NO TO NORVELL

[GTOWNHOG]

Gave up 62  and you still want this dude....incredible.

Yeah, Bielema never gave up a lot of points.......   2017:  50 to T A&M, 48 to S. Car., 52 to Auburn, 48 to Mizzou.    2016: 49 to Bama, 56 to Auburn.....etc.

[BartIV]

Yeah, Bielema never gave up a lot of points.......   2017:  50 to T A&M, 48 to S. Car., 52 to Auburn, 48 to Mizzou.    2016: 49 to Bama, 56 to Auburn.....etc.

Not being jerk, what the point?

[DoubleReedHawgCaller]

Our defense really can't get any worse. We haven't had a decent defense in over 10yrs and the offense has been trending that way for the last 5. I say take the chance on the guy with a good DC.

[MissippHog]

Go and hire Todd Orlando to be our DC and we'll be fine with Norvell as our head coach.

[HogPharmer]

How many freshmen was Memphis starting in the secondary yesterday?

[BartIV]

Go and hire Todd Orlando to be our DC and we'll be fine with Norvell as our head coach.

Rex Ryan available

[Hogindasticks]

Venables would be awesome but i still not sure he could recruit sec.....kiffin is our only alternative i think

[DeltaBoy]

Hire him Monday by 7 am!

[Hogindasticks]

Go and hire Todd Orlando to be our DC and we'll be fine with Norvell as our head coach.

Who are these people?  No one knows them...definitely not from the sec..... all the kids are going to see

[jkstock04]

You cant win like that in the SEC

Rumor has it we have been doing it "the right way" for about 6 straight seasons. How hot has that been?

[ipigsooie]

Personal Life
Going all the way back, he was born in Dallas, played college ball and got his coaching start at UCA, and has lots of ties to both Texas and Arkansas.  His wife's family is from Ft. Smith, he has a brother in Fayetteville, and he has a home on Beaver Lake.  This is a guy who is very familiar with not only Arkansas, but specifically Northwest Arkansas.  That is a great first step as it makes it a lot easier to sell something you believe in. 

Early Coaching Career
Now from a coaching standpoint, he comes from the Todd Graham coaching tree.  After a one year stint as a GA at UCA, he went to Tulsa where he learned the ropes of college football coaching under Graham and M009alzahn.  The Graham-Gus-Norvell offensive trio were responsible for 21 wins at Tulsa from 2007-2008, shattering all sorts of school records.  Norvell's WR group featured 3 1000 yard WRs in 2007.  Tulsa also had 4 pass catchers with 8 or more TDs in 2008. 

Norvell followed Graham from Tulsa to Pitt and then to Arizona St the following year where he finally got his first chance at running the offense.  During Norvell's 4 years as OC, Arizona St went 34-18 with back to back 10 win seasons, 4 straight bowl appearances, and two top 20 finishes.  To further illustrate his responsibility for this run, ASU went 5-7 last year after he left and is 5-5 thus far this year.  He also coached QBs at ASU and is widely respected for his ability to develop signal callers.

Graham speaks very highly of Norvell.  He has said that Norvell is the smartest assistant and best OC that has coached under him.  Now before you you just blow that statement off, remember that Graham has a coaching tree that includes Malzahn, Chad Morris, and Applewhite to name a few.

Head Coaching Career
Really the only knock on Norvell is his lack of experience as a head coach.  In his two seasons at Memphis, the Tigers are a combined 16-6 and are 1 win away from clenching their division.  This season they are 8-1.  That record would be 9-1, but they had to cancel a non-con game to reschedule their game against UCF in the wake of the Florida hurricane.  Norvell had the most wins by a first year coach in Memphis history, was the first coach to lead Memphis to a bowl in his first year, and he set several other first year records (first 3-0 start, first to win a game over a ranked opponent, etc).

The script is still being written on his 2017 team, but last year (in his first season as head coach) he had the 2nd most prolific offense in Memphis history.  Now before you go crediting that success to Justin Fuente, lets take a little deeper look at his roster.  Memphis lost its QB (Paxton Lynch) and top 2 WRs the year before Norvell arrived.  Those are some big holes to fill, yet he filled them and put up insane offensive numbers.  Beyond the offense, his 2016 defense ranked 5th nationally in forcing turnovers, and his SPECIAL TEAMS units were some of the best nationally.  Memphis averaged 27 yards per return (5th nationally), set the school record for return TDs in a season with 3 (1st nationally), allowed only 16 yards per opponent return (2nd nationally), averaged over 41 yards per punt (8th nationally), and Memphis had the first team all-conference kicker, punter, and return man in the American conference.  How refreshing to see a coach who places a huge emphasis on special teams. 

This season, as Memphis is off to an 8-1 start, 13/22 Memphis starters are actually Norvell's guys.  This number is extremely high for year two coach, but the reason is that he is bringing in talent like Memphis has never seen.  That brings me to his recruiting.

Recruiting
This is something that should get everyone very excited.  This guy is an incredible recruiter.  In his first full class at Memphis, he already signed the highest rated recruiting class in school history.  This class was also the top class of any school outside of the P5.  He has already signed 7 of the top 20 highest rated recruits in Memphis history.  Riley Ferguson was a major grab, rated the top JuCo QB nationally by some services and a guy with offers from P5 schools. 

I think a more telling stat even than the recruiting rankings are how many of "his" guys are already starting for Memphis.  Their starting QB, TB, 2 OL, 2 DL, 2 LB, and all 4 DBs are guys that were either signed by Norvell or transferred to Memphis under his watch.  Again, that is a huge number for a second year coach, and I think that is a prime example that the success he is having this year is because of him, not a result of leftover talent from Fuente.

TLDR
Mike Norvell is a young, energetic coach with ties to Arkansas, Texas, and Memphis who runs one of the most prolific offenses in the country, is a great developer of QBs, emphasizes excellent special teams, is a fantastic recruiter, and has won a lot of games at Memphis this year with mostly his own players.  With personal connections to NWA, I think this would be a destination job for him, and I do not think there is a better realistic candidate in the nation to take over as our next head coach.

Well written! Nice!

[Hogtimes]

Do research first off -- Here's the thing about Fuente that people may not realize. Before Paxton came in as his qb, he wanted to change his offense. He then spent 3 days with Arizona State Offensive Coordinator Mike Norvell learning Norvell's offense. Fuente went back to Memphis, changed his offense off what he learned from Norvell and then became the hot name among college coaches.

IIRC Fuente brought his offense from TCU

[BartIV]

So how much do we pay Norvell?

[Hogindasticks]

Norvell isnt an option.....

[Hogindasticks]

If they hire this dude...we will be looking like Missouri next year at the bottom of the west again

[cosmodrum]

Norvell isnt an option.....

Fresh take here folks. Way different than his previous work.

[HogPharmer]

Norvell isnt an option.....

Lol

[JONAS]

If they hire this dude...we will be looking like Missouri next year at the bottom of the west again

Missouri was actually decent this year.

[Hogindasticks]

That explosive offense wont be squat in the sec

[HogPharmer]

If they hire this dude...we will be looking like Missouri next year at the bottom of the west again

So 4th in the division, .500 SEC record? Not bad for a first year head coach...

[Hogindasticks]

Missouri was actually decent this year.

And stil at the bottom

[BartIV]

So 4th in the division, .500 SEC record? Not bad for a first year head coach...

You love you some Norvell.

[JONAS]

And stil at the bottom

Tennessee was at the bottom of the East with an 0-8 SEC record.

[jkstock04]

And stil at the bottom

That's funny. Check who is at the bottom and get back to us.

[hoghearted]

Well written! Nice!

Can't take credit; stole it from a fantastic poster elsewhere

[Hogindasticks]

So 4th in the division, .500 SEC record? Not bad for a first year head coach...

No way.....cant do anything without players as we have seen.....he cant recruit over all the other teams in the west.....not even close...especially since A&M has their man now

[Paul]

IIRC Fuente brought his offense from TCU

and when he signed Paxton Lynch he went to Norvell & changed his offense to Norvell's  It's all over the Memphis football website  go read it

[BartIV]

Well, with Norvell, he may be able to tell us best BBQ joints in Memphis. There is a +1.

[Hogindasticks]

If it isnt a big name.....flush next 2 years down the toilet

[billmontgomery10]

quote author=Hogindasticks link=topic=650647.msg11217719#msg11217719 date=1512358187]
Little high school coach in memphis aint gonna cut it
[/quote]

Ignore this guy, he's just a troll. Mike Norvell is a class act besides being one of the best offensive coaches in the nation. I've met him and know his wife and they are great people who have great character. We should consider ourselves lucky if he comes here.

[HogPharmer]

And stil at the bottom

4th in the East?

[LuckyGiraffe]

and when he signed Paxton Lynch he went to Norvell & changed his offense to Norvell's  It's all over the Memphis football website  go read it

You are trying to fix stupid. I think many of these people are trolls from other universities like Tiger High in Memphis.

[hogs dont cry]

Couple problems with Norvell. 2 years coaching experience Memphis. Won with someone else's players. Haven't seen what his recruits can do. Never rebuilt a program (I said same thing about Bret when hired, and I got ridiculed on here), this is the sec, defense (this is the sec), but if this is the best we can do, beggars can't be choosers.

13 of 22 starters are players he brought in over the past two yeats. If you care to know mare facts about Norvell and how he really hasn't just capitalized off of Fuente's success,  read this from Peter Thamel:

https://sports.yahoo.com/memphis-coach-mike-norvell-isnt-anyones-footnote-182832858.html

Also, even if he just inherited an amazing program built for years of success (not the case if you actually look into it), it's not as easy as you think to maintain that success and take it to new heights.

[HogPharmer]

If it isnt a big name.....flush next 2 years down the toilet

So is Saban still available?

[BartIV]

You are trying to fix stupid. I think many of these people are trolls from other universities like Tiger High in Memphis.

Memphis Tigers have fans?

[HogPharmer]

You love you some Norvell.

And you love you some brokeback camping with HIDS.

[cosmodrum]

So is Saban still available?

His brother, Rick Saban.

[JONAS]

You are trying to fix stupid. I think many of these people are trolls from other universities like Tiger High in Memphis.

Yep.  You can't argue with these dudes.

[BartIV]

And you love you some brokeback camping with HIDS.

Lame

[JONAS]

And you love you some brokeback camping with HIDS.

Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!

[The NewEra]

What's funny about this argument is people are congratulating Nebraska for bringing home Frost, who won the game by 7 points in a double overtime.  His defense gave up 55 points.  But somehow Norvell is chopped liver because his defense lost the game in overtime. 

This is laughable!!

[coolhog]

Petrino gave up a lot of points, but out scored them.  Worked pretty good!!

[HogPharmer]

Lame

I'm assuming you two work on his grammar skills in the tent as well...

[BartIV]

Petrino gave up a lot of points, but out scored them.  Worked pretty good!!

You had me at Petrino.

[sowmonella]

If it isnt a big name.....flush next 2 years down the toilet

I don't know you man but I have to let you know that you are making a huge fool out of yourself.

[Hogindasticks]

What's funny about this argument is people are congratulating Nebraska for bringing home Frost, who won the game by 7 points in a double overtime.  His defense gave up 55 points.  But somehow Norvell is chopped liver because his defense lost the game in overtime. 

This is laughable!!

NEBRASKA as far as i  know..isnt in the SEC...caliber is different...

[Hogindasticks]

NO TO NORVELL

[JONAS]

Well, from what others are saying it won't be Norvell.  It will be Tim Horton.  We might as well shut down the whole damn athletic department if they hire his ass.

[The NewEra]

NEBRASKA as far as i  know..isnt in the SEC...caliber is different...

The do expect their coach to build them a formidable defense.

[Hogindasticks]

Funny how people here compare SEC west to all FBS.......Its a different level!  CBB found that out the hard way.  How many more subpar coaches do we have to prove that with?