, who started for a Super Bowl team, backed up Chris Smith and Trey Flowers. My point is, don't believe the narrative you've bought into, CBB took over a dumpster fire and had no talent.

[jkstock04]

Nutt didn't even win 10 games after Ford, so not sure why suddenly that analogy leads you to assume 10 wins. Also, most every time the Chizik/Gus transition is mentioned people, myself included, will usually note that we aren't saying the analogy is 1:1 and we don't expect a playoff appearance in year 1.

If you say 10 wins because of everything you've read and heard, I'd venture to say you have selective hearing.

10 wins is absolutely possible next season. My only surprise in us reaching that win total next year would be that Morris was able to get a system installed and operating so smoothly in year one. And that has nothing to do with Morris, I'd be surprised if Saban or Urban Meyer could do that as well.

However, another season of 3-4 wins is very possible as well. We are installing a new system. Possible that there is mental damage from last season lingering into this coming season as well.

Another factor completely out of our control is what happens with other teams. Mullen was able to go toe to toe coaching with Petrino and was a better coach than Bielema. He's gone from MSU who just hired an offensive coordinator with no HC experience. Good chance they will be significantly easier an opponent but there's a real chance that their up and comer will be the next big deal. Check out the aggies. Even with Petrino, our games were neck and neck. The difference is that with Petrino and their old old coach, we were able to barely squeak out a win against them. With Bielema and Sumlin, the games were neck and neck, but they were the ones to barely squeak out the wins against us. Does Jimbo lead the aggies to similar success at FSU and make them a perennial national championship contender? Or will aggies simply aggie and maybe Morris can tip the scales that have been so tight back into our favor? Nobody yet knows.

No...no selective hearing on my end. Nor is my reading comprehension inept. I don't simply forget what all has been pounded by guys like yourself the past few years simply because most of your claims went belly up. If I ever want a real good laugh I can just look back to the summers of 2016 or 2017 and read about how awesome Jeff Long and Bret Bielema are....and how extremely lucky we are that they are leading the program. And anyone who disagrees? Brain dead dumb and just blind to this amazing thing they are building.

I realize Nutt didn't have a 10 win season his first year. You are one of the guys who wants to spin things on Petrino almost losing games and Bielema almost winning games...10 wins was for sure attainable in Nutts first year. The narrow losses to Tennessee and Miss state kept us from a possible national championship. 11 regular season games back then vs 12 now...something else to not convienently forget.

Regardless of all that...main point here is Bielema (supposedly) recruited better and deeper than any coach we have had in modern times. I'm not making that up. That has been a hot narrative from you guys for years now. Now, what is being said is that he just didn't know what to do with all that talent. And because so, this transition is or could be like Ford to Nutt or Chisit to Malzahn.

If you (or anyone else) truly believes that...this should be a legit shot at a 10 win season simply based off of the abundance of talent on hand. We have had seasons like that with less talent and depth than we have right now....right? We will see what happens. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say we win 6 or 7 games regular season. The qb situation is a major key. Do we have a Clint Storner or Ryan Mallett type talent that Bielema recruited to lead us to that type of season? We'll see.

[twistitup]

Benny Butthurt

[bennyl08]

Oh really....now 'their' up and comer is the next big deal...not our up and comer even though he's got HC experience.

Literally nowhere did I say their new head coach IS the next big deal. If you read my post which you just quoted I even say that he is much more likely to not be the real deal and tack on the small the possibility that he is. Further, you'll never see a post of mine where I say Morris will not be the real deal. Search and try, you won't find it because it doesn't exist. I even explicitly brought up that their coach was promoted from OC to prop up that our new coach has more HC experience than theirs which could work in our favor.

You are a real piece of work, true b.s. artist.

You talking to yourself here?

oh...and if we win 10 it's doesn't mean CCM is a good HC....ridiculous.

First you somehow read exactly the opposite of what I say. Then you start talking to yourself. Lastly, you start making up complete BS out of thin air? Like, complete bs that can't even be interpreted as you mis-reading something I've ever said, but straight up pulling this comment completely out of thin air? Did you hallucinate something that I posted?

I think your blood sugar might be low, might want to get some of that food you like to talk about.

[Corkscrew Johnson]

I keep clicking on this link thinking it is about spring practice. 

[Silver Hog]

Fire Bert. Can't wait for CCM to take the field!

[bennyl08]

No...no selective hearing on my end. Nor is my reading comprehension inept. I don't simply forget what all has been pounded by guys like yourself the past few years simply because most of your claims went belly up. If I ever want a real good laugh I can just look back to the summers of 2016 or 2017 and read about how awesome Jeff Long and Bret Bielema are....and how extremely lucky we are that they are leading the program. And anyone who disagrees? Brain dead dumb and just blind to this amazing thing they are building.

Long was a convenient scapegoat for the fanbase who were insecure that he didn't have a southern accent. His firing was more an ego trip by the boosters more than anything job performance wise. When you hear the recruits talk about how nice our facilities are? That was all Long.

Nobody was saying you were brain dead dumb to criticize Bielema. There's not a single year that he was coach that you can't find me criticizing him. However, there was also evidence for improvement as well. You read my posts from the spring and summer of 2017, though, and you'll see a marked change. Consistently talked about how 7-5 again wouldn't save his job. It was a now or never season. I talked about how it was very possible for us to break through last year and I stand by that. However, Bielema had to have all the kinks worked out and instead, the whole team crumbled.

I realize Nutt didn't have a 10 win season his first year. You are one of the guys who wants to spin things on Petrino almost losing games and Bielema almost winning games...10 wins was for sure attainable in Nutts first year. The narrow losses to Tennessee and Miss state kept us from a possible national championship. 11 regular season games back then vs 12 now...something else to not convienently forget.

You have to be kidding me here. I was one of the biggest sunshine pumpers of Petrino on this board. Now, suddenly you are claiming I'm some sort of anti-Petrino poster? Seriously? You may claim to have no selective memory, but saying I'm a guy who likes to spin Petrino's years into a negative you might as well say I'm Cam Newton because that's at least as accurate a description of me.

I can only guess that your self-proclaimed excellent memory is going all the back to the post you just quoted of mine. Again, you say you don't have reading comprehension problems, but where in that post am I spinning things? I'm literally sunshine pumping Petrino saying that he was the difference in us winning those games while saying that Bielema wasn't a good in-game coach and is the reason we lost. How the bloody hell do you interpret that as me criticizing Petrino and propping up Bielema? Genuinely curious how you read that post of my so incredibly wrong. 7 of the 9 meeting we've had with the aggies have been one possession games into the fourth quarter. We stopped winning the close games when switched from Petrino to Bielema.

Regardless of all that...main point here is Bielema (supposedly) recruited better and deeper than any coach we have had in modern times. I'm not making that up. That has been a hot narrative from you guys for years now. Now, what is being said is that he just didn't know what to do with all that talent. And because so, this transition is or could be like Ford to Nutt or Chisit to Malzahn.

I know you aren't making that up. Just compare the offer lists of the athletes we have on the roster today and watch their HS tape and compare that to any time before and it is readily apparent.  But don't take my word for it. I'm just some rando behind a keyboard. NFL is a multi billion dollar industry and guys get paid really well to scout the college players. NFL certainly thinks that our roster over the past 5 years has consistently had more talent than any other time at least in modern times. If the stuff I said was all sunshine pumping with no basis in reality, then we wouldn't be having so many players go on to the NFL.

If you (or anyone else) truly believes that...this should be a legit shot at a 10 win season simply based off of the abundance of talent on hand. We have had seasons like that with less talent and depth than we have right now....right? We will see what happens. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say we win 6 or 7 games regular season. The qb situation is a major key. Do we have a Clint Storner or Ryan Mallett type talent that Bielema recruited to lead us to that type of season? We'll see.

Huge difference between having a legit shot at a 10 win season like you are changing your tune to now vs saying anything less than actually getting 10 wins proves that we don't have a talented roster which is what you were saying before. If you forced me to guess what the win total would be, mine would be the same as your wild guess. However, to be fair, ask me what I think our record will be in 2037 and it'll be that same guess. It's a pretty safe guess.

Delving deeper into the win category...
EIU: this is a game we'd win even with Smiley as HC, so this should be a win.
@CSU: This is a game that can go several ways. CSU has put in some really good players into the NFL. They are kind of like a Norther Illinois esque team. However, they don't consistently have good NFL talent and they are losing a lot of players this off-season so there's a good chance 2018 will not be a high talent year for them. If that's the case, this should be a game we win quite easily. Even if they do have a good player or two, this is a game that most coaches at arkansas should still win at least comfortably though perhaps not a huge blowout though could embarrass us if we aren't firing on all cylinders.
NT: Should be a win regardless and a very comfortable win.
@Auburn: Will be a tough game. They have some turnover on offense but return a lot of their defense. For a good stretch, we were pretty 50/50 with auburn, but have lately lost a string of games to them. Have to predict this as a loss for now but hopefully this will soon be back to at least being a 50/50 game.
aTm: As mentioned before, 7 of the past 9 games have been one possession games into the fourth quarter with something like 3 of the last 5 going into OT. There's no reason we can't win this game. This will be a good early benchmark for both new coaches.
Bama: we lose this game
OM: We have a pretty healthy string of wins against them, they are wallowing in sanctions with a glorified interim coach. Morris should win this game. (Note, no SEC game is a gimmee. A should win isn't the same as a will win).
Tulsa: Similar to CSU. Tulsa is a team that on a good year can give us a run for our money if we are having a down year. If we are having an average to good year, we'll whoop them regardless of what they have. Like CSU, if Morris has this team buying in and can call plays effectively to match their skills, shouldn't be a problem. If we are having a first year similar to Petrino's or Bielema's, this game could go into the fourth quarter close before we should still pull away late at worst.
Vandy: Should be as easy a win as you can get in the SEC.
LSU: They have the raw talent to make this a should lose, but they've always lacked in coaching at least somewhere and we have the rivalry aspect with them that helps even things out too. Orgeron has a history of not being a great HC. The team rallied when he was hired mid-season, a year and half ago, but his inspiration could either be running thin or he could have learned from mistakes past and become a good HC. Even then, we've had some really bad teams with some bad HC's that were still able to be a single play away from beating them so there's a very real chance we could win this game with Morris in year one.
@MSU: Talked about this one earlier. They are basically in the same boat as us. We've had a more talented roster than them but they had a superior coach hence the many close battles recently. We both have hired up an comer coaches, ours with a bit of HC experience and theirs with none. Another good benchmark for Morris. If we lose, odds are (barring major injuries and the such) they made a better hire than us (again, key word "odds" since you or somebody will try to twist what I say as you are oft to do). If we win, odds are we made the better hire.
@Mizz: They've been our kryptonite of late to some degree. Namely, their undersized DL has proved troublesome for our oversized OL and they've had a potent offense most years and they'll probably have the same formula of a team this year. Definitely a team we can beat, but not a team that we should easily beat.

Bama's the only team on our schedule that we have a near zero odds of winning next year with Auburn being the only other team that we really shouldn't win. 10-2 in the regular season is a real possibility if Morris is able to have this team playing up to their full potential in a single year. If I were to play the odds, I'd say there are 6 games that even in year 1, I'd honestly be disappointed we lose with another 3-4 games that are highly dependent on how the other team is performing or is a toss-up. However, if there is still a big mental hangover from the lost lockerroom of last year combined with some tough growing pains of a brand new system this year, 3 wins could be a real possibility as well.

[hoghearted]

I am of the belief that the interim year is what really hurt Arkansas' recruiting. Being in limbo, while the acting HC looked on the verge of a breakdown killed any depth we might have had. In Beliema's defense, he did provide stability, and appealed to players. He also provided a sense of stability and integrity to parents. However, he failed at developing players in the long run, and struggled to retain good assistants. He was miserable at identifying what needed to be done in the way of in-game adjustments.

I won't criticize the man's personal shortcomings, considering the many rumors that floated about. However, I don't consider him a very good coach, based on his performance at Arkansas. Without a shepherding AD, he floundered quite spectacularly.

[bennyl08]

I am of the belief that the interim year is what really hurt Arkansas' recruiting. Being in limbo, while the acting HC looked on the verge of a breakdown killed any depth we might have had. In Beliema's defense, he did provide stability, and appealed to players. He also provided a sense of stability and integrity to parents. However, he failed at developing players in the long run, and struggled to retain good assistants. He was miserable at identifying what needed to be done in the way of in-game adjustments.

I won't criticize the man's personal shortcomings, considering the many rumors that floated about. However, I don't consider him a very good coach, based on his performance at Arkansas. Without a shepherding AD, he floundered quite spectacularly.

Pretty good summation. I'd take the rumors that floated about with a boulder of salt though.

[jkstock04]

Long was a convenient scapegoat for the fanbase who were insecure that he didn't have a southern accent. His firing was more an ego trip by the boosters more than anything job performance wise. When you hear the recruits talk about how nice our facilities are? That was all Long.

Nobody was saying you were brain dead dumb to criticize Bielema. There's not a single year that he was coach that you can't find me criticizing him. However, there was also evidence for improvement as well. You read my posts from the spring and summer of 2017, though, and you'll see a marked change. Consistently talked about how 7-5 again wouldn't save his job. It was a now or never season. I talked about how it was very possible for us to break through last year and I stand by that. However, Bielema had to have all the kinks worked out and instead, the whole team crumbled.

You have to be kidding me here. I was one of the biggest sunshine pumpers of Petrino on this board. Now, suddenly you are claiming I'm some sort of anti-Petrino poster? Seriously? You may claim to have no selective memory, but saying I'm a guy who likes to spin Petrino's years into a negative you might as well say I'm Cam Newton because that's at least as accurate a description of me.

I can only guess that your self-proclaimed excellent memory is going all the back to the post you just quoted of mine. Again, you say you don't have reading comprehension problems, but where in that post am I spinning things? I'm literally sunshine pumping Petrino saying that he was the difference in us winning those games while saying that Bielema wasn't a good in-game coach and is the reason we lost. How the bloody hell do you interpret that as me criticizing Petrino and propping up Bielema? Genuinely curious how you read that post of my so incredibly wrong. 7 of the 9 meeting we've had with the aggies have been one possession games into the fourth quarter. We stopped winning the close games when switched from Petrino to Bielema.

I know you aren't making that up. Just compare the offer lists of the athletes we have on the roster today and watch their HS tape and compare that to any time before and it is readily apparent.  But don't take my word for it. I'm just some rando behind a keyboard. NFL is a multi billion dollar industry and guys get paid really well to scout the college players. NFL certainly thinks that our roster over the past 5 years has consistently had more talent than any other time at least in modern times. If the stuff I said was all sunshine pumping with no basis in reality, then we wouldn't be having so many players go on to the NFL.

Huge difference between having a legit shot at a 10 win season like you are changing your tune to now vs saying anything less than actually getting 10 wins proves that we don't have a talented roster which is what you were saying before. If you forced me to guess what the win total would be, mine would be the same as your wild guess. However, to be fair, ask me what I think our record will be in 2037 and it'll be that same guess. It's a pretty safe guess.

Delving deeper into the win category...
EIU: this is a game we'd win even with Smiley as HC, so this should be a win.
@CSU: This is a game that can go several ways. CSU has put in some really good players into the NFL. They are kind of like a Norther Illinois esque team. However, they don't consistently have good NFL talent and they are losing a lot of players this off-season so there's a good chance 2018 will not be a high talent year for them. If that's the case, this should be a game we win quite easily. Even if they do have a good player or two, this is a game that most coaches at arkansas should still win at least comfortably though perhaps not a huge blowout though could embarrass us if we aren't firing on all cylinders.
NT: Should be a win regardless and a very comfortable win.
@Auburn: Will be a tough game. They have some turnover on offense but return a lot of their defense. For a good stretch, we were pretty 50/50 with auburn, but have lately lost a string of games to them. Have to predict this as a loss for now but hopefully this will soon be back to at least being a 50/50 game.
aTm: As mentioned before, 7 of the past 9 games have been one possession games into the fourth quarter with something like 3 of the last 5 going into OT. There's no reason we can't win this game. This will be a good early benchmark for both new coaches.
Bama: we lose this game
OM: We have a pretty healthy string of wins against them, they are wallowing in sanctions with a glorified interim coach. Morris should win this game. (Note, no SEC game is a gimmee. A should win isn't the same as a will win).
Tulsa: Similar to CSU. Tulsa is a team that on a good year can give us a run for our money if we are having a down year. If we are having an average to good year, we'll whoop them regardless of what they have. Like CSU, if Morris has this team buying in and can call plays effectively to match their skills, shouldn't be a problem. If we are having a first year similar to Petrino's or Bielema's, this game could go into the fourth quarter close before we should still pull away late at worst.
Vandy: Should be as easy a win as you can get in the SEC.
LSU: They have the raw talent to make this a should lose, but they've always lacked in coaching at least somewhere and we have the rivalry aspect with them that helps even things out too. Orgeron has a history of not being a great HC. The team rallied when he was hired mid-season, a year and half ago, but his inspiration could either be running thin or he could have learned from mistakes past and become a good HC. Even then, we've had some really bad teams with some bad HC's that were still able to be a single play away from beating them so there's a very real chance we could win this game with Morris in year one.
@MSU: Talked about this one earlier. They are basically in the same boat as us. We've had a more talented roster than them but they had a superior coach hence the many close battles recently. We both have hired up an comer coaches, ours with a bit of HC experience and theirs with none. Another good benchmark for Morris. If we lose, odds are (barring major injuries and the such) they made a better hire than us (again, key word "odds" since you or somebody will try to twist what I say as you are oft to do). If we win, odds are we made the better hire.
@Mizz: They've been our kryptonite of late to some degree. Namely, their undersized DL has proved troublesome for our oversized OL and they've had a potent offense most years and they'll probably have the same formula of a team this year. Definitely a team we can beat, but not a team that we should easily beat.

Bama's the only team on our schedule that we have a near zero odds of winning next year with Auburn being the only other team that we really shouldn't win. 10-2 in the regular season is a real possibility if Morris is able to have this team playing up to their full potential in a single year. If I were to play the odds, I'd say there are 6 games that even in year 1, I'd honestly be disappointed we lose with another 3-4 games that are highly dependent on how the other team is performing or is a toss-up. However, if there is still a big mental hangover from the lost lockerroom of last year combined with some tough growing pains of a brand new system this year, 3 wins could be a real possibility as well.

So Long got fired simply because of an ego trip by boosters...and fans were insecure over a lack of southern accent? Doubtful that's the case...but sounds good to me. Means to an end.

I did take your comparison of the A&M games between coaches as a slight to the former and more so as a prop of "how close" we were with Bielema. My mistake I suppose, as I will give you the benefit of the doubt in that I read into that erroneously.  I've never really looked into it but I would wager the majority of conference games in the SEC are close games point wise...one possession games are far from abnormal come conference time regardless who is playing from my point of view, unless Bama is one of them.

Where exactly did I say or even infer "anything less than actually getting 10 wins proves that we don't have a talented roster?" No goalpost moving or spinning here...IF it truly is what has been said over and over regarding our recruiting the past few years, we should have HIGH EXPECTATIONS this season simply based off the depth and talent level which is better than ever before. That shouldn't be a controversial statement.

Let's just throw out a generality of 8-12 regular season wins as an expectation. 8 min...12 max, would be "high expectations" in my opinion. When I say 10 wins I'm just throwing that out there as an example of a big time year....not necessarily a 1:1 analogy of an exact some other team may have done. 10 is a nice difference split between 8 and 12..."high expectations" being the key phrase.

What kind of talent and how much of it is on this team is the biggest question mark and talking point in my opinion...and will be up until this coming season. No mistake about it...these will be Bielemas recruits playing this year. And even though he won't be coaching them, he still got them here for better or for worse. If we have plentiful dominant play makers that for whatever reason didn't show out last season or redshirted...that lead us to a special year? He deserves credit for them being on campus in the first place.

[twistitup]

Benny,

Is there any way you could type less, but still make the same points? The length of your posts takes away from my desired to read them. It's kind of like the guy who can make a point in 10 words vs the guy says 1,000 words to make the same point. I truly appreciate the guy who can do it in 10 words. Try it sometime.

To respond to your rambling takes more rambling....not as enjoyable as just getting to the damn point.

Do you think the CCM hire was a good one? I challenge you....

[bennyl08]

So Long got fired simply because of an ego trip by boosters...and fans were insecure over a lack of southern accent? Doubtful that's the case...but sounds good to me. Means to an end.

I did take your comparison of the A&M games between coaches as a slight to the former and more so as a prop of "how close" we were with Bielema. My mistake I suppose, as I will give you the benefit of the doubt in that I read into that erroneously.  I've never really looked into it but I would wager the majority of conference games in the SEC are close games point wise...one possession games are far from abnormal come conference time regardless who is playing from my point of view, unless Bama is one of them.

Where exactly did I say or even infer "anything less than actually getting 10 wins proves that we don't have a talented roster?" No goalpost moving or spinning here...IF it truly is what has been said over and over regarding our recruiting the past few years, we should have HIGH EXPECTATIONS this season simply based off the depth and talent level which is better than ever before. That shouldn't be a controversial statement.

Let's just throw out a generality of 8-12 regular season wins as an expectation. 8 min...12 max, would be "high expectations" in my opinion. When I say 10 wins I'm just throwing that out there as an example of a big time year....not necessarily a 1:1 analogy of an exact some other team may have done. 10 is a nice difference split between 8 and 12..."high expectations" being the key phrase.

What kind of talent and how much of it is on this team is the biggest question mark and talking point in my opinion...and will be up until this coming season. No mistake about it...these will be Bielemas recruits playing this year. And even though he won't be coaching them, he still got them here for better or for worse. If we have plentiful dominant play makers that for whatever reason didn't show out last season or redshirted...that lead us to a special year? He deserves credit for them being on campus in the first place.

Okay, I see what you are saying much better now. I appreciate the response. When say 10 wins, I assumed you mean exactly that, and I didn't infer a ±2 games type of deal. You ask where you said that? "Truthfully, if everything you guys have said over the past few years is true we should be in line for a 10 win season. " From there, my interpretation is the only logical one. If p, then q. Not q, then not p. Hence, your words are logically equivalent to saying if we aren't in line for a 10 win season than what you have said isn't true.

A one possession game IMO is a game that is "very close". If all you are is one score away, then it won't take much for you to correct that in win. So, while it wasn't a slight to Petrino, and it was a slight to the coaching prowess of Bielema, the general point was that there's no reason to think that we can't beat them or shouldn't be able to beat them. A small correction to the flow of the program and we can be the team that comes out on top more often than not type of thing in contrast to Bama where the scores have been blowouts more often than not and we'd need a major overhaul in order to even consistently compete much less come out on top.

I was curious about the distribution myself. I chose 2016 because 2017 had a lot of coaches fired and 2016 was slightly more stable. I assume 2017 probably had more blowout games as a result and didn't want to a choose an anomalous year in favor of my argument. So, below are games that did end in one possession as well as games that were one possession in the fourth quarter vs those that weren't.

2016
17-36 games that end in one possession
27-26 games that are 1 possession in 4th quarter

Interestingly, there's a really large divide between the east and west conference games. Overall, you see that you were correct. In 2016, there were 27 conference games that were one possession in the 4th quarter vs 26 games that were at least 9+ point differential for the entire quarter. However, in the eastern division, there were way more one possession fourth quarter games than otherwise while in the western division, the number was strongly in favor of more blowout games. I don't have the exact number because I wasn't expecting such a stark difference so the way I was looking at the games, it was mostly west division games to start, eastern games in the middle, and then west to end. Went from being something like 7-10 when the first segment of west games ended, then up to like 19-13 or so when the east games ended, and then the 27-26 at the end, but those numbers aren't exact. But yeah, something along the likes of 12-3 for the east having close games at least in the fourth quarter vs 15-23 or something for the west (the bigger number includes the west vs east games as well).

Lastly, I think the biggest question mark and talking point is the aptitude of the new coaching staff. How well will they handle the SEC? How well can they adapt to the players and skill sets we currently have? How well can they get the players to buy in and can they remove the losing mentality the team has displayed the last 14 games and build a winning mentality? With that last part, I can't say that I'd hold it against the coaching staff if they can't fix that in one off-season.

[bennyl08]

Benny,

Is there any way you could type less, but still make the same points? The length of your posts takes away from my desired to read them. It's kind of like the guy who can make a point in 10 words vs the guy says 1,000 words to make the same point. I truly appreciate the guy who can do it in 10 words. Try it sometime.

To respond to your rambling takes more rambling....not as enjoyable as just getting to the damn point.

Do you think the CCM hire was a good one? I challenge you....

Short posts require the reader to make certain inferences. Especially online, those inferences are not a given. They key to discussion is communication and a lot of arguments are merely a function of a mis-communication. Though, some people are simply argumentative and will complain no matter what. You can take what they say literally and will complain that you are parsing words, but the second you read between the lines, you are putting words in their mouth.

However, for your challenge in answering your question
"He major gamble hire. Time will tell if good/bad."

[twistitup]

Short posts require the reader to make certain inferences. Especially online, those inferences are not a given. They key to discussion is communication and a lot of arguments are merely a function of a mis-communication. Though, some people are simply argumentative and will complain no matter what. You can take what they say literally and will complain that you are parsing words, but the second you read between the lines, you are putting words in their mouth.

However, for your challenge in answering your question
"He major gamble hire. Time will tell if good/bad."

so, so many words....it's just overwhelming sometimes.

I agree about CCM, he's a gamble hire
but life is a gamble, a game we all play...

Maybe CCM is our ace in the hole.

You're a good egg Benny.

[oldhawg]

"He major gamble hire. Time will tell if good/bad."

Some would argue that since Lou Holtz, Arkansas has not done so well with the "safe" hires ---- Danny Ford, Bobby Petrino, Bret Bielema.

I would have to consider Ken Hatfield a "gamble hire" since he had a losing record at the Air Force Academy before coming to Arkansas.

[rtr]

Some would argue that since Lou Holtz, Arkansas has not done so well with the "safe" hires ---- Danny Ford, Bobby Petrino, Bret Bielema.

I would have to consider Ken Hatfield a "gamble hire" since he had a losing record at the Air Force Academy before coming to Arkansas.

I like what I see so far.

[LRrazorback]

Benny,

Is there any way you could type less, but still make the same points? The length of your posts takes away from my desired to read them. It's kind of like the guy who can make a point in 10 words vs the guy says 1,000 words to make the same point. I truly appreciate the guy who can do it in 10 words. Try it sometime.

To respond to your rambling takes more rambling....not as enjoyable as just getting to the damn point.

Do you think the CCM hire was a good one? I challenge you....

Maybe Benny is Gentle Ben

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Some would argue that since Lou Holtz, Arkansas has not done so well with the "safe" hires ---- Danny Ford, Bobby Petrino, Bret Bielema.

I would have to consider Ken Hatfield a "gamble hire" since he had a losing record at the Air Force Academy before coming to Arkansas.

I'm not sure that many considered the Petrino hire as a "safe hire". Big time coach, sure. But a "safe hire" given his track record? Maybe not so much. Ford and Bielema? Sure.

What we tend to forget about Hatfield at Air Force (a service academy mind you with a lot of recruiting disadvantages) was that he took them from this, to this:

1979: 2-9
1980: 2-9
1981: 4-7
1982: 8-5
1983: 10-2

I have to hand it to Hatfield, he was building a winning program under pretty extreme limitations.

[PorkSoda]

I'm not sure that many considered the Petrino hire as a "safe hire". Big time coach, sure. But a "safe hire" given his track record? Maybe not so much. Ford and Bielema? Sure.

What we tend to forget about Hatfield at Air Force (a service academy mind you with a lot of recruiting disadvantages) was that he took them from this, to this:

1979: 2-9
1980: 2-9
1981: 4-7
1982: 8-5
1983: 10-2

I have to hand it to Hatfield, he was building a winning program under pretty extreme limitations.

i considered him a home run hire, and he certainly was right up until he thought he was unfireable.

a lot of chance circumstances lined up to get him here. and despite the later fall out, I'm glad he came.  had long gotten his choice we would have hired terry bowden.  think of where our program would have been after that.

[rtr]

i considered him a home run hire, and he certainly was right up until he thought he was unfireable.

a lot of chance circumstances lined up to get him here. and despite the later fall out, I'm glad he came.  had long gotten his choice we would have hired terry bowden.  think of where our program would have been after that.

or Jim Grobe.

[Hoggish1]

http://video.wholehogsports.com/Chad-Morris-recaps-Day-2-of-spring-practice-33599184?playlistId=15945

CCM likes natural grass.

This one got my attention!

[JoeyJackMcKaskell]

That was CBB's boy....him and his dad were friends. He was giving Derby a shot at QB - we had better QB's on the roster

Who? Brandon Allen was hurt.

[JoeyJackMcKaskell]

Because it's a fact we weren't bereft of talent when CBB got here. Look at the NFL draft picks he inherited. It's the most talented team a razorback coach has ever inherited.

A lot of that NFL talent was young and the revisionist paint a picture of a roster full of Sunday ready talent. There was attrition that greatly affected depth. Bielema should have won 2 or 3 more games but the program was a mess in more ways than one.