Wally Hall confirms what we all know We are behind the 8 ball on recruiting.

[IronHog]

Nobody can compete with Bama with their stud freshman QB from Texas and their other athletes. All the other schools from the deep south about even with Big 12. All kinda down right now because of weak QB play in both conferences.

TCU, Texas, Kansas St, Texas Tech were nothing like SEC west games......

[colbs]

Alabama for example is a state with a population of 4.8 million people. Arkansas' at 3M. When we consider that Alabama has 2 major Div. 1 programs in the state battling over the same crop of in-state players it marginalizes the states overall population advantage over Arkansas' and the odds in turn favor the Univ. of Arkansas.

We're not Oregon. Its a lot easier to get kids from Florida to come to Arkansas than it would be to get them Oregon. We're not asking kids to travel clear across the country to come play for us. Nationally, we're actually in a great spot. We're also surrounded by 6 states. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma. If we can improve the brand of our program then we can go into these states and bring out some of their best players.

There's absolutely nothing interesting about playing football in the state of Alabama for a young high school kid. But kids go there because they've reestablished a winning tradition. We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas.

Alabama produces 4 to 5 times D1 talent that Arkansas.  Not to mention Auburn is about an hour and a half from Atlanta.  Not only is Arkansas very small it produces very little D1 talent.  Mississippi and Alabama are not much bigger but per capita they produce a lot more talent.

[arslp]

I'm not a big Petrino fan but he had us ranked in the top 5 two years in a row. I'm just saying I think we should be farther along for the 25-30 mil that we've paid out.  We have one of the worst defenses in the country and that's not Rob Smiths fault. It's Beleima's. He's the CEO. You can call me an idiot all you want but if a top compensated CEO of a corp didn't show any more improvement after 4 yrs than Bret has he would be replaced, but don't knock me because I'm tired of seeing my beloved hogs getting humiliated on natl tv. Either find a way to hang with the big dogs or change conferences

[IronHog]

Alabama produces 4 to 5 times D1 talent that Arkansas.  Not to mention Auburn is about an hour and a half from Atlanta.  Not only is Arkansas very small it produces very little D1 talent.  Mississippi and Alabama are not much bigger but per capita they produce a lot more talent.

South and east Arkansas produce talent on par with other southern states.....it's the ozarks and ouachitas that throw off the #'s.


Of course the campus was put in the mizzkanark......that's a problem

[DeltaBoy]

South and east Arkansas produce talent on par with other southern states.....it's the ozarks and ouachitas that throw off the #'s.


Of course the campus was put in the mizzkanark......that's a problem

The Deline of life in the Delta and the LR mess has hurt the hogs cause we were getting kids from Pine Bluff and LR back in the 1980's.

[thefisher]

Texas, OU, etc can't compete with Deep South teams....

Just wondering if you were watching this year when Wisconsin beat LSU.

How does that fit into your thesis?

[IronHog]

Just wondering if you were watching this year when Wisconsin beat LSU.

How does that fit into your thesis?

Game I saw LSU physically beat the snot out of Wisconsin but lost on the scoreboard due to team issues

Much like the cap one bowl when Jamaal Anderson wadded up BBs OL like a tin can but Nutt pulled out the defeat

[Hawgar The Horrible]

South and east Arkansas produce talent on par with other southern states.....it's the ozarks and ouachitas that throw off the #'s.


Of course the campus was put in the mizzkanark......that's a problem

I'm sure you have supporting data to substantiate this tee-total horse chit, right?

[colbs]

South and east Arkansas produce talent on par with other southern states.....it's the ozarks and ouachitas that throw off the #'s.


Of course the campus was put in the mizzkanark......that's a problem

As of late it seems like more players are coming from NWA.  I am not sure what has happened to Central Arkansas but there just aren't as many players coming out of there anymore.  Last year it seemed more players came from Central Arkansas than the previous few years.  Arkansas should be producing pretty close to the same number of D1 players as MS but they don't.  Arkansas no doubt is at a clear disadvantage compared to almost everyone except Kentucky, Missouri, and Vandy.

[IronHog]

I'm sure you have supporting data to substantiate this tee-total horse chit, right?

Mena and Harrison aren't exactly putting out the studs

[colbs]

I'm sure you have supporting data to substantiate this tee-total horse chit, right?

There are only 6 players in this year's class from east or south Arkansas that are ranked 3* or higher(only ones a 4*) and only 2 have Arkansas offers.  I am going to say other southern states produce a lot more than that.

[IronHog]

As of late it seems like more players are coming from NWA.  I am not sure what has happened to Central Arkansas but there just aren't as many players coming out of there anymore.  Last year it seemed more players came from Central Arkansas than the previous few years.  Arkansas should be producing pretty close to the same number of D1 players as MS but they don't.  Arkansas no doubt is at a clear disadvantage compared to almost everyone except Kentucky, Missouri, and Vandy.

NWA per person and per dollar grossly under performs.


All those 7a schools should be putting out 1-2 SEC level players each per year......  The underperform rate of what it does produce is high.

[IronHog]

There are only 6 players in this year's class from east or south Arkansas that are ranked 3* or higher(only ones a 4*) and only 2 have Arkansas offers.  I am going to say other southern states produce a lot more than that.

Per capita......not much difference.

[thefisher]

Game I saw LSU physically beat the snot out of Wisconsin but lost on the scoreboard due to team issues

Really.  Maybe you weren't paying close attention then. Here were the actual game stats-

Wisconsin first downs - 21
LSU         first downs - 14

Wisconsin total yards - 359
LSU         total yards - 257

In addition Wisconsin had more rushing yards and held Fournette & Co to 126 total rushing yards.

Wisconsin dominated time of possession.  Turnovers were exactly even as were penalties.

I'm sorry, but could you point out to me exactly where LSU, "beat the snot out of Wisconsin" , as you put it?

If LSU got dominated in time of possession, out rushed, out passed, beaten substantially in total yards, had a 30% deficit in first downs, only had 126 TOTAL team rushing yards .... oh yeah, and lost the game then exactly where did they beat the snot out of Wisconsin?

Could you please show me the stats that reflect LSU,  "beating the snot out of Wisconsin".

I actually watched the game and those stats pretty accurately reflect the spanking Wisconsin put on LSU.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

I'm sure you have supporting data to substantiate this tee-total horse chit, right?

The bad end of his Enfield Pattern Rifle is where he gets it... so suck it.

[FATHAWG08]

How many are from the state of Texas, where we USED to get most of our studs?

How many High Schools run our type of offense? They've  been groomed since Pop Warner to play the spread. We should have  a chance for  the Top RB's/DB's but other than that our style doesn't seem to be fit Texas recruits

[IronHog]

Really.  Maybe you weren't paying close attention then. Here were the actual game stats-

Wisconsin first downs - 21
LSU         first downs - 14

Wisconsin total yards - 359
LSU         total yards - 257

In addition Wisconsin had more rushing yards and held Fournette & Co to 126 total rushing yards.

Wisconsin dominated time of possession.  Turnovers were exactly even as were penalties.

I'm sorry, but could you point out to me exactly where LSU, "beat the snot out of Wisconsin" , as you put it?

If LSU got dominated in time of possession, out rushed, out passed, beaten substantially in total yards, had a 30% deficit in first downs, only had 126 TOTAL team rushing yards .... oh yeah, and lost the game then exactly where did they beat the snot out of Wisconsin?

Could you please show me the stats that reflect LSU,  "beating the snot out of Wisconsin".

I actually watched the game and those stats pretty accurately reflect the spanking Wisconsin put on LSU.

16-14 with Brandon Harris at QB


You sound like Mizzou fans crowing about the cotton bowl

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

How many High Schools run our type of offense? They've  been groomed since Pop Warner to play the spread. We should get a chance the Top RB's/DB's but other than that our style doesn't seem to be appealing to the  Texas recruits

I'm pretty sure getting beat 56-3 plays a bigger role. 

That being said, this year's class is pretty much locked up. 

[colbs]

Per capita......not much difference.

The state as a whole isn't.  Are you just guessing that it's on par with other southern schools are just guessing?  I'd love to see something to back that up. 

[IronHog]

The state as a whole isn't.  Are you just guessing that it's on par with other southern schools are just guessing?  I'd love to see something to back that up. 

There's a chart out there somewhere


The parts of the state that are southern look like other southern states and the mountain/Midwest parts look like Kansas.

Demographics is what it is......

[Jim Harris]

101-300
SC 2
MS 4
TN 5
LA 10
GA 23
FL 24

so Clemson and South Carolina are fighting over two top 300 players in there state, and have to go outside SC for most of their playmakers, is that what this says? (besides what it says about Arkansas?)

[hoghiker]

Alabama for example is a state with a population of 4.8 million people. Arkansas' at 3M. When we consider that Alabama has 2 major Div. 1 programs in the state battling over the same crop of in-state players it marginalizes the states overall population advantage over Arkansas' and the odds in turn favor the Univ. of Arkansas.

We're not Oregon. Its a lot easier to get kids from Florida to come to Arkansas than it would be to get them Oregon. We're not asking kids to travel clear across the country to come play for us. Nationally, we're actually in a great spot. We're also surrounded by 6 states. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma. If we can improve the brand of our program then we can go into these states and bring out some of their best players.

There's absolutely nothing interesting about playing football in the state of Alabama for a young high school kid. But kids go there because they've reestablished a winning tradition. We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas.

We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas. Mmmmmh. Doubt that. Arkansas is never, and I mean never, going to dominate the SEC West the way Bama has the past 5-6 years. Simply is not going to happen.

[thefisher]

16-14 with Brandon Harris at QB

You sound like Mizzou fans crowing about the cotton bowl

Nice total and complete dodge!  Then the red herring, sad.

You specifically said, and I quote,

Game I saw LSU physically beat the snot out of Wisconsin but lost on the scoreboard due to team issues

I posted the actual game stats above.  First opening day loss for LSU in 12 years. Now ... exactly and specifically where did Wisconsin get the snot beat out of them by LSU?  Not stats, scoreboard, certainly not the field where Wisconsin pitched a defensive shutout deep into the 3rd ...... not anywhere.  Well ... where ...where was this snot beating done ...... please show me the stat, score, SOMETHING ....  you are the one who said it.

[IronHog]

We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas. Mmmmmh. Doubt that. Arkansas is never, and I mean never, going to dominate the SEC West the way Bama has the past 5-6 years. Simply is not going to happen.

True.


And Bama is bad for college football......esp the SEC west.

[FATHAWG08]

I'm pretty sure getting beat 56-3 plays a bigger role. 

That being said, this year's class is pretty much locked up.

How many recruits did we have committed before the Auburn Game?

Again, If we ran a Spread offense I'm sure We would have more Texas recruits on our roster than what with have now with the offense we use now.

[Redhogs]

I DON'T WANT TO SEE EXCUSES LIKE THIS CRAP.

If our coaches are bleeding out this ssshhhhiiitttt, fire the lot of them. Today.

Let's try managing a competent recruiting process for several years in a row, before we [CENSORED] surrender FFS.

Let's recruit players to fill all the right roles and not go multiple seasons without signing players for some positions.

Let's put players in the right positions on the field.

Let's try recruiting a real rush end and a real middle linebacker and real safeties.

Let's bring in offensive tackles, guards and centers, not tweeners we have to shoehorn into positions.

And let's [CENSORED] catch up to the rest of the goddamned world and bring in a run-pass quarterback, especially when some great ones are begging to be [CENSORED] recruited damn it all to hell!

Come on now Biggus....YOU ARE JUST MAKING TOO MUCH DAMN SENSE....again.

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

Wally has also confirmed the existence of gravity.  He was set to confirm that the earth is round but isn't quite ready to commit.

[IronHog]

Nice total and complete dodge!  Then the red herring, sad.

You specifically said, and I quote,
I posted the actual game stats above.  First opening day loss for LSU in 12 years. Now ... exactly and specifically where did Wisconsin get the snot beat out of them by LSU?  Not stats, scoreboard, certainly not the field where Wisconsin pitched a defensive shutout deep into the 3rd ...... not anywhere.  Well ... where ...where was this snot beating done ...... please show me the stat, score, SOMETHING ....  you are the one who said it.

Wisc playing their super bowl in Green Bay against a lame duck coach.....won by 2.

One game match ups don't mean much.....esp that one.

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

in the espn 300 for 2017 Just in the top 100 the state of Al has 2, TN 4, LA 12, Fla 20, MS 3, La 3, Ar 1.

But here is the rest of the story in the top 300 total, the state of Ar has 2, that is TWO out of the top 300 recruits. I did not even count how many the other states have in 101-300.

And there's your 8 ball people

[Jim Harris]

Alabama for example is a state with a population of 4.8 million people. Arkansas' at 3M. When we consider that Alabama has 2 major Div. 1 programs in the state battling over the same crop of in-state players it marginalizes the states overall population advantage over Arkansas' and the odds in turn favor the Univ. of Arkansas.

We're not Oregon. Its a lot easier to get kids from Florida to come to Arkansas than it would be to get them Oregon. We're not asking kids to travel clear across the country to come play for us. Nationally, we're actually in a great spot. We're also surrounded by 6 states. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma. If we can improve the brand of our program then we can go into these states and bring out some of their best players.

There's absolutely nothing interesting about playing football in the state of Alabama for a young high school kid. But kids go there because they've reestablished a winning tradition. We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas.

How many of Arkansas's 3 million are over 65 or retired compared with Alabama's population? How many people live in Arkansas's Delta compared with the number of people that live in Alabama from just west of Selma through Montgomery and south to the Coast, where many of Bama's and Auburn's great difference makers play high school ball?

Point is, comparing Arkansas's 3 million to Mississippi's 3 million or to Alabama's 4.8 million and dividing the talent available in that 4.8 by two schools is, again, an apples to oranges comparison. I'd rather know how many people ages 18 and under live in the states and start from there, and then break down what Arkansas's expectations should be for the amount of talent that SHOULD come from within the state's borders.

A lot of people complain that our high school coaching is not good enough overall, compared with Texas, or Alabama or other states. I think in many cases it's on par with some of the out of state high school teams I've seen, but you can be the greatest coach of all time and you're still not going to make your athletes MORE TALENTED. You can bring out what talent they have, but if their ceiling is, say Division 2 level at best, that's what they'll be. I don't see the state producing a great number of SEC-talented players.

[IronHog]

And there's your 8 ball people

And Bama will cherry pick them all....

[thefisher]

Per capita......not much difference.

More bs darn from IronHog-

Per Capita not much difference in talent production you say .... really.

Mississippi is a border state with nearly identical population .... so let's see if your statement holds water ... or not.

2016
The state of Arkansas   produced 3   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 25 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 11 recruits rated 4-5 stars and 67 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2015
The state of Arkansas   produced 5   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 36 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 9   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 62 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2014
The state of Arkansas   produced 2   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 14 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 9   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 61 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2013
The state of Arkansas   produced 3   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 12 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 10 recruits rated 4-5 stars and 59 recruits rated 3-5 stars

As a total you can see this-

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 4-5 STAR RECRUITS PRODUCED IN THE 4 YEAR RECRUITING CYCLE
Arkansas -   13
Mississippi - 39

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 3-5 STAR RECRUITS PRODUCED IN THE 4 YEAR RECRUITING CYCLE
Arkansas -     87
Mississippi - 249

The state of Mississippi produces 3 times as many upper level elite football athletes as the state of Arkansas

Yes, even the Mississippi schools kick our arse in the high school football talent production. 
THAT is the problem ... always has been ... and will be for the foreseeable future.

I know many want to think Arkansas could just swoop in and scoop those kids up because of the ... "We are Fayetteville ...we are the home of a big Walmart Distribution Center .... and Tyson's is located here ... and we have the Catfish Hole!" mentality.  It just isn't so.

As proof of that I offer these state of Mississippi recruiting facts.

In the last 4 recruiting cycles the state of Mississippi has produced 39 football players rated 4-5 stars. 
Ole Miss gained commitments from 17 of them.
Mississippi State gained commitments from 15 of them.

Thus they retained 32 of the 39 players rated at 4-5 stars to stay in state and play for the Mississippi schools.
The only ones they lost were Bama got 3, LSU got 2, TA&M got 1, 1 had to go JUCO.  They fence their state in as well as anyone. 

Do you see that? 

BOTH SEC Mississippi Schools signed more 4-5 star players from Mississippi than the entire state of Arkansas even produced! 

[Redhogs]

which means giving them 10 years because you can't build a PROGRAM in less time. You can build a team, you can work toward having all the pieces in place to have a really good team in year 4 or 5, but it takes a decade to build a program. Problem is, fans do not want to wait that long. They think a new coach should have them in the title game in 3 years.

10 really? Ah hell, let's just make it 20 to be safe. Wasn't HDN here 10 years, that worked out awesome.

[IronHog]

How many of Arkansas's 3 million are over 65 or retired compared with Alabama's population? How many people live in Arkansas's Delta compared with the number of people that live in Alabama from just west of Selma through Montgomery and south to the Coast, where many of Bama's and Auburn's great difference makers play high school ball?

Point is, comparing Arkansas's 3 million to Mississippi's 3 million or to Alabama's 4.8 million and dividing the talent available in that 4.8 by two schools is, again, an apples to oranges comparison. I'd rather know how many people ages 18 and under live in the states and start from there, and then break down what Arkansas's expectations should be for the amount of talent that SHOULD come from within the state's borders.

A lot of people complain that our high school coaching is not good enough overall, compared with Texas, or Alabama or other states. I think in many cases it's on par with some of the out of state high school teams I've seen, but you can be the greatest coach of all time and you're still not going to make your athletes MORE TALENTED. You can bring out what talent they have, but if their ceiling is, say Division 2 level at best, that's what they'll be. I don't see the state producing a great number of SEC-talented players.

The ability to play SEC football is 95% genetic

[IronHog]

More bs darn from IronHog-

Per Capita not much difference in talent production you say .... really.

Mississippi is a border state with nearly identical population .... so let's see if your statement holds water ... or not.

2016
The state of Arkansas   produced 3   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 25 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 11 recruits rated 4-5 stars and 67 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2015
The state of Arkansas   produced 5   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 36 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 9   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 62 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2014
The state of Arkansas   produced 2   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 14 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 9   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 61 recruits rated 3-5 stars

2013
The state of Arkansas   produced 3   recruits rated 4-5 stars and 12 recruits rated 3-5 stars
The state of Mississippi produced 10 recruits rated 4-5 stars and 59 recruits rated 3-5 stars

As a total you can see this-

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 4-5 STAR RECRUITS PRODUCED IN THE 4 YEAR RECRUITING CYCLE
Arkansas -   13
Mississippi - 39

THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 3-5 STAR RECRUITS PRODUCED IN THE 4 YEAR RECRUITING CYCLE
Arkansas -     87
Mississippi - 249

The state of Mississippi produces 3 times as many upper level elite football athletes as the state of Arkansas

Yes, even the Mississippi schools kick our arse in the high school football talent production. 
THAT is the problem ... always has been ... and will be for the foreseeable future.

I know many want to think Arkansas could just swoop in and scoop those kids up because of the ... "We are Fayetteville ...we are the home of a big Walmart Distribution Center .... and Tyson's is located here ... and we have the Catfish Hole!" mentality.  It just isn't so.

As proof of that I offer these state of Mississippi recruiting facts.

In the last 4 recruiting cycles the state of Mississippi has produced 39 football players rated 4-5 stars. 
Ole Miss gained commitments from 17 of them.
Mississippi State gained commitments from 15 of them.

Thus they retained 32 of the 39 players rated at 4-5 stars to stay in state and play for the Mississippi schools.
The only ones they lost were Bama got 3, LSU got 2, TA&M got 1, 1 had to go JUCO.  They fence their state in as well as anyone. 

Do you see that? 

BOTH SEC Mississippi Schools signed more 4-5 star players from Mississippi than the entire state of Arkansas even produced! 

Mississippi is all southern.....Ark is not.  The southern part of Arkansas does pretty well per capita


Try to keep up

[thefisher]

Wisc playing their super bowl in Green Bay against a lame duck coach.....won by 2.

One game match ups don't mean much.....esp that one.

So ... are you now admitting you were not telling the truth when you made you statement about "snot kicking"?

Again, I placed all the stats above at your fingertips.  Please point out the ones that verify your position.

Bottom line was Wisconsin actually beat LSU up pretty good that game.

I guess you don't actually have any evidence for your statements. Now are just trying to act like you didn't write them since they are clearly untrue.

[thefisher]

Mississippi is all southern.....Ark is not.  The southern part of Arkansas does pretty well per capita

Try to keep up

No keeping up needed. You evidently forgot where you were.  You said that per capita that there wasn't much difference in talent production.  There clearly and verifiably is.

You are a hard person to converse with as you make statements with no proof. When another shows actual facts that contradict your statements you act like you never made them and throw out some meaningless red herring statement.

Honestly, do you not remember what you say ... or do you simply spout things so randomly that you can't keep up or don't care?

[Sportster365]

Population size and demographics are overblown. If it was that simple California, Texas and Florida schools would lead the nation in recruiting every year. By those standards there's no way possible for the Univ. of Alabama to ever top the rankings in recruiting, but somehow year after year they remain #1.

As of right now, the only school from one of those highly populated states is in the top 10 in recruiting and that's A&M at 9.

OU #3
LSU #4
Vols # 8
ND # 6

[Pork Twain]

South and east Arkansas produce talent on par with other southern states.....it's the ozarks and ouachitas that throw off the #'s.


Of course the campus was put in the mizzkanark......that's a problem

Many moons ago, I think you are the one that brought up the Black Belt and after looking into it, it is hard to ignore.  Northern Arkansas is rural and full of small schools and that does not help at all.

[Hawgar The Horrible]

Per capita......not much difference.

Four/Five star prospects produced by State this year per capita:

TN 1.37
FL 2.26
MS 2.33
LA 2.79
AL 2.89
GA 3.27

Arkansas = 0.66 per million. Yeah, real close, math major.

Your "Southern and Eastern" Arkansas argument is so dumb I won't even go there. ONE blue chip. Hot damn!

[Pork Twain]

Population size and demographics are overblown. If it was that simple California, Texas and Florida schools would lead the nation in recruiting every year. By those standards there's no way possible for the Univ. of Alabama to ever top the rankings in recruiting, but somehow year after year they remain #1.

As of right now, the only school from one of those highly populated states are in the top 10 in recruiting and that's A&M at 9.

OU #3
LSU #4
Vols # 8
ND # 6

It is a mistake to only look at one component.  There are other things that attract athletes to those schools that Arkansas does not have.

[Razorback de Nosferatu]

If you're looking at the Hogs' four losses this year and then writing an article about the frustrating nature of Arkansas's recruiting...  To me, you're missing the point.

Arkansas is pretty inexperienced this year, especially in key positions on offense.  Largely for that reason, even many optimists said if the Hogs make it to eight or nine wins, it would probably be wise to view that as a good season.  Those numbers are still reachable.

It's the NATURE of the four losses that have people concerned, and to me, it has nothing to do with recruiting.

After the TCU game, I think many fans thought this team was wise beyond its years and mentally tough.  Now, the team doesn't look so mentally tough.  Sometimes it looks as though individual players are throwing in the towel.

Most concerning, to me, is the woeful state of the Razorback defense.  Recruiting realities might explain why this defense never was going to be elite, but recruiting has nothing to do with the fact that a fairly veteran defense is statistically getting worse instead of better.

An experienced yet regressing defense and certain intangibles are NOT things that can be explained away with recruiting rankings.

[Inhogswetrust]

Alabama for example is a state with a population of 4.8 million people. Arkansas' at 3M. When we consider that Alabama has 2 major Div. 1 programs in the state battling over the same crop of in-state players it marginalizes the states overall population advantage over Arkansas' and the odds in turn favor the Univ. of Arkansas.

We're not Oregon. Its a lot easier to get kids from Florida to come to Arkansas than it would be to get them Oregon. We're not asking kids to travel clear across the country to come play for us. Nationally, we're actually in a great spot. We're also surrounded by 6 states. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma. If we can improve the brand of our program then we can go into these states and bring out some of their best players.

There's absolutely nothing interesting about playing football in the state of Alabama for a young high school kid. But kids go there because they've reestablished a winning tradition. We're one great hire away from establishing similar success here in Arkansas.

When it is about college it is ALL about having the right coach in the right place at the right time. Is BB that guy? So far he has shown improvement yearly but not so much this year. There must be some disconcerting things to have been as inconsistent as we have been with him so far and this year in particular. Maybe he can be the guy in the future or maybe not. Only time will tell and we aren't the ones making that decision. Jeff appears to give coaches a lot of rope moreso than some fans would like. I have no problem with that as long as we can see improvement and more consistency. The thing most have frustration with this year is not the number of losses and to whom but by how bad the losses have been. We are on track to potentially having the same record as last year but it seems worse with the blowout losses. Last year only one of the losses approached a blowout and that was AT Bama and it wasn't as bad as the ones this year. That is my main disappointment.

[lasthog]

That Wally is one sharp dude. Not even the smallest of details gets by that guy.

However sharp he is, he neglected to point out that size matters.

[Youngsta71701]

How many times can this be posted? Over and over and over and over and.....

^This^ We have never out recruited most teams in the SEC and we probably never will. If we went by recruiting rankings we would never win a game in the SEC west. And we would never beat Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina in the east.

[The_Iceman]

Improve some, yes.  Improve to compete on recruiting levels with Bama, LSU, Michigan, or Ohio State... no. Not no how ... not no way.

Here is the key as to why Harbaugh can recruit over the top at Michigan but would not do so at Arkansas -

in THIS YEARS CLASS ALONE these are the numbers-

Michigan has 24 recruits rated at 4*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.
Arkansas has  2 recruits rated at 4*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.
                                                (One 4* pledged to Hogs  and one is academically ineligible to play)

Michigan further has 172 recruits rated at 3*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.
Arkansas only has 15 recruits rated at 3*-5* WITHIN THE ENTIRE STATE!

If that number has been fairly consistent then over the 4 year recruiting cycle -

Michigan would have 96 recruits rated at 4*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.
Arkansas would have  8 recruits rated at 4*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.

Michigan would have 688 recruits rated at 3*-5* within about 175 miles of campus.
Arkansas would have  32  recruits rated at 3*-5* within the entire state!

Do you think CBP or CBB might have been able to have better recruiting if there were -
LITERALLY 12 TIMES THE NUMBER OF ELITE 4*-5* RECRUITS WITHIN 175 MILES OF CAMPUS IN A RECRUITING CYCLE!!

Do you think CBP or CBB might have been able to have better recruiting if there were  -
LITERALLY 21.5 TIMES AS MANY 3*-5* RECRUITS WITHIN 175 MILES OF CAMPUS IN A RECRUITING CYCLE!!

Amazing. Thank you for this. Compare this to LSU or a&m or Auburn or Alabama. Same story.

[hogsanity]

Per capita......not much difference.

Mississippi has almost the exact same population as Arkansas, yet it produces 3.5 times as many d1 signees.

[Lake City Hog]

This is really old news and has been discussed at some point during the season every year for the last 20 or so years. Why do some of you act like this is some sort of epiphany?

We have ALWAYS had a recruiting disadvantage, but we have managed to win at a fairly decent rate. We have managed to be competitive with the conference and even better out of conference.

We do have to make sure that we wrap up ALL of the talent in Arkansas, recruit Texas and Louisiana HARD and put in the work to find those kids that fit what we are looking for. For example, Akail Byers.
Why did we not offer this kid as a junior? Grades?? Make the offer and simply tell him that he is responsible to make the grades. Instead we sit in our hands and let that ship sail off to some other school. So he doesn't make the grades??? We have still built a good relationship with him and his family and maybe we get him after a couple of years in Juco!       HOW HARD IS THAT???

The simple fact is that the talent gap between a 3* and a 4* player is not as wide as the Grand Canyon. Sure, the gap widens between a 3* and a 5*, but not to the point that we are seeing from our players. Coaching is the X factor in college football and always has been. When LSU, Auburn and Bama were struggling do any of you think that they were bereft of talent? Hell no!! They were bereft of coaching talent.

I'm not trying to use that tired old line of "coach em up", but I do believe that using schemes to take advantage of our talent, creating mis-matches and giving our team every possible advantage helps a lot. We have 2 choices when it comes to players--- Make the best of what we have or GIVE UP!

[hogsanity]

No keeping up needed. You evidently forgot where you were.  You said that per capita that there wasn't much difference in talent production.  There clearly and verifiably is.

You are a hard person to converse with as you make statements with no proof. When another shows actual facts that contradict your statements you act like you never made them and throw out some meaningless red herring statement.

Honestly, do you not remember what you say ... or do you simply spout things so randomly that you can't keep up or don't care?

He is not here to converse. Since the Auburn game there have been about 6 people here who's sole purpose is to contradict anything that is not a criticism of BB. Ironhog does it via the ole " NWA ruined Arkansas" crap. No one can truly be dumb enough to not see that recruiting faces several headwinds. Want to in the kids, coaching em up from the staff is not enough to overcome much of it.

[Boog41]

Mississippi has almost the exact same population as Arkansas, yet it produces 3.5 times as many d1 signees.

In 2014 Mississippi had an African American population of 1,143,000 million to Arkansas's 486,000. Doesn't make up the entire difference, but explains the disparity some.

http://blackdemographics.com/population/black-state-population/