Who made the best hire?

[ambien_sky]

Florida (Mullen)?   Texas AM (Fisher)?  Tennessee (Pruitt)?  UCLA (Chip Kelly)?  Arkansas (Morris)?    My list goes like this.  (And NO i'm not being bias. It's what I really think.

1: Morris
2  Kelly
2: Mullen
3: Pruitt
4: Fisher.

I think the Aggies made a HUGE and expensive mistake with Jimbo Fisher.  What are your thoughts?

[Hogtrillian]

I think UCLA made far and away the best hire (Chip Kelly). Out of the SEC I really do think we made the best hire. A&M and Auburn will deeply regret the contracts they gave out in 2 or 3 years.

[TexasRazorback]

I really like ours, and Florida's. Chip kelly is interesting but how much do you think he wants to be there. He is known to hate recruiting. I hate the aggies hire. I like Jimbo, but 75 mil guaranteed is ridiculous.

[Hogs run wild]

bookmarked for the next 3 years. i will let you know then.

[jgphillips3]

Based on fit and upside, I'd say it's close between us and Florida with us getting a very slight edge.

[Porknoxville]

I agree with the$$$$that was put it there for jumbo, but I believe TN isn't going anywhere with Pruit. He had ONLy hopped from one talent ladened team too another, including Hoover HS. This is the very first challenge for him and I don't see him making it past his 5th year. Jmo

[The real Hogules]

Considering that I wanted Mullen to become our coach, I'd have to go with the Gators.

[311Hog]

i am glad Mullen is in the east.  I feel like that helps us the most.  Gets him out of MSU

Still i would say Mullen was the best hire on day 1 we shall see how all these play out.  I am also not sold that Fisher is going to turn A&M into a NC team.

[RazorNick]

Other than Mullen, I think we made the best hire. I was watching Finebaum yesterday after the Tennessee presser and he and his 2 radio cohorts were discussing grading the hires in the SEC. Here are the grades they gave each.

Mullen   A
Fisher    A
Moorehead  A-
Pruitt   A
Morris  C

I laughed. They were pumping Pruitt (Finebaum Ten Grad) hard and went on to say his dad was a High School coach so that makes him a good choice. No mention of Morris and his 16 years HS coaching career. I think they are jealous since Paul had been bringing up Morris's name in the Ten search all week.

[porque]

As far as fit, I think Arkansas and UCLA knocked it out of the park.

I was lukewarm on Chad Morris.  I was a Lane Kiffin guy.  Now I'm glad that we got the right man for the job.

[RebelW]

1. Mullen ( best match for Florida with the history they have of Tebow and Dan.)
2. Morris. Really think we got the right man for the job. Don't believe Norvell could make the impact he is going to have on recruiting and big game experience.

[GringoHog]

1 - Morris - I like his experience.  He's offensively minded.  I like his enthusiasm
2 - Pruitt - Ranked Morris higher because Pruitt is a defensive guy and I don't know where he's headed offensively.  I like his age better than Morris'
3 - Mullen - I like this hire but less than the previous 2 because they're having to pay him some jack and I believe much of his success was named DAK.  I like the hire because "Well, if he can win at Mississippi State, he should dang well win at Florida."..... EXACT opposite of Muschamp.... "He can't win at Florida... maybe he can win at SC... NO!
4 - Fisher - Yes, proven coach.  I've heard he's arrogant, they're paying him too much.  He is NOT the next Nick Saban.... Saban wouldn't be 6-6 in year..... he'd be 12-2.... You can do better than paying $1 million per 2018 win and locking yourself into a 10 year contract with a 106 year old man.

[Hog Red]

Florida (Mullen)?   Texas AM (Fisher)?  Tennessee (Pruitt)?  UCLA (Chip Kelly)?  Arkansas (Morris)?    My list goes like this.  (And NO i'm not being bias. It's what I really think.

1: Morris
2  Kelly
2: Mullen
3: Pruitt
4: Fisher.

I think the Aggies made a HUGE and expensive mistake with Jimbo Fisher.  What are your thoughts?

Outside how expensive the contracts were, but just based on the coach

1. Jimbo Fisher- six 10+ win seasons with a National Championship
2. Dan Mullen- Winning record at MSU 7 of 9 years. Bowl record 5-2 at MSU
3. Pruitt- Wildcard. May be great, may be bad. Good defensive minded coach's are so hard to find it was worth the risk.
4. Morris- As a head coach, Never has had a winning record in conference (American Athletic) in three years. Hear about his great recruiting, but when I compare the SMU recruiting in the last few years to years past, I don't see a significant improvement.

  I don't know how you can say your not being bias. Put this poll on any non-Arkansas message board and see how many would rate Morris #1.

[rickm1976]

1. Kelly
2. Mullen
3. Morris
4/5. Fisher/Pruitt

I think the A&M fans are going to be a little disappointed in a couple of years.  I think Jimbo is a little overrated. Two friends from our old church in San Antonio are Aggie alums, and neither are happy with the hire or the money they're paying.  Chad has great recommendations, and says all the things I want to hear, but we'll see what happens on and off the field.  If he can bring in better talent in better numbers, he will be successful.  If not, no amount of scheming, motivating, developing players, etc. is going to make much of a difference.  Personality wise and culturally, I do think Chad is a great fit here.  I just hope he can bring in the Jimmys and Joes.

[je100]

Kelly
Mullen
Morris
Fisher
Pruitt

Morris is a home run hire for us right now.  I think the top three are great hires, and more importantly, they fit.  Not sure how Jimbo fits.  He's had some good years at FSU, but he's also had some less than average ones.  Recruiting gets more difficult at A&M than it did at Tallahassee, I would think.

Pruitt has zero head coaching experience, so who knows.

[East Clintwood]

Bunch of homers in here.

[East TN HAWG]

1) Kelly 2) Mullen 3) Fisher 4) Morris 5) Pruitt 6) MS ST coach

I think you have to look at two things 1) fit 2) experience.  Kelly and Fisher are the two most accomplished coaches, but Mullen has a lot of SEC experience.  Morris, Pruitt or the MS St coach could be the best one out of the bunch, but they have more risk because lack of experience (compared to the other 3.) 

[HognitiveDissonance]

I think they're all good hires, except yes, A&M overpaid for Fisher.

Except for Pruitt...my gut is telling me that won't work well at Tenn. Just intuition. I think Tenn struck out again. What head coaching track record does Pruitt have?

Mullen is the perfect fit at Florida, with his past history there with Tebow, and he's a proven winner at Miss St. I would probably give that hire the best grade.

[bkjbearcat]

Other than Mullen, I think we made the best hire. I was watching Finebaum yesterday after the Tennessee presser and he and his 2 radio cohorts were discussing grading the hires in the SEC. Here are the grades they gave each.

Mullen   A
Fisher    A
Moorehead  A-
Pruitt   A
Morris  C

I laughed. They were pumping Pruitt (Finebaum Ten Grad) hard and went on to say his dad was a High School coach so that makes him a good choice. No mention of Morris and his 16 years HS coaching career. I think they are jealous since Paul had been bringing up Morris's name in the Ten search all week.

If Morris was hired at Tenn, they would be raving about his recruiting skills and his connection to Clemson. I said I'll give him a chance, so far, so good with him. Now get a great DC and maybe get some steals in this class.

[The Kig]

While I have warmed to our hire, it's LUDICROUS to say you're unbiased and then put him as the best hire.  Every thread you have started or posted in over the past few days has been a commercial for Morris.  We MAY have a real hidden gem in Morris, but recognize it for what it is...we took a chance on someone who doesn't have remotely the coaching chops of many other hires. 

[oldhawg]

Bunch of homers in here.

What would you expect on a Razorback board?

Having said that, I will say that IMO of all the coaches listed, Morris is probably the best fit for a rebuilding Arkansas team at this time.  I also believe that Mullen is a nice fit at Florida.  Also IMO the others are suspect, not because of their credentials, but because they just seem to be misfit to the location.  Although I have no knowledge of Pruett at Tennessee, so I will pass on that one.

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

 I think FSU got a steal with Taggert...

[HamGrowsOnTrees]

Ole miss. They waited a year. They will have prime pick next year.

We paid 11 mill dollars to hire a hs coach.

[IMABIELEMA]

Florida (Mullen)?   Texas AM (Fisher)?  Tennessee (Pruitt)?  UCLA (Chip Kelly)?  Arkansas (Morris)?    My list goes like this.  (And NO i'm not being bias. It's what I really think.

1: Morris
2  Kelly
2: Mullen
3: Pruitt
4: Fisher.

I think the Aggies made a HUGE and expensive mistake with Jimbo Fisher.  What are your thoughts?

Let's be real here... Morris is no where near Fisher, Mullen, or Kelly.

1. Fisher
2. Kelly
3. Mullen
4. Morris
5. Pruitt

[The Hawg Marshal]

1. Kelly
2.Mullen
3.Morris
4. Fisher
5. Moorehead I rank him here because I really have no clue about the man.
6. Pruitt
7. Luke

[EastexHawg]

Bunch of homers in here.

It's insane, or at least a perfect example of groupthink. 

[Seebs]

Who gives a shirt? I like Morris and what he can do for us. Bielema was considered a better hire than Malzahn five years ago - the press are the kids in class that were picked on and had emotional problems.  Journalist are, and have always been, maladjusted tattle-tales. Once the newspapers cease to exists they will all be managers at your local Subway as that is where their skill set will shine.

[The_Iceman]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

[Seebs]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

co-sign

[HatfieldHog]

I see Mullen as the best hire, 3 years and Florida is back!
I see Morris as the 2nd best hire, seems to be a good fit for Arkansas!
I think that the Fisher deal with A&M will not be good in a few years!
Tennessee makes me feel better about our fan base...!
Ole Miss -- Damage Control for sure!


See ya

[HognitiveDissonance]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

No, I don't think he will do much better than Sumlin.

[davehog]

I don't like to admit it but Florida made the best hire.  Dan Mullen is a high quality SEC head coach.  Being able to accomplish what he did at MSU was very impressive. I have no doubt that he his departure from MSU to Florida will create more east / west balance in the SEC. 

Competition in the west went down significantly and the east went up, which are both good for the Arkansas program.

[Vantage 8 dude]

I think UCLA made far and away the best hire (Chip Kelly). Out of the SEC I really do think we made the best hire. A&M and Auburn will deeply regret the contracts they gave out in 2 or 3 years.

I agree that the overall "sweepstakes" winner is likely UCLA; this would be followed fairly closely by UF. To get Mullen who has won at MSU seems to be a "lay up" for the Gators to get back to where they were a few years ago. I think the jury's going to take some time to render a verdict on who else might end up being winners. Obviously I hope and trust that Chad will turn out to be the answer to getting us back on track to being a force in the SEC.

[je100]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

He's Jekyl and Hyde.  Half of his tenure at FSU (four out of eight years), he has lost at least three ACC conference games. On the whole, he well under-performed his predecessor, yet Jimbo did win the big one - and had a couple of other really strong years. 

Lot of money to a guy that has had frequent periods of under-performance. 

A&M will give him a good talent base on which to pull form, but it's not as though Jimbo didn't have that in Tallahassee. 

[bkjbearcat]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

Seems like a money grab to me. Set for life. Doubtful it brings in a NC. Maybe one playoff appearance. But because it's a money grab, Jimbo could be lazy. Honestly he has a 5 year pass from Aggie fans.

[longtimeHogfan]

I think Kiffin would bring an exciting brand of football to just about any program.  Unfortunately he's just one notch above pond scum imo and I don't trust him. 

I like Florida's hire.

I'm warming up to ours.  I'm on board with CBB but I'm still wearing my life jacket.  He said all the right things at the team meeting and presser.  Anxious to see who the DC is and other assistants.

Auburn and A&M will regret those contracts.   

[je100]

It's insane, or at least a perfect example of groupthink. 

I'm pretty sure that goes both ways.

[RazorNick]

Forgot to mention that the Finebaum gave Luke of Ole Miss a B grade. But Morris only a C?

[Hoggish1]

Florida (Mullen)?   Texas AM (Fisher)?  Tennessee (Pruitt)?  UCLA (Chip Kelly)?  Arkansas (Morris)?    My list goes like this.  (And NO i'm not being bias. It's what I really think.

1: Morris
2  Kelly
2: Mullen
3: Pruitt
4: Fisher.

I think the Aggies made a HUGE and expensive mistake with Jimbo Fisher.  What are your thoughts?

I agree with that list but I would put Fisher a bit lower LOL

[Wildhog]

I have to give it to Florida.  Mullen is outstanding and a perfect fit there.

[Hog N Bama]

Mullen to FL. good match
Morris to Ark good match
Fisher to A&M I think they will regret the length and amount of the contract in a few yrs
Pruitt to TN good DC no doubt, just not sold on any energy or excitement about this hire. Not HC type guy in my opinion.

[hog of steele]

Hires have to include context. UCLA made the best hire of the offseason. No Doubt about that.

Just in the SEC I would rather have hired Mullen and Fisher. But they weren't available to us. And Fishers price and number of years is a high stakes gamble. IDK if atm will like the result.

I think we hired a guy who has a great chance to do well at AR. Even if he doesn't, he will break the crust on the uptempo power offense which many believe we need to sustain success. If we did the best we could for our program, we get an A.

[Augustus]

I guess it depends on the definition of "best"

UCLA probably made the best hire. Big name in a weaker P5 conference, in a fertile recruiting ground, with an offensive scheme that will play well.

Jimbo at A&M will most likely have some very good years. I mean, hell... he's got a decade to get it done. But A&M were morons to give him that kind of contract with that kind of $$$. The 1st season he goes 6-6 they will be sick of him and won't be able to do anything about it.

Florida did really well getting Dan Mullen. Arkansas wanted him before Malzahn was offered.  But, Mullen was a fool for not keeping Randy Shannon on Florida's staff.

Arkansas? I think we're top 3, assuming CCM can bring in a good Def Co. I think CCM has the offensive scheme, energy, and personality to recruit good talent & turn kids into playmakers.  But... time will tell.

Tennessee? I think they made a solid hire, but Pruitt won't be the next Kirby Smart. Georgia & Florida are going to be battling for control of the SEC East the next 5 years.

Ole Miss & Mississippi State?  LOLOLOL

So...
1) UCLA
2) Florida
3) Arkansas
4) A&M (ranked here because of their dumba** contract)
5) Tennessee

[HogPharmer]

Am I the only one that isn't sold on the Jimbo Fisher hire?

I'm sold on it that they will regret it in a big way somewhere down the road. You can't give a coach a 10 year deal and guarantee him $75 million. This business is too fickle for those kind of contracts. Better them than us to burn their program to the ground though.

[Hog N Bama]

I was skeptical at first till I read articles about Coach Morris. Dude is impressive in person and should make most athletes that see his offense and meet him, ask where to sign.  I like that

[Razorback de Nosferatu]

It looks like both Florida and Arkansas attempted to make hires that addressed needs and fit their programs. 

Mississippi State quickly and quietly made a hire that was discussed for about an hour. 

Tennessee got who they could get.  They think they're getting another Kirby Smart, but Smart-esq. results likely won't happen.  Georgia was much more setup for success than Tennessee is.  Finebaum can coat it in sugar all he wants, but Tennessee needed a proven program builder and instead got a coordinator.

Texas A&M yet again sought to show everybody how much money they have.  They want so badly to be a national power, but they've never managed to win enough ballgames.  Will Jimbo be their hero, or will he be a super expensive version of what they've always had? 

[hog of steele]

There is no doubt fisher has had some success and can handle a big program. But he ran from issues at FSU. The pressure won't go down on the heals of monthly half million dollar checks. I would take fisher in a second if we could get him for what we are paying CCM

[hogsanity]

I'll tell you in 3 years.

Seriously, A&M overpiad for Jimbo, Tn got their 9th choice and had to pay almost 4mil per to get him. Fla got Mullen, but 6mil per, really? MSU got a virtual unknown, and the Hogs got a guy that ticked just about every box on the want list.

[Hog N Bama]

No doubt Fisher is a very good coach. I just think Morris is a better fit for us. I'm confident a CCM coached team will win a LOT of games

[hoghiker]

Forgot to mention that the Finebaum gave Luke of Ole Miss a B grade. But Morris only a C?

Several national beat writers were way less thrilled about Arkansas hire than Hog fans. Anyone with ties to Clemson have really talked Morris up but the reminder of pundits have dissed Morris pretty hard.  It's a scrap shoot. I'll wait till the dice stop.