Here is the plain truth...

[ambien_sky]

We just don't know.  The people that are upset about the hire are finding facts about him substantiate their point.  The people that are happy about the hire are finding facts to validate their point.  Nobody knows how he will turn out.  He could end up being one of those coaches that is elite,  that everyone wants in a few years,  or he could end up falling flat.  It's impossible to know.

But, here is something I hope most people agree on:  Let's give the man a chance.  Let's not chase him out of town with torches before the man has even unpacked his bags.

[azhog10]

A very expensive I don't know.

[RazorChuck]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

[870hogfan]

Dang the new members are coming at you fast...

[Hogsfan1981]

Reality is he will be here about three years.

Win and he mostly likely moves on. For sure if Jimbo does not work out at A&M and home comes calling.

Lose and he will be up for extension and the buyout will be small enough for us to move on.


Either way we are not risking that much I suppose. Just time.

[David†]

Wait and see. Until then be happy we have a new coach. Bret is gone, Bobby is long gone, Houston is long gone. New era in football for the Razorbacks.

[HogNiner12]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

Posted by a loser

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

We just don't know.  The people that are upset about the hire are finding facts about him substantiate their point.  The people that are happy about the hire are finding facts to validate their point.  Nobody knows how he will turn out.  He could end up being one of those coaches that is elite,  that everyone wants in a few years,  or he could end up falling flat.  It's impossible to know.

But, here is something I hope most people agree on:  Let's give the man a chance.  Let's not chase him out of town with torches before the man has even unpacked his bags.

And that's what we've all been saying... Give the dude a chance before you dook on him...

[JOKERHOG]

I am very optimistic and never once felt that way about Beliema...

[RebHog]

Reality is he will be here about three years.

Win and he mostly likely moves on. For sure if Jimbo does not work out at A&M and home comes calling.

Lose and he will be up for extension and the buyout will be small enough for us to move on.


Either way we are not risking that much I suppose. Just time.

Hey man PM next weeks lotto numbers! Im ready to retire.

[Hogsfan1981]

Hey man PM next weeks lotto numbers! Im ready to retire.

A guess sure. But I think a safe bet. I don't see this guy leaving Clemson as OC and starting down this path with Arkansas Razorbacks lifetime coach in mind. He waited at SMU for Sumlin to be fired. When they hired Jimbo he decided to move on. I would guess A&M is his dream job seeing that he graduated from there. But I think Jimbo will do well there so we will see.

Paul Finebaum confirmed he said "Who wants to coach at Arkansas anyway." So at some point he thought working here was a joke. I don't think it would be to far off to assume he did not see us in his future.

But if he wins and gets us in a good position moving forward then he would deserve it.

Would not be able to blame him for moving on.

[12247]

What JokerHog said.  I never believed in Bret from day one.  Morris, maybe he ain't that bad.  I try to figure who we could have gotten.  Kiffin might have been better but would he come?  Morris has recruiting ties where we need them, Kiffin does not.  Norville, who knows.  One would think he was considered so really, why not?  Venables would have been my choice but surely he has been picked over numerous times, why?  Did Gus play us or was he ever even asked to come?  What about Brohm?  Maybe we wanted someone who utilized Malzahn's ideas, who knows.

Someone posted he was willing to give Morris 3 years to get us in a bowl.  Not me.  I expect a bad bowl next year.  We got the makings, the schedule, we should win 6 with just about anyone coaching who would put effort into it.  Heartfelt plain ole effort should get us 4 or 5 wins.  Just a little skill should get us to 6 wins.

Look at it like this.  If he wins, we all win and everything is so cool.  If he loses, the majority of Hogville can say they told you so.  Even folks solid in Morris' corner now can swear they knew all along he was a loser.  This sets up perfectly for Hogville.  We can be so cool and swear we knew all along either way , win or lose.  We got material here we can bitch about for the next 3 to 5 years.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

What we are going to get is an offense that is designed to stress opposing defenses. Most of the kids that are currently on the offensive roster from the O-Line to Receivers, to QB's to RB's played in offenses somewhat similar to this in HS so the transition offensively may not be as huge as everyone might expect it to be. They will be re-learning schemes that they have previously been somewhat familiar with.

Defense is my concern. I would have a really hard time seeing Brent Venables come here as a DC. That would be a step down from Clemson as things currently exist. However, if they offered him 2 mil to be the DC (currently at about 1.35) that might turn his head, but my guess is that he stays at Clemson and awaits Dabo's departure for another job. It isn't like he is unhappy at Clemson.

Would Venables suggest a viable alternative that he once played for at K-State to be his substitute for DC at Arkansas? Maybe. Jim Leavitt coached Venables at K-State and received a lot of notice for helping turn around a stumbling Colorado team. He has been at Oregon since then and his HC was just hired to be the new HC at Florida State. Reports say that he has a deal to go to Florida State with Taggart, but could he be lured away for a chance to DC in the SEC? All depends on the money to some extent. Might be difficult to get him away from an opportunity to move back to Florida with all of that talent.

[dmaxfan]

People are upset because he isn't a big name. Notice though how long went after popular names? Dykes, Bielema, Petrino. Kinda like presidential elections, the one on tv the most and talked about, is the one elected.

[JONAS]

I was upset yesterday.  Not upset at Coach Morris.  I would have taken the job if offered to me.  I was upset with the hiring.  Then, I realized that it is just a game played by kids.  In the grand scheme of things does the Razorbacks winning football games really mean anything?  I want them to win, but the world doesn't end if they lose.  I have a wife and two children.  My responsibility is to support them.  The Razorbacks winning games has never paid any of my bills.  The Razorbacks losing games has never ruined my time spending it with my family.  It did when I was a child, but not now.  This does not mean that I do not get upset about games.  I just do not let it consume my life anymore.  After about half an hour after the game, it is over to me. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

People are upset because he isn't a big name. Notice though how long went after popular names? Dykes, Bielema, Petrino. Kinda like presidential elections, the one on tv the most and talked about, is the one elected.

Dabo Swinney was virtually unheard of when he was named an Interim HC and then the HC at Clemson. Many protested that a big name HC wasn't hired. He has worked out pretty well.

Again, I am concerned about the DC hire. The offense will be just fine.

[LawyerHog50]

We just don't know.  The people that are upset about the hire are finding facts about him substantiate their point.  The people that are happy about the hire are finding facts to validate their point.  Nobody knows how he will turn out.  He could end up being one of those coaches that is elite,  that everyone wants in a few years,  or he could end up falling flat.  It's impossible to know.

But, here is something I hope most people agree on:  Let's give the man a chance.  Let's not chase him out of town with torches before the man has even unpacked his bags.

Now that another Dana Altman is not going to happen, I agree.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

What we are going to get is an offense that is designed to stress opposing defenses. Most of the kids that are currently on the offensive roster from the O-Line to Receivers, to QB's to RB's played in offenses somewhat similar to this in HS so the transition offensively may not be as huge as everyone might expect it to be. They will be re-learning schemes that they have previously been somewhat familiar with.

Defense is my concern. I would have a really hard time seeing Brent Venables come here as a DC. That would be a step down from Clemson as things currently exist. However, if they offered him 2 mil to be the DC (currently at about 1.35) that might turn his head, but my guess is that he stays at Clemson and awaits Dabo's departure for another job. It isn't like he is unhappy at Clemson.

Transition for most of our offensive players will be simple. They don't really have to unlearn much, but incorporate principles and philosophies of the new staff, and of course, a new play book that is considerably more simple than trying to fight it out in a phone booth when the guys we're fighting are bigger, stronger and faster than we are. We need space to even the playing field, so to speak. Morris brings that philosophy with him, along with a between the tackles spread running game to complement his empty backfield and RPO passing sets that he has made a name for himself with. 

Our defense played serviceable at some points during the season. (TCU is an example). So much has been said of "frame of mind" being critical on defense (it sure was when I played) that when they would do well during games and keep us in it, our offense hasn't produced much of anything, stumbles after a big stop that puts the defense right back on the field, eventually they will break.

Not saying that we have a lights out defense, but our lack of physicality, in all facets of offense, contributed to our defense being horrendous (statistically).

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Our defense played serviceable at some points during the season. (TCU is an example). So much has been said of "frame of mind" being critical on defense (it sure was when I played) that when they would do well during games and keep us in it, our offense hasn't produced much of anything, stumbles after a big stop that puts the defense right back on the field, eventually they will break.

Not saying that we have a lights out defense, but our lack of physicality, in all facets of offense, contributed to our defense being horrendous (statistically).

Dabo Swinney was virtually unheard of when he was named an Interim HC and then the HC at Clemson. Many protested that a big name HC wasn't hired. He has worked out pretty well.

Again, I am concerned about the DC hire. The offense will be just fine.

I'm still concerned about the DC hire. It will be key.

[rljjr]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

Nobody wants to know what your boss said in your last evaluation.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

I'm still concerned about the DC hire. It will be key.

Absolutely.

I think we have better athletes on defense than our statistics say.

Guess that's where I was going with that.

I'm sure Chavis may be in play.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Absolutely.

I think we have better athletes on defense than our statistics say.

Guess that's where I was going with that.

I'm sure Chavis may be in play.

I agree that we have better athletes on defense than their play indicated and, those who were, were younger and still need development. Again why the DC hire is so important. I wish that we could convince Jim Leavitt (who coached Venables at K-State) to not follow his Oregon HC to FSU, but instead detour to Arkansas. An attacking style of offense AND an attacking style of defense.

[Dominicanhog]

I agree that we have better athletes on defense than their play indicated and, those who were, were younger and still need development. Again why the DC hire is so important. I wish that we could convince Jim Leavitt (who coached Venables at K-State) to not follow his Oregon HC to FSU, but instead detour to Arkansas. An attacking style of offense AND an attacking style of defense.

Musky, any chance you'd stay with CPR?

[sickboy]

A very expensive I don't know.

Welcome to hiring.

[FrJoseph]

We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.

Fr Joe

[S.A.D.C]

A very expensive I don't know.

True- but would be true for ANY coach.  There are no guarantees.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

I'm still concerned about the DC hire. It will be key.

It always is the key.  One which we've not found.

[Mjs84]

Posted by a loser

Very much agreed.  So much for sportsmanship. 

[blea30]

The man really doesn't want to be here and I believe won't give us his all. Just watch his actions over the next months and you will see. Will bolt when he can. Guys this was a bad hire.

[Hog Pharm]

That's the truuuuuth

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Musky, any chance you'd stay with CPR?

What we don't know is how much of Rhoads defense was influenced or effected by Bielema's commands and influence. Not being in the meeting rooms, we just don't know. I know that I expected more of a Paul Rhoads defense than what we saw. How much of that was Rhoads, how much of that was Bielema and how much of that was simply a lack of execution by players during a game? I know that the defensive staff seemed to be very frustrated at times that players weren't doing what they had practiced to do and were coached to do throughout the week. So I don't know.

I kinda feel like Morris will make a clean break with the past though. I could be wrong. Probably depends on if he gets who he wants on staff?

[HogPharmer]

Reality is he will be here about three years.

Win and he mostly likely moves on. For sure if Jimbo does not work out at A&M and home comes calling.

Lose and he will be up for extension and the buyout will be small enough for us to move on.


Either way we are not risking that much I suppose. Just time.

Do you know anything or just spew garbage? Jimbo just signed a 10 year deal. 10 YEARS. He more-or-less has a franchise tag on him. They won't be getting rid of him after 3 years. Especially after they just spent 6 years with Sumlin.

If Morris does a good job here, we will keep him and we will fork out the money to keep him.

[DoubleReedHawgCaller]

I really believe if he can put together a decent defense on the field the rest will be gravy.

[pigz]

The man really doesn't want to be here and I believe won't give us his all. Just watch his actions over the next months and you will see. Will bolt when he can. Guys this was a bad hire.

What makes you think he doesn't want to be here?

[Dominicanhog]

What we don't know is how much of Rhoads defense was influenced or effected by Bielema's commands and influence. Not being in the meeting rooms, we just don't know. I know that I expected more of a Paul Rhoads defense than what we saw. How much of that was Rhoads, how much of that was Bielema and how much of that was simply a lack of execution by players during a game? I know that the defensive staff seemed to be very frustrated at times that players weren't doing what they had practiced to do and were coached to do throughout the week. So I don't know.

I kinda feel like Morris will make a clean break with the past though. I could be wrong. Probably depends on if he gets who he wants on staff?

Yeah, I expected the defense to be better this year, and at times it looked as though it was.. but the offense was so much worse, it's hard to say with certainty either way.. I always respected Paul and could tell he was frustrated on the sidelines..

Understand the clean break but if worse came to worse, I'd give Paul a chance.. I think his contract is through next year, so it won't cost anything... but if CCM has someone in mind he should do it because it's his a$$ on the line.

[hawgmasta]

Do you know anything or just spew garbage? Jimbo just signed a 10 year deal. 10 YEARS. He more-or-less has a franchise tag on him. They won't be getting rid of him after 3 years. Especially after they just spent 6 years with Sumlin.

If Morris does a good job here, we will keep him and we will fork out the money to keep him.

Yeah isn't it a guaranteed contract as well?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The man really doesn't want to be here and I believe won't give us his all. Just watch his actions over the next months and you will see. Will bolt when he can. Guys this was a bad hire.

You don't know that, at all.

[Billy Bats]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

100 percent pure butt hole

[HF#1]

A very expensive I don't know.

You obviously underestimate the financial capabilities of the University. And you clearly don't understand the cost of doing business in this league or the cost of losing as Bielema was doing.

[HawgWyld]

A very expensive I don’t know.

Isn't that true of every coaching hire?

[FrJoseph]

It always is the key.  One which we've not found.

There is one key to AR doing well in the SEC. it's not defense. Petrino had it and it was simple, even though his offense was very complex. FTS. Feed the studs. Get the speed guys out in space and let them run. AR has the personnel on campus for this, except for QB. All the defense has to do is get a couple of key stops and a turnover and they have done their job.

Look for AR to be on a JUCO QB. That will speed the process up exponentially.

Fr Joe

[Ex-Trumpet]

Lets see, fired a loser and then hired a loser, yeah that makes sense.

You're still here?

[bennyl08]

What we are going to get is an offense that is designed to stress opposing defenses. Most of the kids that are currently on the offensive roster from the O-Line to Receivers, to QB's to RB's played in offenses somewhat similar to this in HS so the transition offensively may not be as huge as everyone might expect it to be. They will be re-learning schemes that they have previously been somewhat familiar with.

Defense is my concern. I would have a really hard time seeing Brent Venables come here as a DC. That would be a step down from Clemson as things currently exist. However, if they offered him 2 mil to be the DC (currently at about 1.35) that might turn his head, but my guess is that he stays at Clemson and awaits Dabo's departure for another job. It isn't like he is unhappy at Clemson.

Would Venables suggest a viable alternative that he once played for at K-State to be his substitute for DC at Arkansas? Maybe. Jim Leavitt coached Venables at K-State and received a lot of notice for helping turn around a stumbling Colorado team. He has been at Oregon since then and his HC was just hired to be the new HC at Florida State. Reports say that he has a deal to go to Florida State with Taggart, but could he be lured away for a chance to DC in the SEC? All depends on the money to some extent. Might be difficult to get him away from an opportunity to move back to Florida with all of that talent.

I worry about the OL play under Morris. He's still young and shaping his philosophy as a collegiate coach and for the first time in his career, there was improved OL play during his time at SMU. However, Tulsa and Clemson were both worse with TFL's and sacks with him as the OC and the improvement at SMU was improving back to the typical values from before.

If I were to sum up what we are getting with Morris, it'd be a still relatively young coach with an extensive HS background with a meteoric rise through the college ranks. He only has 8 years of collegiate experience in total. High risk, high reward type of hire. If he keeps improving at the same rate he has shown in the past, he could be a great hire. However, he may have already peaked. Impossible to really say.

As for defense, his worst years by far are the years where his offenses hold on the ball longer. His best years by far are when the offense isn't holding onto the ball long (because with him, they are scoring). That doesn't historically bode well for us. Defensive depth has been an issue more often than not. Now, I'm not inherently against the idea of the quick scoring offense. While the defense is out on the field a lot, if the offense is clicking, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposing offense who will force things and press too hard. What I don't like is that the offense performs much worse when it does have the ball for longer. Yards per game goes down, points per game goes down, efficiency goes down. That is an area of concern though again, this coach is still largely wet clay that hasn't been put in the oven yet. If I'm Morris, I'm going to go after coaches who are great at coaching turnovers. Given Arkansas' history on defense and Morris's offense working best the less the offense is on the field, I'm thinking who cares about yards. Go for the interception, the strip, the sack, the tackle for a loss. You miss the tackle because you went for the strip, who cares. Not like we were likely going to stop them anyways. Break but don't bend type of defense. Worked for the Saints when they won the Super Bowl.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

It always is the key.  One which we've not found.

This isn't going to be, right out of the box, 100% better. There will be a transition period and we might as well get ready for it. But I will say this, given that so many of the kids on offense played in similar offenses in HS the transition might be quicker than we initially would expect. But that is why the defense, regardless of the DC, needs to mature and grow over the off season and learn to have faith in their schemes, alignments, assignments, etc and execute what they have been coached to do. You can be a very good athlete and if you don't play to the scheme as designed and planned for games, you are going to look worse for it.

[HawgWyld]

This isn't going to be, right out of the box, 100% better. There will be a transition period and we might as well get ready for it. But I will say this, given that so many of the kids on offense played in similar offenses in HS the transition might be quicker than we initially would expect. But that is why the defense, regardless of the DC, needs to mature and grow over the off season and learn to have faith in their schemes, alignments, assignments, etc and execute what they have been coached to do. You can be a very good athlete and if you don't play to the scheme as designed and planned for games, you are going to look worse for it.

I do believe everyone expects a transition period.

Still, wouldn't a "transition period" like the one we had in 1998 be fantastic?

[hawgXi]

What we are going to get is an offense that is designed to stress opposing defenses. Most of the kids that are currently on the offensive roster from the O-Line to Receivers, to QB's to RB's played in offenses somewhat similar to this in HS so the transition offensively may not be as huge as everyone might expect it to be. They will be re-learning schemes that they have previously been somewhat familiar with.

Defense is my concern. I would have a really hard time seeing Brent Venables come here as a DC. That would be a step down from Clemson as things currently exist. However, if they offered him 2 mil to be the DC (currently at about 1.35) that might turn his head, but my guess is that he stays at Clemson and awaits Dabo's departure for another job. It isn't like he is unhappy at Clemson.




Would Venables suggest a viable alternative that he once played for at K-State to be his substitute for DC at Arkansas? Maybe. Jim Leavitt coached Venables at K-State and received a lot of notice for helping turn around a stumbling Colorado team. He has been at Oregon since then and his HC was just hired to be the new HC at Florida State. Reports say that he has a deal to go to Florida State with Taggart, but could he be lured away for a chance to DC in the SEC? All depends on the money to some extent. Might be difficult to get him away from an opportunity to move back to Florida with all of that talent.

Check clemson's 2018 verbals for LB jake venables

[blea30]

You don't know that, at all.

You mean like when he said "who wants to coach at Arkansas anyway". I don't think you can say that about a program and then all of a sudden get 100% behind it, just doesn't make sense.

[David†]

You mean like when he said "who wants to coach at Arkansas anyway". I don't think you can say that about a program and then all of a sudden get 100% behind it, just doesn't make sense.

You've never said anything in haste that you didn't mean or didn't change your mind About?

[Dominicanhog]

You mean like when he said "who wants to coach at Arkansas anyway". I don't think you can say that about a program and then all of a sudden get 100% behind it, just doesn't make sense.

...

Had not heard this, not that it makes any difference at this point, but interesting none the less... we all have said things we wish we hadn't... if true, someone will ask him one day, I'm sure.

[rljjr]

...

Had not heard this, not that it makes any difference at this point, but interesting none the less... we all have said things we wish we hadn't... if true, someone will ask him one day, I'm sure.

It was a dig at CBB after his comments about Texas HS football if memory serves.  The school just happened to get in the way.