Will HOUSTON BE THE NEXT AD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

[idochog]

I think the crux of the matter is HDN thinks he is doing a good job and whole lot of other people dont see eeking out 5-7 wins in year 8 is acceptable, thus the heat.

The bottom line is HDN could succeed here if he would just cut his cronies on the staff loose and hire some real SEC caliber assistants.

He needs to hire good people and let them do their job.

When he does have a good assistant he tries to micromanage them or completely disreguard their advice (ala Jthompson or JFerguson).

I honestly believe HDN's ego has HDN thinking he is the same category of coach as Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban and others but the reality is, he isnt.

[Biggus Piggus]

By the way BP, are you suggesting that HDN isn't on a short leash? Certainly his leash got tightened as a result of his pursuit of the LSU job. He probably had a 3 year grace period without that fiasco. Now, this year appears to have become more critical than it had to be.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. However, I don't think Butch made life easier for HDN. Man, HDN can make some boneheaded moves.

No.  I really dispute the notion that HDN felt serious heat after last season, just months after he had gotten a new K and made a statement that we had two difficult seasons ahead.  I do not dispute the notion that he has felt serious heat since the LSU debacle.

[ArkansasI]

You know, we always chat on here about how nothing we say really matters. I disagree. While we don't have any effect on the decisions made in the Broyles Center, I do believe that we are representative of the opinions shared by the Hog Nation. Even if our venom means nothing to the decision makers that doesn't mean that we aren't an accurate reflection of those who are.

No, we're not a representative sample. We're extremists, people who get into it to a silly degree. People who care less do not hang around.

I don't know.  My father doesn't like HDN much and he doesn't get on the internet much.  I think that there is quite a bit of frustration out there.

I'll admit that we are extremists.  I'll also admit that those who keep it in better perspective don't waste their time here.

That brings me to recruiting a bit.  Don't you think recruits take this stuff to the nth degree?  Assuming they do, don't you think that they read message boards of the teams that are recruiting them?  (I would)  In my mind, what we say on here about our coach and program could affect a recruits opinion about his school.

[Biggus Piggus]

Nutt told the LSU people he talked to (at a neutral site) that he needed a firm offer or he could not travel to Baton Rouge.

Anybody satisfied with that level of commitment to the "national championship under construction?"  Anybody who believes that story is not.

[idochog]

By the way BP, are you suggesting that HDN isn't on a short leash? Certainly his leash got tightened as a result of his pursuit of the LSU job. He probably had a 3 year grace period without that fiasco. Now, this year appears to have become more critical than it had to be.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. However, I don't think Butch made life easier for HDN. Man, HDN can make some boneheaded moves.

Right now there is a strong faction of big $$ boosters who want Butch Davis.  There is also the politically connected faction of Jim Lindsey and others who HDN has strong connections to.  HDN damaged himself to some of the Lindsey side folks with the LSU deal.  The heat is on to do better. 

[Biggus Piggus]

That brings me to recruiting a bit. Don't you think recruits take this stuff to the nth degree? Assuming they do, don't you think that they read message boards of the teams that are recruiting them? (I would) In my mind, what we say on here about our coach and program could affect a recruits opinion about his school.

The stuff that seems to stick with recruits = comments about the recruits themselves, and so-called inside info about who else is being recruited, who's going to get playing time and such.  That's where reckless stuff hurts.

[Biggus Piggus]

By the way BP, are you suggesting that HDN isn't on a short leash? Certainly his leash got tightened as a result of his pursuit of the LSU job. He probably had a 3 year grace period without that fiasco. Now, this year appears to have become more critical than it had to be.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. However, I don't think Butch made life easier for HDN. Man, HDN can make some boneheaded moves.

Right now there is a strong faction of big $$ boosters who want Butch Davis. There is also the politically connected faction of Jim Lindsey and others who HDN has strong connections to. HDN damaged himself to some of the Lindsey side folks with the LSU deal. The heat is on to do better.

The definition of "better" seems to be in great flux.  I bet it will be connected pretty closely to recruiting and just how promising or awful the team looks this fall.

[ArkansasI]

By the way BP, are you suggesting that HDN isn't on a short leash? Certainly his leash got tightened as a result of his pursuit of the LSU job. He probably had a 3 year grace period without that fiasco. Now, this year appears to have become more critical than it had to be.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. However, I don't think Butch made life easier for HDN. Man, HDN can make some boneheaded moves.

No. I really dispute the notion that HDN felt serious heat after last season, just months after he had gotten a new K and made a statement that we had two difficult seasons ahead. I do not dispute the notion that he has felt serious heat since the LSU debacle.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you.

What bothers me about the LSU debacle more than anything is the fact that HDN wanted the job.  That says alot to me about how tough it is to win in Fayetteville or, worse, the status of our program.  Apparently, HDN saw much greener pastures and he went for it.  This is a man who loves the Hogs and, up until that fiasco, had a decent relationship with a tough AD.

It is enough to discourage a partisan fan.

[junkyardhog]

Objectively speaking, LSU is a better job. If you say it isn't you are blind homer.

[Biggus Piggus]

I think "state of the program" is close to the truth behind HDN's motivation.  It's kinda like Hatfield.  Hatfield thought we did not appreciate what he was doing with popsicle sticks and string, while many boosters were tired of the popsicle sticks and string.  Nutt believes some people do not appreciate how he does it, and a lot of fans are still waiting for the popsicle sticks and string to be replaced by something more in line with what we saw briefly in the 1970s.

That's the way I came up.  As a kid, we were the smallish overachievers with a handful of real stars.  Then in the mid to late 1970s we had a lot of talent.  It started to slip away, and Holtz's last good team was almost but not quite.  He missed on a lot of great in-state talent, and Hatfield shifted the target lower.  A very weak, probation-riddled SWC mostly covered for that.  Crowe's hiring was strangely desperate and accelerated the decline in talent level.  The year with a temp coach piled on.  Ford started the recovery track and would have had us well up the hill, if only he'd better managed his QBs.  Man he faced some frighteningly tough schedules, which Nutt didn't in his first couple of seasons.  Nutt has been all over the lot in recruiting.  Clearly he is a decent coach to win with what he has had.  The gap between expectations and performance is widening, and he had a lot to do with those expectations.

No doubt, Nutt has a very difficult challenge, given the meager recruiting in 2002-03 and reaches/unaddressed needs in the 2005 class.

[Biggus Piggus]

Objectively speaking, LSU is a better job. If you say it isn't you are blind homer.

That may be true, but that's separate from the wisdom of Nutt pursuing that job at that time.

[ArkansasI]

Objectively speaking, LSU is a better job. If you say it isn't you are blind homer.

That may be true, but that's separate from the wisdom of Nutt pursuing that job at that time.

Right, and that is my point.  When he went after it he was making $1M+ a year at a job that he appeared to be settling into and develop a little bit of power.  Then, he goes off on the LSU deal and blew up what he had going for himself.  That is just not smart.  My guess is he was feeling his oats or was told by his agent that he thought he could get him the job.

I agree with your review since the 70s.  Ford performed miracles that we didn't fully appreciate until he was gone.  I wonder where we would be now if we hadn't gotten rid of him.

I get concerned that our fans are not what we were back in the 70s.  To me, having unreasonably high expectations has taken a great deal of fun out of being a fan.  Of course, while that is an individual problem of mine, the sharing of this effect is felt by me in the atmosphere at the games.  Winning cures all ills.

[Biggus Piggus]

I get concerned that our fans are not what we were back in the 70s. To me, having unreasonably high expectations has taken a great deal of fun out of being a fan. Of course, while that is an individual problem of mine, the sharing of this effect is felt by me in the atmosphere at the games. Winning cures all ills.

Is it unreasonably high expectations?  Look at the Little Rock games.  They're a riot.  In Fayetteville, we've seen so many awful performances over so many years.  Basic competence, is that asking too much?  Last year was an improvement, but we still screwed the pooch against Texas and Georgia.  Had great crowds, had chances at the end, and looked horrible in the way we went down.  This "Fayetteville's easy" mentality is disgusting.  And it is completely accepted throughout the team.  And it might just be a good reason why we need a new mentality in charge.  Can't wait to see how they play for Herring at Fayetteville.  He might tear down the Broyles Complex if they look like they did in 2003.

[ArkansasI]

Amen to that and good night.

[idochog]

Yeah, I've been to enough stinkers up there during HDNs tenure.  Honestly he has had more bad games than good in Fayetteville.

Some of the worst ones that stick out to me:

That Georgia game where they won like 38-3, the Kentucky game,  Ole Miss just drilled us there a couple of years ago and the Bama up the middle for 80 yds on the first play of the game a couple of years ago.

Its pretty bothersome to me, that RRs is riddled w/ more bad memories than good.

Only good games I remember are beating bama on that last pass, beating Tennesee and beating bama HDN's first year.

[Jim Harris]

Objectively speaking, LSU is a better job. If you say it isn't you are blind homer.

Not only is it a better job in terms of having success year-in and year-out, the cupboard has been left pretty much full if it isn't just [CENSORED] up by the new staff, and if the quarterback situation plays out, and with the SEC schedule, whoever Saban's replacement was, was going to come in with a chance to win the national championship. Of course Nutt wanted that. I didn't blame him for wanting that, either.
But, while it may be a better job in terms of the talent resources available and the size of the following, the craziness of that following can make the job WORSE than being the coach at Arkansas, or Ole Miss, or Oklahoma State, or Louisville. Hell, we've got people on this very board who seem happy with 7-5 and it being better than going 4-7, for gosh sakes.