We know Long will not fire Mike so

[nwahogfan1]

what can Long do or most importantly what will he do?  He is the one to hire Mike and he sure was proud of himself for making this hire.  So he is not going to admit defeat yet.

What will Long do?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to hire a better recruiting Coach?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to make any changes to his staff?

I wonder what the big money boasters are saying to Long right now about our BB program and its future?  Do they think the practice facility was a good return on their investment?   Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when they meet?  LOL

[hogsanity]

He is not going to do anything as long as 8-10k people buy season tickets for basketball. Big money boosters, like most Razorback fans, no longer care about basketball.

[Captain Morgan]

what can Long do or most importantly what will he do?  He is the one to hire Mike and he sure was proud of himself for making this hire.  So he is not going to admit defeat yet.

What will Long do?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to hire a better recruiting Coach?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to make any changes to his staff?

I wonder what the big money boasters are saying to Long right now about our BB program and its future?  Do they think the practice facility was a good return on their investment?   Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when they meet?  LOL

1. Long will discuss baseball and football and ignore the fans apathy and disgust of the basketball program

2. Long will not put pressure on Anderson to make coaching staff changes. Long is aware that changing personell on the Titanic does no good.

3. The basketball practice facility may be a bust move as recruiting is still well below average. I would assume when Anderson is fired the next coach without a gimmick system will take advantage of it.

[jkstock04]

You know what Jeff Long is going to do. Come out and say everything is great and the future is brighter than ever.

To me it is an interesting situation as to the "big money boosters" and who exactly it is that still buys up the majority of the bball season tickets. Who does this? The normal fan does not. I've heard and believe it to be true that these tickets are bought up by the big corporations. If I'm not mistaken we still sell out 12-14k of the season tickets. Not too bad.

So the basketball program still makes a nice profit...still one of the top in the country if I'm not mistake. Why would that change? And with that said why would Jeff Long consider making any coaching changes...considering this was his hire. $$$$ seems to be his #1 thing.

[mhuff]

MA has contract until 2020. We can thank Long for that .

[Razorpigg]

Guys....CMA is in NO, and I mean ZERO, danger of being fired, let go, run off, etc.  Wishful thinking on some peoples parts, but silly nonetheless.  Crazy watching all the FIRE CMA posts, and all the blah, blah, blah that goes with them.

[Pork Twain]

Long has shown that he will make the hires to win, I am sure he will not ignore this situation.

[TrueBlue]

I wished I was making a base salary of $2.2 million a year until 2020 and not have to worry about my performance. Must be nice.

[go hogues]

It was our fans that CLAMORED to hire Anderson. I would be willing to bet that Long wasn't too familiar with MA when he was more or less forced upon him by our influential boosters who were nostalgic for some semblance of the Nolan magic.
Long may or may not be impressed with Mike now but it's hard for me to believe that MA would have been Long's first choice back when he was hired.

[lynbug]

MA has contract until 2020. We can thank Long for that .

If that's the case then we may as well look forward to more of the same, because I just don't see the U of A buying out any more basketball coaches contracts.

[HognitiveDissonance]

It was our fans that CLAMORED to hire Anderson. I would be willing to bet that Long wasn't too familiar with MA when he was more or less forced upon him by our influential boosters who were nostalgic for some semblance of the Nolan magic.
Long may or may not be impressed with Mike now but it's hard for me to believe that MA would have been Long's first choice back when he was hired.

Yea, never listen to a mob.
Like, Pontius Pilate giving in the mob screaming 'crucify him, crucify him' when the guy had done nothing wrong. I digress. But you get the point.
Mob mentaility.

I have sympathy for Jeff and on another hand I don't.
No doubt he was under pressure to bring Mike back. But not just by fans, but more importantly I know he was lobbied by former players. That was hard to resist. And no doubt Mike had a good resume, if not great. So it was a safe hire that wouldn't be questioned all that much by 'most' people.

However, he's also getting paid $1mm a year to do a job. If that means going against the grain and following your instincts, then he needs to show courage and do what's best for the program.

My concern, as stated elsewhere as well, is that I wonder about Jeff's judgment in general. We all know the Tommy Bowden, Jim Grobe stories, etc. I really wonder if Jeff himself is a great identifier of coaching talent. A very good administrator, businessman, and great guy...but hiring/firing coaches is the absolute most important thing an AD does as it sets the tone for success of the programs. That's the part I worry he's not great at.

[hamARchy in the USA]

It was our fans that CLAMORED to hire Anderson. I would be willing to bet that Long wasn't too familiar with MA when he was more or less forced upon him by our influential boosters who were nostalgic for some semblance of the Nolan magic.
Long may or may not be impressed with Mike now but it's hard for me to believe that MA would have been Long's first choice back when he was hired.

Very few fans wanted MA hired.  Most were hugely disappointed when it happened as was noted at the time and as the empty seats have proven ever since.  The media focused on the vocal few who were excited.  The AD shouldn't be basing his hires off a popularity contest anyway. 

Long is paid $1.2M+ to be familiar with his potential hires.  If you look at his history you'll see that he pursues coaches with high name recognition.  Name recognition clearly comes before coaching ability on his list of necessary qualifications. 

[labb]

3." The basketball practice facility may be a bust move as recruiting is still well below average. I would assume when Anderson is fired the next coach without a gimmick system will take advantage of"

And just how long have we had this practice facility?

[HognitiveDissonance]

We were lucky to have Frank all those years.
Eddie, Nolan, McDonnell, etc were all non-household names when they were hired. He showed a true gift for seeing things in people.
Not to mention hires like Holtz and Van Horn who had more of a resume but were also great hires.

He wasn't perfect, no one is, but bottom line I would feel more comfortable with Frank making a hire than Jeff.

[HognitiveDissonance]

3." The basketball practice facility may be a bust move as recruiting is still well below average. I would assume when Anderson is fired the next coach without a gimmick system will take advantage of"

And just how long have we had this practice facility?

Actually, the practice facility to anyone in the know is just another example of the mentality of the masses having no real connection to reality.
Anyone should know that a practice facility is NOT going to be the major decision point in a recruit's decision. It's nearly ALWAYS about player/coach relationship, comfort level, a little bit of playing time and 'fitting the system'.

Am I glad we have it? yes.
Have I been in it? yes. it's spectacular. Beautiful facility.
Will it make that much difference in recruiting? No.

The coach sells his vision, his program, and himself. That's the decision point. Everything else is just bells and whistles, and lots of schools have that kind of stuff. It ultimately comes down to the coach.

Riddle me this...how did Eddie land Sidney, Brewer, and Delph trying to recruit to a dirt-floor in Barnhill?
How did Nolan convince Huery, Day, Mayberry, Miller, Corliss, Scotty, Darnell, L Wilson, Beck, Hood, K Reid, etc etc to come here without the dreaded practice facility?

Many of those guys above picked Arkansas when a) we didn't have Bud Walton Arena b) we didn't have a practice facility

For that matter, how does Duke recruit when they continue to play in an antiquated old arena? No bells and whistles there.

The obvious answer is what I said; the players are choosing Coach Sutton, or Coach Richardson, or Coach K...because of them. Not bells and whistles.
Bells and whistles are great and it makes the fans proud and I'm sure it's nice to show off to everyone. May even get some practical use out of it.

But please do not delude yourself into thinking that this is THE DECISION POINT when players are being recruited.

[cityhog]

It was our fans that CLAMORED to hire Anderson. I would be willing to bet that Long wasn't too familiar with MA when he was more or less forced upon him by our influential boosters who were nostalgic for some semblance of the Nolan magic.
Long may or may not be impressed with Mike now but it's hard for me to believe that MA would have been Long's first choice back when he was hired.

I voiced this when MA was hired. We were promised a national search when Pel was fired. MA was basically shoved down Long's throat, and no national search was conducted. Can't decide who I'm more angry with, Long for allowing fans to dictate his hire or the fans living in the 90's screaming for MA to be hired.

[cityhog]

Actually, the practice facility to anyone in the know is just another example of the mentality of the masses having no real connection to reality.

But please do not delude yourself into thinking that this is THE DECISION POINT when players are being recruited.

This was an excuse used for poor recruiting. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[Atlhogfan1]

I voiced this when MA was hired. We were promised a national search when Pel was fired. MA was basically shoved down Long's throat, and no national search was conducted. Can't decide who I'm more angry with, Long for allowing fans to dictate his hire or the fans living in the 90's screaming for MA to be hired.

The vocal group of fans and influencers who refused to allow our program to move on and used Anderson's success elsewhere to attack our program in a campaign to get him back.  And the ones who continued whining about style and only wanted to support Hawg Ball. 


I will say I felt bad for TJ at the end of the game last night.  The look on his face as he leaned over and shook his head. 

[cityhog]

I will say I felt bad for TJ at the end of the game last night.  The look on his face as he leaned over and shook his head. 

That was sad. Truly.

[The_Iceman]

I voiced this when MA was hired. We were promised a national search when Pel was fired. MA was basically shoved down Long's throat, and no national search was conducted. Can't decide who I'm more angry with, Long for allowing fans to dictate his hire or the fans living in the 90's screaming for MA to be hired.

People were tired of seeing Mike Anderson in the tournament while we were stuck with Heath and Pelphrey. Many, along with myself, thought even if he just brought consistent NCAA Tournament appearances back to Arkansas, with a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 every 3 or 4 years, that would be great. We just wanted consistency and a long term answer. If he did it at Mizzou and UAB, why not here?

I ignored many of the warnings those at Mizzou gave our way. It was like the Ole Miss fans after they hired Nutt. We tried to warn them he wasn't as good as his record looked on paper.

Mike has done some good things here in repairing some issues, particularly behind the scenes stuff, but now its time to move on. I think at this point firing him won't upset too many people outside of his close knit group. I know it won't happen after this season, but he better get it done next year or he's gone.

[Kevin]

Every football recruit is amazed by the facilities, still have not had a top ten class yet.

It is about the assistants coaches working their tails off to get a relationship and the head coach being able to come in and close the door.

Unc's dean done is older than bwa, and there practice facility is just down the hall from the main floor. 

[The_Iceman]

Every football recruit is amazed by the facilities, still have not had a top ten class yet.

It is about the assistants coaches working their tails off to get a relationship and the head coach being able to come in and close the door.

Unc's dean done is older than bwa, and there practice facility is just down the hall from the main floor. 

We needed a practice facility. The logistics of scheduling mens and womens practices at BWA was disastrous from what I've heard. In terms of recruiting, it may not land a recruit, but not having one could be a negative in our column when recruits are evaluating. It is best to eliminate any chances of that when you can.

[go hogues]

Very few fans wanted MA hired.  Most were hugely disappointed when it happened...

Stopped reading right here, because that is B FRIGGIN' S.

They held his presser on the BWA floor, for heaven's sake - in front of a fairly sizable crowd (especially on a Saturday morning).

Get a clue, man.

[Atlhogfan1]

Stopped reading right here, because that is B FRIGGIN' S.

They held his presser on the BWA floor, for heaven's sake - in front of a fairly sizable crowd (especially on a Saturday morning).

Get a clue, man.

I want to know where the hell this group of fans were hiding during the 9 year campaign to hire Anderson. 

[Uncommon]

Jesus, there are at least 6 games left and the program improved every year before that.  How much of a fool would Long be to make an emotional decision after a bad game like last night to fire him on the spot?  We'd be the USC football version of basketball and we don't have the national legacy/spotlight USC does to bring in big name coaches.

[Atlhogfan1]

Jesus, there are at least 6 games left and the program improved every year before that.  How much of a fool would Long be to make an emotional decision after a bad game like last night to fire him on the spot?  We'd be the USC football version of basketball and we don't have the national legacy/spotlight USC does to bring in big name coaches.

Has someone suggested he be fired before the Mizzou game? 

[GuvHog]

Jesus, there are at least 6 games left and the program improved every year before that.  How much of a fool would Long be to make an emotional decision after a bad game like last night to fire him on the spot?  We'd be the USC football version of basketball and we don't have the national legacy/spotlight USC does to bring in big name coaches.

There are 5 games left and the only one I would call winnable at this point is Missouri in BWA.

[Sivad]

Anderson and Agent Jimmy Sexton clipped us so bad with his unjustified salary demands we may not can afford to fire him now.

[Uncommon]

Has someone suggested he be fired before the Mizzou game?

I think the OP was hinting at it considering he used the words "since we know". That has an underlying meaning of that he expected it to happen.

[solitons]

what can Long do or most importantly what will he do?  He is the one to hire Mike and he sure was proud of himself for making this hire.  So he is not going to admit defeat yet.

What will Long do?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to hire a better recruiting Coach?

Will Long put some pressure on Mike to make any changes to his staff?

I wonder what the big money boasters are saying to Long right now about our BB program and its future?  Do they think the practice facility was a good return on their investment?   Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when they meet?  LOL

maybe long will fire him

[DeltaBoy]

Mike needs to shake up his staff and get a better recruiter on his staff.

[rude1]

Mike needs to shake up his staff and get a better recruiter on his staff.

Not going to happen. They came as a package and if the time comes, they will leave as one.

[hobhog]

Guys....CMA is in NO, and I mean ZERO, danger of being fired, let go, run off, etc.  Wishful thinking on some peoples parts, but silly nonetheless.  Crazy watching all the FIRE CMA posts, and all the blah, blah, blah that goes with them.

Who are his biggest supporters? Name one. Long doesn't count.

Don't kid yourself. Big Money wants results just like all Hog fans. Next year he better dance or he is toast....

[3kgthog]

Inform him he's got to shake up his staff. If they are indeed a package deal, perhaps he refuses and quits or Jeff fires some assistants himself and Mike then quits. Buyout problem solved for MA.

[Boardon Hamsay]

I'm telling you fellas. We need to install a rink in BWA and get the IceHogs playing there. Twould be awesome, a better venue than the Jones center, and it would increase on campus revenue!

[moses_007]

Well, I remember many on here saying we'd have been able to have hired Billy G. from Texas A&M had we had a practice facility at that time.  He went to Kentucky instead. 

The football facility is one of the nicest in the country, but it has yet to land us a great recruiting class.  The same will likely be true with the basketball practice facility.  Probably only Vanderbilt has sub-par basketball facilities in the SEC.