The worst coaching hire that altered the course of Hog history after Broyles

[Inhogswetrust]

Are we just acting like John L Smith never happened?  Or is it still to painful to talk about?

Very painful...but as only an interim he really is discounted.

[Inhogswetrust]

What would you say today if it were known that JL told Bielema that he needed to replace some of his staff? What would be Bielema's reaction? Frank had a hard time not being too "hands on" with the football program after he became solely the AD. He not only wanted to be the AD, but still wanted to keep his hand, to some degree, in being the HC. The danger of hiring a formerly successful football coach as your AD at the same school that he was a successful head football coach. It is a bad mix and it hurt us. I love JFB and I will always honor him for his contributions to the Arkansas program, but he stayed too long and was given too much power in every aspect other than fund raising.

I do agree that Frank "meddled" a little too much.  However it wasn't just coaching decisions or lack thereof that was all of the problems. I don't think we have to worry about BB being too loyal to less than good coaches. He's already proved that. However IF JL did feel the need to say something he should and BB should listen and do what Kenny did and keep them or move them out. Either way he knows he has to live with whatever results are of that decision as did Kenny.

[Inhogswetrust]

Danny Ford, no doubt about it. Frank should have given Joe Kines at least another year to see if he could at least have started to turn things around. Ford's hire was a knee jerk hire by Frank as he desperately wanted a coach with a big name. Joe lead the team to an upset of a ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville which was a sign that things were headed in the right direction but the team floundered under Ford the next season.

Hooty is a very close second.

As I said hindsight is 20/20. Why would anyone want to promote an assistant that had never been a head coach instead of hiring a very successful NC winning one.

[bigbadhog]

John L. Smith was the worse hire ever. I don't blame Long. He was determined not to knee jerk react in the days after Petrino was fired. That meant a temporary hire and he got suckered by JLS who was complete con man.

However, what could have been a long term disaster was avoided when Bielema was hired. Many of our fans still don't realize how bad things were the day he took over the program. Way too many players were completely dead emotionally. They didn't believe in squat when it came to coaches.

The quick turnaround from that has been nothing short of amazing.

Jack Crowe also walked into a train wreck. If he'd had previous experience as a head coach he might have been okay but he was unprepared for trying to rebuild the talent level a time when a jump to the SEC was looming.

The end of the Holtz era was also a potential fiasco. The talent level was way down from what he was handed by Broyles and staff in 1977. By the time he was fired Holtz could not even land the best players in Arkansas. Hatfield was the perfect hire at that point because he was the real "do more with less" coach.

Like Bielema, Hatfield pulled the program back up quickly. But he and coach Broyles were a bad mix. They agreed on almost nothing plus Hatfield had no intention of letting Frank tell him what to do. As I've said many times, if Hatfield had been willing to upgrade his staff he would have been at Arkansas for 15-20 years.

Oh god.  Bad for us but it would have saved him from the embarrassment being fired by Clemson and RICE!!!

[ArkansasI]

Interesting thread.  My recollection coincides most with Mike Irwin's.

At the time of Lou's hiring I was a young, diehard Razorback fan. The idea that Frank would not be our coach was a little scary to me. But he seemed to hit the nail on its head with Lou. That guy was a great motivator and seemed to know how to exploit matchup problems better than most of his peers. What Lou wasn't so great at - and what might not have been as obvious to Frank - was recruiting. This is critical everywhere, but especially true at Arkansas.

The Hogs steadily declined under Lou as Franks recruiting classes filtered through the program. Lou exacerbated the problem by supporting Jesse Helms in North Carolina - think that was used against Arkansas on the recruiting trail?

Ken may have been the perfect replacement. A wonderful man... but most of the concerns Frank brought to his attention started with fans and, more importantly, big money boosters. Ken took care of the men and families that were his staff. But he benefitted from coaching against a weak SWC - games against good opponents were occasionally embarrassing.

As crazy as it may sound today, I think the hiring of Lou Holtz made the least sense and started the tumble of Razorback football out of elite status. I am amazed Frank didn't hire someone from within his coaching tree to take over for himself. He had the program set up for his successor.

[GuvHog]

As I said hindsight is 20/20. Why would anyone want to promote an assistant that had never been a head coach instead of hiring a very successful NC winning one.

Because as a head coach, Joe Kines had just led the Hogs to an upset over a ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville while Danny Ford was a has been that the game had passed by.

Hiring Danny Ford was a mistake of EPIC proportions.

[Sanctified Swine]

had Broyles brought on someone from his coaching tree rather than Coach Holtz who would have been the front runner at that time?

[ArkansasI]

had Broyles brought on someone from his coaching tree rather than Coach Holtz who would have been the front runner at that time?

I don't know. I would have thrown the house at Switzer - probably wouldn't have gotten him though. He was firmly entrenched at OU. But Frank's tree had some wide branches. There would have been some interesting candidates - several that we don't know as well.

Even Harold Horton comes to mind.

[ArkansasI]

By the way, Danny Ford worked wonders at Arkansas. That guy knows talent when he sees it.

Very tough time in Razorback history...

[redeye]

Frank did choose Tuberville...........John White's committee didn't. Hatfield was good except for being so stubborn with his boss. IF Hatfield would have relented and even changed one or two assistants and done a few more things to foster a better relationship with boosters then he could have stayed here a long time as Mike has said.

Yea, I remember.

I agree with Muskogee, though.  Broyles may have had very worthy opinions, but Hatfield shouldn't have had to change anything.  As I noted, I think Arkansas began slipping when Hatfield was hired and so I may have agreed with Broyles, but it was Hatfield's team, and he should have been judged on that and that alone.

[redeye]

Very painful...but as only an interim he really is discounted.

I don't consider him a hire and don't know why others do.  He was merely a stopgap until we found a coach worthy of the Arkansas job.

[redeye]

The end of the Holtz era was also a potential fiasco. The talent level was way down from what he was handed by Broyles and staff in 1977. By the time he was fired Holtz could not even land the best players in Arkansas. Hatfield was the perfect hire at that point because he was the real "do more with less" coach.

Mike, we often hear that Holtz couldn't recruit to Arkansas, but how much do you credit all the cheating going on around us for that?  If Holtz had been given more time, do you believe he would have recruited better after the scandals had unfolded?

[hawg IQ]

The truth. Another truth is we have White to thank for Stan Heath. White was a disaster.

John White worse hire ever, he was a complete disaster. had his finger in every pie at U of A and always screwed up almost everything he touched. He fired Physical plant employees, printing press folks and was offering scholarships to small kids. He thought he could run basketball and football programs too ! His arrogance did him in at the end and his dismissal well deserved.

[hawg IQ]

John L. Smith was the worse hire ever. I don't blame Long. He was determined not to knee jerk react in the days after Petrino was fired. That meant a temporary hire and he got suckered by JLS who was complete con man.

However, what could have been a long term disaster was avoided when Bielema was hired. Many of our fans still don't realize how bad things were the day he took over the program. Way too many players were completely dead emotionally. They didn't believe in squat when it came to coaches.

The quick turnaround from that has been nothing short of amazing.

Jack Crowe also walked into a train wreck. If he'd had previous experience as a head coach he might have been okay but he was unprepared for trying to rebuild the talent level a time when a jump to the SEC was looming.

The end of the Holtz era was also a potential fiasco. The talent level was way down from what he was handed by Broyles and staff in 1977. By the time he was fired Holtz could not even land the best players in Arkansas. Hatfield was the perfect hire at that point because he was the real "do more with less" coach.

Like Bielema, Hatfield pulled the program back up quickly. But he and coach Broyles were a bad mix. They agreed on almost nothing plus Hatfield had no intention of letting Frank tell him what to do. As I've said many times, if Hatfield had been willing to upgrade his staff he would have been at Arkansas for 15-20 years.

Have to agree with Mike here. No doubt J L Smith worst hire ever. Can't say J Long could have done better, but I believe he should have. Different from Mike, I think Jeff Long has to shoulder some blame here.
    I said on here before I would not have fired Bobby, at least not right away. I think it would have been more appropriate to bring in more investigation on the entire fiasco. More time was more important than anything else.
   If nothing else Jeff Long could have used that time to better hire a workable interim coach. But JL was the worst hire ever!

[razorshark]

John White worse hire ever, he was a complete disaster. had his finger in every pie at U of A and always screwed up almost everything he touched. He fired Physical plant employees, printing press folks and was offering scholarships to small kids. He thought he could run basketball and football programs too ! His arrogance did him in at the end and his dismissal well deserved.

This and you the taxpayer are still paying the idiots salary

[12247]

You can make a reasonable case for or against every coach mentioned here and that is about what has happened.

Crowe had been very good as OC in a pitiful scheme so why not try him as HC.  It was about this time that Broyles got a rep as sticking his nose in the HC job too much.  Truth or not, hiring a Stud HC at that exact time may have been out of the question even if Broyles wished he could.                                                               

Ken Hatfield did well against a depleted SWC which would be like saying he did well against the Mid America Conference of today.  Against the heavy hitters, he didn't do well at all such as amassing 50 yards of offense against Oklahoma in a bowl.

Hiring Nutt was a mistake, keeping Nutt a disaster.  Nutt didn't represent Arkansas well at any level.  Pitiful hire, Pitiful extension of contract, Just Pitiful at every level.

Folks can justify hiring John L. Smith for various reasons.  I think J. L. Smith felt he was just there for the ride and to stay out of the way.  Then crap happened and we actually needed a HC.  I choose not to forget that John Long knew both Petrino and Smith, knew the difference in their personalties and if he knew anything about management 101, should have known you don't follow hellfire and brimstone with SMILE.  All our players knew about SMILE was that he was EASY and so should Long have known the same.  A Trainwreck Hire.

Passing on Johnson as HC was maybe Broyles largest mistake. 

Hiring and then keeping Nutt for ten years may be the single largest group of mistakes in our Football history.

Passing on Malzahn anytime, anyplace is a football error and we've done that a couple of times already.

Crowning BB as the savior after 2 seasons with the last showing promise is, in my opinion, another mistake.  We lost games both seasons that SEC coaching personnel just cannot lose if they hope to run with the Big Dogs.  Maybe the coaching changes BB has made and the salaries he has been allowed to offer coaching personnel to come or stay will pay off and he will be the savior, SOMEDAY.

[Sivad]

The John White Commitee hire of Houston Dale Nutt over Coach Broyles' pick of Tommy Tuberville.
The unqualified Nutt and his shenanigans threw the program into turmoil and set the fan base to canabalizing each other.

[pigture perfect]

Crow. The Nutt hire was not a bad one at the time. He just outstayed his welcome and had Gus not been deemed a Demi-god, wouldn't have had as much opposition. I put Gus as the 2nd worst coaching hire.

[SooiecidetillNuttgone]

Crow. The Nutt hire was not a bad one at the time. He just outstayed his welcome and had Gus not been deemed a Demi-god, wouldn't have had as much opposition. I put Gus as the 2nd worst coaching hire.

Wow.   Just wow.

[hogcard1964]

The most illogical hires were 1.Crowe 2.Nutt 3.Smiles

The Hatfield hire was a safe pick. But hiring Johnson would have changed the college football landscape.

But when boosters prevented Nutt from loading on that plane to Nebraska is the one bone headed move we made that hurt our program as much or more than anything.

Nutt was by far the most embarrassing, but I don't believe the plane story.  Never have.

Who else was up for the job when B.P. was hired?  Looking back, that was a mistake.

[Inhogswetrust]

Because as a head coach, Joe Kines had just led the Hogs to an upset over a ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville while Danny Ford was a has been that the game had passed by.

Hiring Danny Ford was a mistake of EPIC proportions.

Hiring a NC coach that had a record of 96-26-4 over several years at a P5 program over an interim that had never been a head coach except for as an interim for one year is a mistake of "EPIC proportions"? The game had passed him by? How does a game pass someone by in only a couple of years? We aren't talking about software updates Gov.................Come on, you are smarter than that!

[Inhogswetrust]

Yea, I remember.

I agree with Muskogee, though.  Broyles may have had very worthy opinions, but Hatfield shouldn't have had to change anything.  As I noted, I think Arkansas began slipping when Hatfield was hired and so I may have agreed with Broyles, but it was Hatfield's team, and he should have been judged on that and that alone.

No it wasn't Hatfields team. It was the U of A's team. He was the coach and manager of the team and had a boss. I'm not saying the suggestions should have been done BUT Kenny should have listened, considered them and then explained to his boss why he didn't want to do them. Any boss sometimes makes suggestions or at least asks questions of their subordinates. It is up to the subordinate to be able to explain things from company "business" standpoint instead of a personal "emotional" one.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

No it wasn't Hatfields team. It was the U of A's team. He was the coach and manager of the team and had a boss. I'm not saying the suggestions should have been done BUT Kenny should have listened, considered them and then explained to his boss why he didn't want to do them. Any boss sometimes makes suggestions or at least asks questions of their subordinates. It is up to the subordinate to be able to explain things from company "business" standpoint instead of a personal "emotional" one.

We are assuming that conversation never took place. It may have, several times. I doubt that Frank's suggestion(s) was a one time, casual remark. We aren't privy to those exchanges between JFB and Hatfield, so we will never know.

[Inhogswetrust]

We are assuming that conversation never took place. It may have, several times. I doubt that Frank's suggestion(s) was a one time, casual remark. We aren't privy to those exchanges between JFB and Hatfield, so we will never know.

Agree. Most coaches do meet with AD's and talk about things. Some consider that meddling and some don't. It depends on the situation and how things are going at the time. IF things are great some consider it meddling. If bad and nothing is talked about then some accuse the boss of not doing his job. It is a fine line sometimes. It is known there were differences between Frank and Kenny. Both of their egos and stubbornness got in the way. The difference was Frank was the boss.

[Justifiable Hogicide]

The colossal goat rope that was the media supported hiring of Houston Nutt stands out for its level of damage and sets the bar for BAD coaching hires.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Agree. Most coaches do meet with AD's and talk about things. Some consider that meddling and some don't. It depends on the situation and how things are going at the time. IF things are great some consider it meddling. If bad and nothing is talked about then some accuse the boss of not doing his job. It is a fine line sometimes. It is known there were differences between Frank and Kenny. Both of their egos and stubbornness got in the way. The difference was Frank was the boss.

The oddest thing to me was that JFB was telling Hatfield that he needed to make changes in his staff (if true) when Hatfield had just won back to back SWC Championships (88-89). The last time that had been done prior to that time was 64-65 under JFB. I could see where a HC who had just done that would wonder what he needed to do to gain the respect for his decisions from his AD.

[Biggus Piggus]

The Hatfield hire was an absolute disaster for the direction of our program.  Broyles hired him over JJ because he was weak and broyles thought he could control.  The 1987 season put the hatfield era in perspective and he should have been fired.  No way hatfield's best teams ever make .500 in SEC play.  The decision to hire KH in 1984 damaged our program for the next 23 years...

Hatfield -- agree he helped set up Razorback football for decline -- but in my view, the real mistake was panic-hiring Jack Crowe to replace Hatfield. This showed a gross misunderstanding of the situation. Wholly irrational. Arkansas could have gotten a great young coach. At least Hatfield had been a consistent winner. He did spend two seasons job-shopping and neglecting recruiting. That part was bad + something many fans don't know.

The whole sequence from Crowe to Ford to Nutt was a farce. The way Broyles knee-jerk fired Crowe crippled any effort to hire a good head coach. Danny Ford was out of the game, and out of step with the game. He built some of the foundation but never got his coaching staff right. Ford's last team was a disorganized mess, never should have been that bad.

[Biggus Piggus]

The oddest thing to me was that JFB was telling Hatfield that he needed to make changes in his staff (if true) when Hatfield had just won back to back SWC Championships (88-89). The last time that had been done prior to that time was 64-65 under JFB. I could see where a HC who had just done that would wonder what he needed to do to gain the respect for his decisions from his AD.

Broyles first put pressure on Hatfield after the 1987 season. The push for a change of leadership on offense came after that horrid Cotton Bowl against UCLA, but the part that got Hatfield stirred up and job-hunting was in the spring of '88 when Orville practically ghost-wrote Broyles's complete dissection of every aspect of the football program.

[oldhawg]

Oh god.  Bad for us but it would have saved him from the embarrassment being fired by Clemson and RICE!!!

Hatfield did stay at Rice twelve years, which is probably longer than most coaches' tenure at one school.  It may be that nine losing seasons in twelve years (including 1-10 his last season) is what got him fired.

[bphi11ips]

Hatfield -- agree he helped set up Razorback football for decline -- but in my view, the real mistake was panic-hiring Jack Crowe to replace Hatfield. This showed a gross misunderstanding of the situation. Wholly irrational. Arkansas could have gotten a great young coach. At least Hatfield had been a consistent winner. He did spend two seasons job-shopping and neglecting recruiting. That part was bad + something many fans don't know.

The whole sequence from Crowe to Ford to Nutt was a farce. The way Broyles knee-jerk fired Crowe crippled any effort to hire a good head coach. Danny Ford was out of the game, and out of step with the game. He built some of the foundation but never got his coaching staff right. Ford's last team was a disorganized mess, never should have been that bad.

Exactly right on every point.

[Been10Hog]

Hatfield left of his own accord, true. But he allegedly had a bad relationship with Broyles which was why he left for Clemson without ever having visited the campus. Odd too, considering that he had played for Broyles. You have to ask yourself, what would make an Arkansas alumnus and successful HC leave so abruptly?

The answer to this question is the same reason Bielema left Wisconsin! Alvarez and Broyles couldn't let it go. Frank was in the stands practically every practice. He made frequent "suggestions" to how his coach should coach. He went to back to back SWC champs and Cotton Bowls with inferior talent. Texas, A&M, SMU until death penalty and some years Baylor had more studs. Hatfield got more out of the talent he had through discipline and assignment football than any coach since Broyles. Now, ironically, Bielema is following a similar recipe!

[hoggusamoungus]

You can make a reasonable case for or against every coach mentioned here and that is about what has happened.

Crowe had been very good as OC in a pitiful scheme so why not try him as HC.  It was about this time that Broyles got a rep as sticking his nose in the HC job too much.  Truth or not, hiring a Stud HC at that exact time may have been out of the question even if Broyles wished he could.                                                               

Ken Hatfield did well against a depleted SWC which would be like saying he did well against the Mid America Conference of today.  Against the heavy hitters, he didn't do well at all such as amassing 50 yards of offense against Oklahoma in a bowl.

Hiring Nutt was a mistake, keeping Nutt a disaster.  Nutt didn't represent Arkansas well at any level.  Pitiful hire, Pitiful extension of contract, Just Pitiful at every level.

Folks can justify hiring John L. Smith for various reasons.  I think J. L. Smith felt he was just there for the ride and to stay out of the way.  Then crap happened and we actually needed a HC.  I choose not to forget that John Long knew both Petrino and Smith, knew the difference in their personalties and if he knew anything about management 101, should have known you don't follow hellfire and brimstone with SMILE.  All our players knew about SMILE was that he was EASY and so should Long have known the same.  A Trainwreck Hire.

Passing on Johnson as HC was maybe Broyles largest mistake. 

Hiring and then keeping Nutt for ten years may be the single largest group of mistakes in our Football history.

Passing on Malzahn anytime, anyplace is a football error and we've done that a couple of times already.

Crowning BB as the savior after 2 seasons with the last showing promise is, in my opinion, another mistake.  We lost games both seasons that SEC coaching personnel just cannot lose if they hope to run with the Big Dogs.  Maybe the coaching changes BB has made and the salaries he has been allowed to offer coaching personnel to come or stay will pay off and he will be the savior, SOMEDAY.

JJ was barely above .500 in his tenure at OSU when the Big 8 was really the Big 2 (OU/Nebraska).  He also had the Dexter Manley can't read but stayed eligible baggage. I'm guessing his record would have been no better than Hatfield's and he would have left after five years for the Dallas job when Jerry bought the team.   

[ArkansasI]

The answer to this question is the same reason Bielema left Wisconsin! Alvarez and Broyles couldn't let it go. Frank was in the stands practically every practice. He made frequent "suggestions" to how his coach should coach. He went to back to back SWC champs and Cotton Bowls with inferior talent. Texas, A&M, SMU until death penalty and some years Baylor had more studs. Hatfield got more out of the talent he had through discipline and assignment football than any coach since Broyles. Now, ironically, Bielema is following a similar recipe!

But I would argue that Ken's vision of/for the program limited its potential.  I honestly believe that Ken didn't think the Razorbacks could compete in the SEC.  While he recruited a lot of good players at Arkansas, his personality and style of play was never going to attract the best talent.

Ken's teams seldom lost games we should've won.  Given time, Ken was able to prepare very well for teams with better talent than the Razorbacks.  But those Razorback teams that he coached were not Top 20 programs.

Brett appears far more ambitious.

[ArkansasI]

JJ was barely above .500 in his tenure at OSU when the Big 8 was really the Big 2 (OU/Nebraska).  He also had the Dexter Manley can't read but stayed eligible baggage. I'm guessing his record would have been no better than Hatfield's and he would have left after five years for the Dallas job when Jerry bought the team.   

I completely agree, except Jimmy probably would not have gotten the Cowboys job because he would not have gained the celebrity from having coached the Hurricanes.  The best thing that ever happened to Jimmy was not getting the Arkansas job...

Jimmy is a very fine coach, but his record is not nearly as impressive when his talent is on par with his opponents'.  It's not like Jimmy built Miami - Howard Schnellenberger and nearly every mobster in South Florida deserve credit for that.  Dennis Erickson and Larry Coker also won national titles at The U - and neither of them are held in high esteem.

The Razorback job is not easy.  Our head coach is going to have to convince more than 50% (closer to 75%) of each of his recruiting classes to leave home to play for the Hogs.  He'll have a good school, excellent facilities and rabid fans to sell to his recruits.  But he'll have to fight cultural bigotry and sell players who were not likely thinking Arkansas first when they began dreaming of playing college football.

No wonder we're looking for Uncommon men.  I'm relieved that this staff seems to be finding them!

[secfan30]

Nutt was by far the most embarrassing, but I don't believe the plane story.  Never have.

Who else was up for the job when B.P. was hired?  Looking back, that was a mistake.

What part of the plane story do you not believe?

[NaturalStateReb]

John L. Smith was the worse hire ever. I don't blame Long. He was determined not to knee jerk react in the days after Petrino was fired. That meant a temporary hire and he got suckered by JLS who was complete con man.

However, what could have been a long term disaster was avoided when Bielema was hired. Many of our fans still don't realize how bad things were the day he took over the program. Way too many players were completely dead emotionally. They didn't believe in squat when it came to coaches.

The quick turnaround from that has been nothing short of amazing.

Jack Crowe also walked into a train wreck. If he'd had previous experience as a head coach he might have been okay but he was unprepared for trying to rebuild the talent level a time when a jump to the SEC was looming.

The end of the Holtz era was also a potential fiasco. The talent level was way down from what he was handed by Broyles and staff in 1977. By the time he was fired Holtz could not even land the best players in Arkansas. Hatfield was the perfect hire at that point because he was the real "do more with less" coach.

Like Bielema, Hatfield pulled the program back up quickly. But he and coach Broyles were a bad mix. They agreed on almost nothing plus Hatfield had no intention of letting Frank tell him what to do. As I've said many times, if Hatfield had been willing to upgrade his staff he would have been at Arkansas for 15-20 years.

I'm going to second on this.  John L. Smith was a bad choice made for logical reasons at a bad time.  Petrino's recruiting had fallen off, but the John L. Smith year seriously magnified the effect. 

Crowe, I think, is a decent coach, but the wrong man at the wrong time for Arkansas.  Not only was he probably too inexperienced for the job, talent was at a low ebb at the same time that Arkansas was making a move to a much more difficult conference schedule.

[Biggus Piggus]

I don't know what the right move would have been after firing Petrino. Clearly, JLS was a mistake, but I do not know enough about all the possible alternatives. It seemed like Arkansas was destined to have a transition season regardless of who was coaching. The better the interim coach, the harder it would have been to unseat him.

[wholehog92]

Mike, we often hear that Holtz couldn't recruit to Arkansas, but how much do you credit all the cheating going on around us for that?  If Holtz had been given more time, do you believe he would have recruited better after the scandals had unfolded?

Clearly, I'm not Mike, but I'd like to address this.  Holtz was his own worst enemy in recruiting.  His on screen personality is the one most younger hog fans now associate with him.  He treated high school coaches terribly.  He treated staff terribly, he was a walking time bomb.  I honestly think he felt like the AR job was beneath his ability and he resented taking the job.  I don't care what kind of scandal had happened, it wasn't going to repair his relationships with HS coaches.


The worst hire in my mind was "smile."  We gained nothing from the hire and we lost a lot.

I think Crowe gets overlooked by some of the younger guys.  He wasn't here long and it's been a bit since he's been here.  We lost to the Citadel for the love of all things.

Mike's post is the most historically correct in the thread by my memory.

[snoblind]

Interesting thread.  My recollection coincides most with Mike Irwin's.

At the time of Lou's hiring I was a young, diehard Razorback fan. The idea that Frank would not be our coach was a little scary to me. But he seemed to hit the nail on its head with Lou. That guy was a great motivator and seemed to know how to exploit matchup problems better than most of his peers. What Lou wasn't so great at - and what might not have been as obvious to Frank - was recruiting. This is critical everywhere, but especially true at Arkansas.

The Hogs steadily declined under Lou as Franks recruiting classes filtered through the program. Lou exacerbated the problem by supporting Jesse Helms in North Carolina - think that was used against Arkansas on the recruiting trail?

Ken may have been the perfect replacement. A wonderful man... but most of the concerns Frank brought to his attention started with fans and, more importantly, big money boosters. Ken took care of the men and families that were his staff. But he benefitted from coaching against a weak SWC - games against good opponents were occasionally embarrassing.

As crazy as it may sound today, I think the hiring of Lou Holtz made the least sense and started the tumble of Razorback football out of elite status. I am amazed Frank didn't hire someone from within his coaching tree to take over for himself. He had the program set up for his successor.

Good post.

Mike may able to confirm this, but some folks weren't happy with Holtz from the beginning.  I was in high school when I attended the Chism Reed banquet with my dad his first year .  I thought the one liners were great, but I recall the scowls of men around me and comments from my dad.  No question that they would have preferred someone from the "tree".

[Pork Twain]

Crowe, Nutt and Gus, if it ever happens

[thirrdegreetusker]

But as far as the worst coaching hire, the rush hire of Jack Crow without looking at any serious upandcomers was the worst hire.

JFB had little choice. Hatfield left just a few days before NSD, and something had to be done NOW, to do what could be done to save the recruiting class.

BPs departure was also at a time where there was just no way to hire a qualified candidate, under the circumstances.

[thirrdegreetusker]

After Holtz left we were loaded.

Seriously?

I can't swear to the accuracy of this, but I read somewhere that Holtz did not leave one single NFL draftee on campus. Contrast that to the AAs and first-rounders Holtz inherited from JFB.

[thirrdegreetusker]

I'd say Jack Crowe.
Hatfield's hiring was understandable. He was coming off a 10-2 season (win over Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl),#13 ranking at Air Force, plus National Coach of the Year Honors. Jimmy's record at Okie St wasn't overly impressive. His best years were 7 & 8 win seasons. Not sure how loaded the Hogs were when Holtz left after going 6-5 in 1983, but Jimmy wouldn't have had the South Florida talent in Fayetteville that he had at Miami. JJ obviously proved to be one of the best coaches ever to walk the sidelines. But I can see why JFB hired Hatfield at the time.

THIS^^^^

If you go to Wiki, and look at EXACTLY where KH and JJ were when Holtz exited, KH was the obvious choice. Only in hindsight does JJ look good.

Fact: JJ took over the DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION Miami Hurricanes, and went 8-5 in his first season there. When Miami first hired him, many Miami fans said Who?"

[thirrdegreetusker]

You have to ask yourself, what would make an Arkansas alumnus and successful HC leave so abruptly?

I have always heard the KH thought JFB was about to retire, and that KH thought he was the heir apparent.

When UA announced had signed JFB to a new contract, KH left within a couple of days. Ironically, a copy of KHs own new proposed contract was left on his desk, unsigned.


.......or so I heard..........

[thirrdegreetusker]

I understand what you are saying but let's ask ourselves what we would say if it came out that Long and Bielema had a bad relationship because Long wanted to run his staff for him and tell him who to hire? JL would be roasted on a spit and I am not sure that we would keep Bielema for very long.

And I understand that JFB had a long and successful run as a HC at Arkansas, but once you resign that post and are only the AD and you hire a HC, you need to let him run his program as he sees fit. If you don't like the way he runs his program, you fire him. But how do you fire someone who went 55-17-1 over 6 seasons and won the SWC Championship his last two years at the helm? That would have been a tough call and one that would have caused a lot of head-scratchin among other coaches who Broyles might want to hire.

So in the end, I think that Hatfield's departure of his own accord was best for both of them (Broyles and Hatfield) and for the program.

Sounds reasonable. That just ain't the way life works.

Is it not reasonable to think that JFB, while mostly satisfied with the state of the program, would urge KH to upgrade his assistants, if there were signs of problems?

If JFB just up and fired KH because he would not follow JFBs advice, wouldn't folks say "Uh, did you counsel him to make those changes, if you felt that strongly?"

Bottom line, JFB could not fire KH after consecutive 10-2 seasons, even if he CLEARLY saw the handwriting on the wall.

[Been10Hog]

Seriously?

I can't swear to the accuracy of this, but I read somewhere that Holtz did not leave one single NFL draftee on campus. Contrast that to the AAs and first-rounders Holtz inherited from JFB.

Agree, Holtz lost some really good recruits in his last few years. But, to answer your question about NFL draftees on roster when he left; Greg Lasker just finished eligibility, Bobby Joe Edmonds had more left, Steve Atwater and Wayne Matin were redshirting......

[thirrdegreetusker]

What would you say today if it were known that JL told Bielema that he needed to replace some of his staff? What would be Bielema's reaction? Frank had a hard time not being too "hands on" with the football program after he became solely the AD. He not only wanted to be the AD, but still wanted to keep his hand, to some degree, in being the HC. The danger of hiring a formerly successful football coach as your AD at the same school that he was a successful head football coach. It is a bad mix and it hurt us. I love JFB and I will always honor him for his contributions to the Arkansas program, but he stayed too long and was given too much power in every aspect other than fund raising.

Well, if my AD is a Hall of Fame coach in his own right, and my AD says, "Son, you got some fundamental problems in the defensive secondary", I know what I would do.

[GuvHog]

Seriously?

I can't swear to the accuracy of this, but I read somewhere that Holtz did not leave one single NFL draftee on campus. Contrast that to the AAs and first-rounders Holtz inherited from JFB.

Correct. The team was far from loaded when Holtz left. He had one really good year with Frank's players but the program went into a steady decline after that due to his poor recruiting. Holtz was a great game day field coach but a very poor recruiter.

[GuvHog]

Hiring a NC coach that had a record of 96-26-4 over several years at a P5 program over an interim that had never been a head coach except for as an interim for one year is a mistake of "EPIC proportions"? The game had passed him by? How does a game pass someone by in only a couple of years? We aren't talking about software updates Gov.................Come on, you are smarter than that!

The fact that with the with the exception of one year, the program floundered badly under Ford backs up my point. He was a pretty good recruiter but a bad coach and thus, a horrible hire. How do we know Kines wouldn't have done better???

[Jek Tono Porkins]

I wasn't around for Hatfield but looking at some of the scores it's no wonder Broyles wanted to "meddle." I can imagine that losing to UCLA 3-17 in the Cotton Bowl was a real bummer.

I wonder how Hatfield would have done had he stuck around for the transition to the SEC?