Bielema recruiting strategies

[IronMountainHog]

Good thing Coach B didn't offer Tre Norwood from Fort Smith Northside a scholarship. If he did, the kid wouldn't be starting as a true freshman defensive back for the Sooners tonight.  Just one more pimple of incompetence on this staff.

[Porkchop#1]

Good thing Coach B didn't offer Tre Norwood from Fort Smith Northside a scholarship. If he did, the kid wouldn't be starting as a true freshman defensive back for the Sooners tonight.  Just one more pimple of incompetence on this staff.

Cut the guy some slack...Fort Smith is a long ways from the University, how could CBB have known?

Like the Byers kid who ended up at Mizzou, they can't keep up with everyone...just too far.

Or the Crockett kid from waaay down in central Arkansas.  Don't know how Mizzou found out about him.

[IronMountainHog]

Cut the guy some slack...Fort Smith is a long ways from the University, how could CBB have known?

Like the Byers kid who ended up at Mizzou, they can't keep up with everyone...just too far.

Or the Crockett kid from waaay down in central Arkansas.  Don't know how Mizzou found out about him.

My bad. Like we need defensive backs anyway.

[Sooie71923]

Did they want to come to Arkansas? If they did, then huge mistake. If they didn't, then shut up.

Why do most fans think coaches can force kids to play for Arkansas? It's asinine.

[hogboarder]

So only offer kids that WANT to come to Arkansas?? Got it!

[parallaxpig]

His recruiting strategy is to recruit as little speed as he can. When he realizes he let one slip in he either keeps him on sideline or turns him over to Herbert.

[hogboarder]

Any undecided kids we absolutely will not offer!!! 🤔

[rtr]

Did they want to come to Arkansas? If they did, then huge mistake. If they didn't, then shut up.

Why do most fans think coaches can force kids to play for Arkansas? It's asinine.

I think the point is that they were not offered by Arkansas.  Know your facts before you post, you will look less foolish.

[Porkchop#1]

Did they want to come to Arkansas? If they did, then huge mistake. If they didn't, then shut up.

Why do most fans think coaches can force kids to play for Arkansas? It's asinine.

Sorry Jen..we's wuz just funnin.

[Sooie71923]

Offering for the sake of offering?


Ok, great. Let's just give out offers so we look good when they reject it.  I like how we don't just throw out offers for no reason. I'm not really into grandstanding.

[rtr]

Offering for the sake of offering?


Ok, great. Let's just give out offers so we look good when they reject it.  I like how we don't just throw out offers for no reason. I'm not really into grandstanding.

Now that is dumb and I am convinced with this non-sensical answer that you sir are a troll.  So I will ignore you.  Have a good night.

[NuttinItUp]

Now that is dumb and I am convinced with this non-sensical answer that you sir are a troll.  So I will ignore you.  Have a good night.

From his first post I read earlier I could tell he was a troll.

[Sooie71923]

I'm not a troll.  I agree CBBs Time is up. But to dog on the man bc of his recruiting when recruiting has a always been an Arkansas problem, is just plain obtuse.

[Temprees]

Offering for the sake of offering?


Ok, great. Let's just give out offers so we look good when they reject it.  I like how we don't just throw out offers for no reason. I'm not really into grandstanding.

Crockett wanted to come to Arkansas

[HatfieldHog]

Did they want to come to Arkansas? If they did, then huge mistake. If they didn't, then shut up.

Why do most fans think coaches can force kids to play for Arkansas? It's asinine.

This may be the most ignorant post I've seen today! 

"Recruiting is the art of persuading a kid to want to come play for you!"

See ya

[Piggfoot]

Is Lunny not responsible for Arkansas recruiting?

[NotSoFastMyFriend]

He doesn't have a strategy.

[rtr]

He doesn't have a strategy.

I think you nailed it.

[Youngsta71701]

Did they want to come to Arkansas? If they did, then huge mistake. If they didn't, then shut up.

Why do most fans think coaches can force kids to play for Arkansas? It's asinine.

He lowballed and drug his feet on Norwood the same way he did Byers. That's why both of them ended up at other Power 5 schools when we clearly could use both of them. It's disrespectful. And respect goes a long ways these days.

[Youngsta71701]

I'm not a troll.  I agree CBBs Time is up. But to dog on the man bc of his recruiting when recruiting has a always been an Arkansas problem, is just plain obtuse.

So Norwood, Byers, or Crockett were good enough to come to Arkansas?

[Youngsta71701]

Crockett wanted to come to Arkansas

Yep, his dad told me this out of his own mouth. But I guess the lil ole not talented enough Arkansas kid wasn't good enough to go to the big bad to good for Arkansas kids school called Arkansas.

People from outside of Arkansas wouldn't understand. It's an Arkansas pride thing. When the talent is not superior the play for Arkansas pride will take over. Of course you want the most talented kids to come to your school. But when everything else fails take the Arkansas kid. He will play for pride if nothing else, he will always play hard till the end, and he will never give up.

Arkansas kids don't get enough respect from Coach Bielema, period. Unless they are Agim like. That's why he always wants to offer them a preferred walk on. I'm so tired of hearing that term BTW when it comes time to offer an Arkansas kid.

[snoblind]

So Norwood, Byers, or Crockett were good enough to come to Arkansas?

They were and all 3 should be here.  isn't there a kid who is an All American at UCA who didn't get an offer from Arkansas because he was an inch or two below their standard?  Tells you all you need to know about the soon to be former coach at Arkansas.

[Youngsta71701]

They were and all 3 should be here.  isn't there a kid who is an All American at UCA who didn't get an offer from Arkansas because he was an inch or two below their standard?  Tells you all you need to know about the soon to be former coach at Arkansas.

Exactly, sometimes you have to forget about the measurable. We need playmakers. Tyrann Matthews wasn't very big but he was a big time playmaker and he was fast. That's what we are missing on this team. Playmakers.

[HogFoo]

Hindsight is 20/20.  ALthough, i think some of the best teams that arkansas ever fielded consisted of more arkansas kids that out of state kids.  I hate it when we let an instate kid that wanted to be a Hog every escape the state.  But it happens.  sometimes because they wanted to go elsewhere, sometimes because they didnt quite have the 'measurements' that the coaches wanted.   i think the coaches slow played the DL guy from fayetteville because of grades.  same thing with bama, and when it looked like he wasnt going to make it he does at the last second and gets on with mizz.    cant blame bielema for that.

i really dont know what the story is with the Norwood kid.  when i was briefly watching the tcu/ou game and they said he was from ft.smith arkansas, i had to rewind it and go huh?   i have no idea why we didnt offer the kid, or if we did and he wasnt interested...  just dont remember the story there.  with crockett i bellieve that he wanted to be a Hog, but we were trying to get 'bigger' fish and missed out on him.  in retrospect i am sure they wish they would have got that kid.  i wish they had.   

As for Bielema and his recruiting strategies.  who knows.  i hate rehashing but we just didnt replace our best recruiters with the same type caliber or better coach/recruiter whenever one would leave!   that was our problem!  the biggest was when we didnt do it when pittman left!  that was a HUGEE mistake!  HUGEEEEEE mistake!   

People still point to Petrino being able to get us going in his 3rd year.  Yes, i will say that Petrino didnt step into as big of a mess as Bielema did when he got here. Plus, Petrino happened to come when there was a truly great WR group, TE, QB,  just a pretty dang good setup.    Bielema didnt have that luxury.  it was a total dumpster fire when he got here.  STILL, no excuses.  Guys get paid lots of money to coach.  Bielema's mistake was that he tried to bring the level of talent up at the same time.  And that just takes tooooo long.  Now , i will say, had Pittman stayed, and not for a little bad luck with injuries, he could have probably got it done doing it the way he was.  He would definitely have had more wins, and thus, he would have beeen given more time to continue to slow build the talent level all at once until he had us able to compete at a high level.  That obviously didnt happen.  I still believe that had Bielema just did like Petrino always does when he goes to a school, and chose one side of the ball to build up first before working the other side of the ball, he would have been able to have got the job done.  Petrino always builds the offense up first.  Then he does the defense.  he gets the offense where he can score on just about anyone while slowly getting defensive players coming in. He was just starting to focus on defense here when he went into the ditch.  He did the same thing at Louisville the 1st time he was there.  He built the offense up then the defense.  The 2nd time at Louisville, charlie strong already had built up lots of recruits on both sides of the ball.  So petrino didnt have to do much.  Notice as strongs players have left though that the talent has demised.  the record shows that.   

But anyways, im not trying to bash Petrino.   i'm just trying to point something out.  I think had Bielema focused on offense like Petrino did, even during practice like Petrino did, i think Bielema would have got it done here.  Then after we had our bulldozer lines figured out, had it where we could run on anyone, then worked on making the defense strong, i think it would have been successful.  SImilar to Petrino, except with different style.  it would have worked.  but, anyways, it obviously didnt go that way.  We have some good players mixed with some not so good players.  hopefully the next coaching staff will figure it out that at arkansas they need to focus on 1side first then work on the other side of the ball.   well, unless they are a helluva recruiter and can bring in talent at all spots to fill the wholes where the talent is lacking, then by all means do that.   But, if we dont get a guy that can do that, then i hope we get a guy that follows Petrinos style.  Or hell, we could do it on defense 1st.  either style works.  Muschamp does dfense 1st.  Then tries to bring the offense along.  To me, those kinds of teams are not very fun to watch.  His florida team wasnt fun at all, and his s.carolina team isnt either.  but, anyways... we'll see what happens here.  i hope the next coach is offensive minded.  really look forward to ''turbo buffalo'  again!  haha

[snoblind]

Exactly, sometimes you have to forget about the measurable. We need playmakers. Tyrann Matthews wasn't very big but he was a big time playmaker and he was fast. That's what we are missing on this team. Playmakers.

Think we have at least one who only got 3 touches today, but you are correct.

[rude1]

Good thing Coach B didn't offer Tre Norwood from Fort Smith Northside a scholarship. If he did, the kid wouldn't be starting as a true freshman defensive back for the Sooners tonight.  Just one more pimple of incompetence on this staff.

Too bad they weren't #uncommon

[cjack]

Hindsight is 20/20.  ALthough, i think some of the best teams that arkansas ever fielded consisted of more arkansas kids that out of state kids.  I hate it when we let an instate kid that wanted to be a Hog every escape the state.  But it happens.  sometimes because they wanted to go elsewhere, sometimes because they didnt quite have the 'measurements' that the coaches wanted.   i think the coaches slow played the DL guy from fayetteville because of grades.  same thing with bama, and when it looked like he wasnt going to make it he does at the last second and gets on with mizz.    cant blame bielema for that.

i really dont know what the story is with the Norwood kid.  when i was briefly watching the tcu/ou game and they said he was from ft.smith arkansas, i had to rewind it and go huh?   i have no idea why we didnt offer the kid, or if we did and he wasnt interested...  just dont remember the story there.  with crockett i bellieve that he wanted to be a Hog, but we were trying to get 'bigger' fish and missed out on him.  in retrospect i am sure they wish they would have got that kid.  i wish they had.   

As for Bielema and his recruiting strategies.  who knows.  i hate rehashing but we just didnt replace our best recruiters with the same type caliber or better coach/recruiter whenever one would leave!   that was our problem!  the biggest was when we didnt do it when pittman left!  that was a HUGEE mistake!  HUGEEEEEE mistake!   

People still point to Petrino being able to get us going in his 3rd year.  Yes, i will say that Petrino didnt step into as big of a mess as Bielema did when he got here. Plus, Petrino happened to come when there was a truly great WR group, TE, QB,  just a pretty dang good setup.    Bielema didnt have that luxury.  it was a total dumpster fire when he got here.  STILL, no excuses.  Guys get paid lots of money to coach.  Bielema's mistake was that he tried to bring the level of talent up at the same time.  And that just takes tooooo long.  Now , i will say, had Pittman stayed, and not for a little bad luck with injuries, he could have probably got it done doing it the way he was.  He would definitely have had more wins, and thus, he would have beeen given more time to continue to slow build the talent level all at once until he had us able to compete at a high level.  That obviously didnt happen.  I still believe that had Bielema just did like Petrino always does when he goes to a school, and chose one side of the ball to build up first before working the other side of the ball, he would have been able to have got the job done.  Petrino always builds the offense up first.  Then he does the defense.  he gets the offense where he can score on just about anyone while slowly getting defensive players coming in. He was just starting to focus on defense here when he went into the ditch.  He did the same thing at Louisville the 1st time he was there.  He built the offense up then the defense.  The 2nd time at Louisville, charlie strong already had built up lots of recruits on both sides of the ball.  So petrino didnt have to do much.  Notice as strongs players have left though that the talent has demised.  the record shows that.   

But anyways, im not trying to bash Petrino.   i'm just trying to point something out.  I think had Bielema focused on offense like Petrino did, even during practice like Petrino did, i think Bielema would have got it done here.  Then after we had our bulldozer lines figured out, had it where we could run on anyone, then worked on making the defense strong, i think it would have been successful.  SImilar to Petrino, except with different style.  it would have worked.  but, anyways, it obviously didnt go that way.  We have some good players mixed with some not so good players.  hopefully the next coaching staff will figure it out that at arkansas they need to focus on 1side first then work on the other side of the ball.   well, unless they are a helluva recruiter and can bring in talent at all spots to fill the wholes where the talent is lacking, then by all means do that.   But, if we dont get a guy that can do that, then i hope we get a guy that follows Petrinos style.  Or hell, we could do it on defense 1st.  either style works.  Muschamp does dfense 1st.  Then tries to bring the offense along.  To me, those kinds of teams are not very fun to watch.  His florida team wasnt fun at all, and his s.carolina team isnt either.  but, anyways... we'll see what happens here.  i hope the next coach is offensive minded.  really look forward to ''turbo buffalo'  again!  haha

That is just a whole bunch of rambling excuse making, Bielema apologist, Petrino hating crap.

[HogFoo]

That is just a whole bunch of rambling excuse making, Bielema apologist, Petrino hating crap.

Dude,  Do you have a reading comprehension problem or what?  Seriously, How on earth do you get Bielema apologist and Petrino hater out of that??   Wow, just when i thought some posters couldn't be ANY more ignorant, you had to respond and prove that theory false.  Wow, what an idiot.  You know, i started to explain or dumb down an explanation so that even you could understand , but i changed my mind.     geez.. 

[atom hog]

Maybe they saw "Being Bert Bulemia." Some kids want to motivated, challenged and coached. Not chillin' and dancin' after beating bottom barrel FCS schools.

[IronMountainHog]

Hindsight is 20/20.  ALthough, i think some of the best teams that arkansas ever fielded consisted of more arkansas kids that out of state kids.  I hate it when we let an instate kid that wanted to be a Hog every escape the state.  But it happens.  sometimes because they wanted to go elsewhere, sometimes because they didnt quite have the 'measurements' that the coaches wanted.   i think the coaches slow played the DL guy from fayetteville because of grades.  same thing with bama, and when it looked like he wasnt going to make it he does at the last second and gets on with mizz.    cant blame bielema for that.

i really dont know what the story is with the Norwood kid.  when i was briefly watching the tcu/ou game and they said he was from ft.smith arkansas, i had to rewind it and go huh?   i have no idea why we didnt offer the kid, or if we did and he wasnt interested...  just dont remember the story there.  with crockett i bellieve that he wanted to be a Hog, but we were trying to get 'bigger' fish and missed out on him.  in retrospect i am sure they wish they would have got that kid.  i wish they had.   

As for Bielema and his recruiting strategies.  who knows.  i hate rehashing but we just didnt replace our best recruiters with the same type caliber or better coach/recruiter whenever one would leave!   that was our problem!  the biggest was when we didnt do it when pittman left!  that was a HUGEE mistake!  HUGEEEEEE mistake!   

People still point to Petrino being able to get us going in his 3rd year.  Yes, i will say that Petrino didnt step into as big of a mess as Bielema did when he got here. Plus, Petrino happened to come when there was a truly great WR group, TE, QB,  just a pretty dang good setup.    Bielema didnt have that luxury.  it was a total dumpster fire when he got here.  STILL, no excuses.  Guys get paid lots of money to coach.  Bielema's mistake was that he tried to bring the level of talent up at the same time.  And that just takes tooooo long.  Now , i will say, had Pittman stayed, and not for a little bad luck with injuries, he could have probably got it done doing it the way he was.  He would definitely have had more wins, and thus, he would have beeen given more time to continue to slow build the talent level all at once until he had us able to compete at a high level.  That obviously didnt happen.  I still believe that had Bielema just did like Petrino always does when he goes to a school, and chose one side of the ball to build up first before working the other side of the ball, he would have been able to have got the job done.  Petrino always builds the offense up first.  Then he does the defense.  he gets the offense where he can score on just about anyone while slowly getting defensive players coming in. He was just starting to focus on defense here when he went into the ditch.  He did the same thing at Louisville the 1st time he was there.  He built the offense up then the defense.  The 2nd time at Louisville, charlie strong already had built up lots of recruits on both sides of the ball.  So petrino didnt have to do much.  Notice as strongs players have left though that the talent has demised.  the record shows that.   

But anyways, im not trying to bash Petrino.   i'm just trying to point something out.  I think had Bielema focused on offense like Petrino did, even during practice like Petrino did, i think Bielema would have got it done here.  Then after we had our bulldozer lines figured out, had it where we could run on anyone, then worked on making the defense strong, i think it would have been successful.  SImilar to Petrino, except with different style.  it would have worked.  but, anyways, it obviously didnt go that way.  We have some good players mixed with some not so good players.  hopefully the next coaching staff will figure it out that at arkansas they need to focus on 1side first then work on the other side of the ball.   well, unless they are a helluva recruiter and can bring in talent at all spots to fill the wholes where the talent is lacking, then by all means do that.   But, if we dont get a guy that can do that, then i hope we get a guy that follows Petrinos style.  Or hell, we could do it on defense 1st.  either style works.  Muschamp does dfense 1st.  Then tries to bring the offense along.  To me, those kinds of teams are not very fun to watch.  His florida team wasnt fun at all, and his s.carolina team isnt either.  but, anyways... we'll see what happens here.  i hope the next coach is offensive minded.  really look forward to ''turbo buffalo'  again!  haha

Byers wasn't slowed played by Alabama, he was offered a scholarship there unlike Arkansas who never offered. The spin we all got was that he was not going to qualify anyway. I get so tired of hearing the term "dumpster fire" when describing what Bert walked into here. This situation is nowhere what Franklin walked into at Penn State, which other coaches told recruits was molester university or "Ped State". Or Miami which was on probation or under NCAA investigation for the last 15 years. If anything it showed a damn good coach doesn't need 5 years, or even half that time. We just don't have a good coach.

[hogfan58]

My bad. Like we need defensive backs anyway.

Even if they had come here, by now Rhodes would have coached them up to always be within 10 yds of a WR and never be looking for the ball.

[HogFoo]

Byers wasn't slowed played by Alabama, he was offered a scholarship there unlike Arkansas who never offered. The spin we all got was that he was not going to qualify anyway. I get so tired of hearing the term "dumpster fire" when describing what Bert walked into here. This situation is nowhere what Franklin walked into at Penn State, which other coaches told recruits was molester university or "Ped State". Or Miami which was on probation or under NCAA investigation for the last 15 years. If anything it showed a damn good coach doesn't need 5 years, or even half that time. We just don't have a good coach.

True it wasn't the likes of Ped St, but it was pretty bad. J.L.Smith did absolutely NOTHING! It was an out of control situation while he was here. The hiring of JLSmith alone should have been enough to fire Jeff Long! Haha I Can't believe anyone would forget that.  Hey, I want Bert gone too at this point.  I'm just pointing out how things were that some want to forget.  It was not a good situation when Bielema got here.  Just saying.

As for Byers yeah, I didn't recall if their was actually a commitable offer to Bama with him.  I know they had visited him and the staff here made it seem like he wouldn't qualify.  Then later Saban makes a visit about a week before signing day and basically says Bama wasn't interested, then we find out at the end he finally DOES make the grade and goes to Mizz.  I think Nutt used to offer kids whether they qualified or not inside the state.  He knew a lot of times they wouldn't qualify, he's then try to get them in juco knowing full well he'd never see them again.  Every now and then the kid would actually qualify and it became a "numbers will work themselves out" kind of deal.  Of course Nutt is the reason the SEC passed rules on limiting the number of schollies offered per year.  Seems like he had 39 in one class and like 40ish in another!

But yeah, back to what my original comment read.  I think Bielema could have got it done in 3yrs just like Petrino did if he would simply have focused on 1side offense or defense.  Got it strong then worked on other side of ball.  That's what Petrino did and it worked.  Bielema tried to bring up the talent level across the whole team at the same time, and he almost did it until he lost his best coaches/recruiters and didn't replace them with equal caliber coaches.  He almost still succeeded.  But , injuries also prevented it from happening.  So, it took longer than it should have.  And being as how Bielema didn't win enough for folks to want to give him anymore time,  he will be fired.  Which I agree with.  He should have did it quicker, should have did as I stated and he would have succeeded.  It really wouldn't surprise me if after he takes a talking head position and then goes back to coaching that he would be greatly successful at his next coaching gig.  But, the ship has sailed here.  We need new blood!  Need someone with a better game plan and direction for faster results!  Again, I'm kind of hoping  for Chip Kelly haha, but, I'd be happy with Matt campbell, if we can afford his buyout, and if not him, I'd take Norvell.

[Letsroll1200]

I hope the next coaching staff can get Ladarrius Bishop from Ashdown that's committed to Mississippi State. I trust Mississippi State coaches evaluation of talent over this staff. If he can play for Mississippi State he should be able to play for the Hogs. Arkansas need as much help as they can get.

[Muskliketusk]

Got people in Fort Smith and Norwood A ain't that good and B didn't like Arkansas. He can have fun playing for ChOkeU for all i care and i could care less.

[IronMountainHog]

Got people in Fort Smith and Norwood A ain't that good and B didn't like Arkansas. He can have fun playing for ChOkeU for all i care and i could care less.

Well he is that good, and I'm sure he will have fun in the playoffs and major bowl games with OU.

[Muskliketusk]

Only reason they might make the playoff is cuz they play in the weakest conference in the world. We'd win it every year but instead we play in the big show aka the SEC West.

[Letsroll1200]

Only reason they might make the playoff is cuz they play in the weakest conference in the world. We'd win it every year but instead we play in the big show aka the SEC West.

Excuses! They beat that same TCU team Arkansas played at home by 18. TCU beat Arkansas by 21.

[greenie]

The stories about Crockett and Byers are not worth rehashing, but briefly... Crockett would have had to replace either Hammonds or Whaley in that class, and Byers was an academic risk and everyone paying attention at the time knew it.  Recruiting decisions like this are made everyday.  Do you think Saban missed on Trey Flowers and Darius Philon...two Alabama boys?

Bielema needs to go, but recruiting has not been the issue.  He put enough talent on this team to win more than we have.  Can someone do better? Sure, but going back with 20/20 hindsight, critiquing specific recruiting decisions, and ignoring all that lead to those decisions is just piling on to feed your anger.  Try to draw comfort in that we will likely be moving on from CBB and we'll have a different set of eyes evaluating and making recruiting decisions. 

[bulldog04]

So we wasted two schollies on Hedlund and Blake Johnson and could've had Crockett, Byers or Norwood.  Not bashing players, I just think kickers and punters should walkon and earn a scholarship.

[1HourToHogville]

To be fair: Norwood is playing now at OU due to injuries and player losses.  Good for him.  We signed Curl from Muskogee, Ok, who is also starting due to injury. 

We got the better prospect/player in my opinion.  Stand them side by side and you pick. 

[PorkRinds]

So Norwood, Byers, or Crockett were good enough to come to Arkansas?

We got higher rated players than all of them. I like Home town kids as much as anyone but I wouldn't trade Curl for Norwood. Nor would I trade Whaley for Crockett. Byers had issues and when he lied about his recruitment that pretty much sealed his fate.

[Razorbax]

The stories about Crockett and Byers are not worth rehashing, but briefly... Crockett would have had to replace either Hammonds or Whaley in that class, Not true. We were still recruiting another running back (Porter) who committed to Texas at the last min.and Byers was an academic risk and everyone paying attention at the time knew it. And Bama still offered a scholarship....Nothing wrong with a scholarship offer with contingents. Especially in the defensive line where Arkansas produces so little.  Recruiting decisions like this are made every day.  Do you think Saban missed on Trey Flowers and Darius Philon...two Alabama boys? Darius had an offer and still had a greyshirt offer. Trey was a 3 star committed to Georgia Tech. Most of the traditional powers missed out on him....As for Saban, I am sure he is a lot of things. However, recruiting defensive linemen isn't one

Bielema needs to go, but recruiting has not been the issue.   He put enough talent on this team to win more than we have.  Can someone do better? Sure, but going back with 20/20 hindsight, critiquing specific recruiting decisions, and ignoring all that lead to those decisions is just piling on to feed your anger.  Try to draw comfort in that we will likely be moving on from CBB and we'll have a different set of eyes evaluating and making recruiting decisions. 

[Richard Davenport]

Arkansas evaluated Tre and obviously decide not to offer.

Petrino didn't offer Kenneth Dixon, who's now in the NFL.

[Razorbax]

Dixon was missed by every major program. Hence signing with La Tech....Tre, on the other hand, was offered by Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Okie State, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Louisville. 

Arkansas evaluated Tre and obviously decide not to offer.

Petrino didn't offer Kenneth Dixon, who's now in the NFL.

[Porkchop#1]

I hope the next coaching staff can get Ladarrius Bishop from Ashdown that's committed to Mississippi State. I trust Mississippi State coaches evaluation of talent over this staff. If he can play for Mississippi State he should be able to play for the Hogs. Arkansas need as much help as they can get.

Yep, Bert handled Bishop's recruiting like a goof.

[greenie]

The stories about Crockett and Byers are not worth rehashing, but briefly... Crockett would have had to replace either Hammonds or Whaley in that class, Not true. We were still recruiting another running back (Porter) who committed to Texas at the last min.and Byers was an academic risk and everyone paying attention at the time knew it. And Bama still offered a scholarship....Nothing wrong with a scholarship offer with contingents. Especially in the defensive line where Arkansas produces so little.  Recruiting decisions like this are made every day.  Do you think Saban missed on Trey Flowers and Darius Philon...two Alabama boys? Darius had an offer and still had a greyshirt offer. Trey was a 3 star committed to Georgia Tech. Most of the traditional powers missed out on him....As for Saban, I am sure he is a lot of things. However, recruiting defensive linemen isn't one

Bielema needs to go, but recruiting has not been the issue.   He put enough talent on this team to win more than we have.  Can someone do better? Sure, but going back with 20/20 hindsight, critiquing specific recruiting decisions, and ignoring all that lead to those decisions is just piling on to feed your anger.  Try to draw comfort in that we will likely be moving on from CBB and we'll have a different set of eyes evaluating and making recruiting decisions. 

You're saying it's not true that Bielema was only planning on 2 RBs in that class?  Neither one of us really know, but we do know that that's all he took. I'm betting Crockett was not in his top 3, and in my mind, he's still not as good as those 3.  Looks like a lot of people "missed" on Crockett.  The only SEC offer he had was a late-coming Mizzou offer.
Bama is in a far better position to give contingent offers than Arkansas. Pulling offers at the last minute doesn't go over well with recruits and their HS coaches.  That kind of thing could hurt us far more than Bama. Who knows what kind of offer Byers got from them anyway.  In the end, he had no offer from them.  Saban doesn't miss much at any position because he doesn't have to roll the dice very often on a 3*.  If you land only high 4* and 5* players, you don't make many mistakes.  We took 4 DL in that class: Capps, Guidry, Marshall, and Taylor.  With the benefit of hindsight, Byers is probably better than 2 of those, but since he was an academic risk, you must weigh the possibility of losing that spot altogether with the estimated potential benefit. 

This is a fool's argument anyway.  Most of it is opinion that won't change on either side.  I respect that you think Bielema was a terrible recruiter.  I disagree, and think he did a pretty good job at it.  Regardless, I have lost all faith that he can put talent to work effectively to win games.  I also think that the team has lost confidence in him as well.  It is time to move on, but I wish CBB the best of luck because I truly believe he gave his best effort and he did it with character. 

[Razorbax]

You're saying it's not true that Bielema was only planning on 2 RBs in that class? What I am stating is a fact that Porter had a scholarship offer until the very end. Neither one of us really know, but we do know that that's all he took. Again, we took 2 because the 3rd one picked Texas.I'm betting Crockett was not in his top 3, and in my mind, he's still not as good as those 3. maybe  Looks like a lot of people "missed" on Crockett.Yes they did...However, your narrative of offering Crockett meant not offering Hammonds or Whaley is false because we were willing to take 3 backs.  The only SEC offer he had was a late-coming Mizzou offer.
Bama is in a far better position to give contingent offers than Arkansas. Pulling offers at the last minute doesn't go over well with recruits and their HS coaches. That is bull.....If you lay it out to a coach and the recruit that the scholarship is good as long as the academic side is taken care of by a specific date, I do not see a problem with pulling it if they do not meet the requirement  That kind of thing could hurt us far more than Bama. In Arkansas it would hurt us more? Who knows what kind of offer Byers got from them anyway.  In the end, he had no offer from them.  Saban doesn't miss much at any position because he doesn't have to roll the dice very often on a 3*.  If you land only high 4* and 5* players, you don't make many mistakes.  We took 4 DL in that class: Capps, Guidry, Marshall, and Taylor.  With the benefit of hindsight, Byers is probably better than 2 of those, but since he was an academic risk, you must weigh the possibility of losing that spot altogether with the estimated potential benefit. No you don't...We make offers with caveats all the time. You make the offer with stipulations. 

This is a fool's argument anyway.  Most of it is opinion that won't change on either side.  I respect that you think Bielema was a terrible recruiter. Never said he was a terrible recruiter. That is the problem talking to you Bielemanistas. if I disagree with something he has done, it becomes a hatred.  I disagree, and think he did a pretty good job at it.  Regardless, I have lost all faith that he can put talent to work effectively to win games.  I also think that the team has lost confidence in him as well.  It is time to move on, but I wish CBB the best of luck because I truly believe he gave his best effort and he did it with character. 

[greenie]

Porter had a offer.  Never said he didn't. 
If Porter had wanted to come, neither of us know what would have happened with Whaley or Hammonds.  You can infer we would have taken 3 all you want, you don't know that.  We also offered Devon White, Elijah Holyfield, Denzel Mitchell, D'Vaughn Pennamon, Rakeem Boyd, and a few others for RB...we weren't going to take all them either.  My opinion is that if Devon White had wanted to come, he would have made room somehow...but I don't know that either.

High school coaches complain all the time about how offers are handled.  Can it be done to minimize a negative effect if pulled?  Sure, but all I'm saying is that it is easier for Bama to get away with it than us.  Yes, IMHO, it would hurt us more because we don't have the street cred that Bama has.  I know we make offers with stipulations all the time.

My mistake for saying you thought Bielema was a terrible recruiter.  I don't think he was either.  I'm guessing you don't like him, however.  That's just a guess.

Like I said, this is a fool's argument.  So I shall bow out.

[IronMountainHog]

Bielema: Akial Byers is not academically qualified, so we won't be offering a scholarship at this time.

But Montaric Brown wasn't academically qualified either, but we offered him a scholarship . As a matter of fact Byers qualified before Brown did.

More double speak out of Bert.

[Richard Davenport]

Bielema: Akial Byers is not academically qualified, so we won't be offering a scholarship at this time.

But Montaric Brown wasn't academically qualified either, but we offered him a scholarship . As a matter of fact Byers qualified before Brown did.

More double speak out of Bert.

So much more to that.