A seventeen-year-old makes a call.

[JIHawg]

 Yeah it's about Mitch. He and mom went around to his list of schools last summer, at their own expense. He was given a directive from his coach: Get it out of the way before the season starts. He liked his home state school, had grown up a Hog fan. He liked Notre Dame, was taken by the history, part myth, part magic, Touchdown Jesus, The Gipper.  But Notre Dame had fallen on bad times of late, and no one knew what would happen under the new coach. Mom, a strong woman, liked Texas.

17--17--17--17

After considerable thought, whatever a 17 year old can muster, the lure of playing for the home state team, all the locals pleading and begging and asking, please come and be our hero, outweighed the lure of going off somewhere else. Under pressure to make a decision, he picks Arkansas.  He's ready to be a Hog, something he's always wanted.

17--17--17--17--17

As the season progresses, most at Arkansas thought it would be about like last year-maybe 6 and 5 at best. No one could have predicted, much less a 17 year old, how bad it would get. He went to just about every ballgame (ironically, when he was rumored to be at Notre Dame one weekend, he was at a Hog game.) He tried to cheer the team up after losses. He heard the boos, saw the frustration, saw a program in it's worst light. This wasn't necessarily anybody's fault, teams go in cycles, but he just happen to catch the Hogs at the very bottom, death valley. And there is no talk about the future. A big gande canyon developed among the program supporters. Both sides put out lots of information trying to outdo the other side, most if it damaging to the program, and Mitch was watching. Couldn't help but see what was going on.

17--17--17--17

Meanwhile, Notre Dame was having a storybook season, and combine that with a storybook program, it gets on the national radar in a big way. Weiss gets a great recruiting class, including two top ten quarterbacks, together. They earn a spot in the cooalition bowl, and the future looks rosy.

He couldn't discuss this with his coach-he had his own agenda. But he began to second-guessing himself. Wonder if he made the right decision. He still liked Wittke, his main contact with the Hogs, but he couldn't get Notre Dame out of his mind.

17--17--17--17--17

Sometime during the season he initiates the contact with Weiss. Acting on his doubt. Would Weiss be interested? Weiss opened the door, just slightly, put some conditions on it. He already had two QB's, and a 3rd would present problems, but how can you not look at one of the best in the country? But he wasn't going to waste a lot of time with some kid ten miles from the home state team-unless he could become convinced the the kid was truly looking around.

17--17--17--17--17

The ball was in Mitch's court-his coach, one of his main male role models and mentors, wouldn't take it well. It would be hard to do. Meanwhile, the Hog program was in turmoil. Rumors about coaches leaving. Rumors about Nutt's future. Mitch was an unwilling participant in the turmoil. He unwittingly had been drawn in, was a pawn in the game, and that didn't feel good to an 17 year old; too much pressure, too uncomfortable. He didn't want to have any part of determining any coaches future.

17--17--17--17--17

Mitch simply changed his mind.  It wasn't about anybody lying, or lack of attention.  It wasn't about Wittke.  The obvious was enough-the way the season unfolded for the Hogs and the Irish-who wouldn't have doubts? Who wouldn't second guess himself? He decides to go along with Weiss-after the season was over, he told his coach, who was caught by surprise. He shouldn't have been. Noone should be surprised. You would have to question any kid, or adult for that matter, who wouldn't back up and look at his options. Are you crazy-you've got to rethink this thing.  He called Nutt with the news.

17--17--17--17--17

It's all real simple, easy to understand. There's no conspiracy. The situation doesn't need a conspiracy. It's too logical. Lots of grown men have questioned the kid. The two factions have tried to make hay out of it. The pundits will weigh in and offer Mitch lots of advice. He will be chastized and criticized by people who ought to know better, many self-professed goodly types showing their bad side.

He's just doing what he should have done. As a Hog fan, somewhere inside your heart where logic, reasoning, and sanity reside, that has to be acknowledged.

Lets hope two things, that this great program built on integrity, hard work, overachieving, and dreaming can put down the infighting, the pettiness, and find that again, get back to it's roots. And secondly, after that, lets hope these coaches can embrace it and present it to Mitch.

[Thrilbilly]

I like your 17--17--17 paragraph spacers,,,,,,nearly got me saying it out lout between reading the paragraphs.

[mikeirwin]

Very good post.

[silvertip]

Great job, JIHawg. Aside from the good writing, that much work deserves it's own thread. You've got a lot of good common sense points. No one could have seen how this season would unravel. So no wonder doubts arise.

Personalities & coaching relationships aside, there was enough to question in the type of offense that was being run. Myself, I became alarmed after the first game
when Nutt ran the ball 71% of the time. I was not impressed---here we go again with the same old thing, after (as usual) the same old talk of wanting to get more balanced.

Without needing any reply to this thought---I just wonder if MM and maybe Wittke had been promised a dedicated effort to move toward balance? If so, MM did not need any commentary to see for himself that it wasn't happening. I have seen this disparity between preseason "hype" & the subsequent reality for years. I think it was a major cause of the "darksider" phenomenon.

That's just an example of how doubts can arise. It could have been something else entirely. But as you point out, JIHawg, personal animosities or "conspiracies" are not even required. Reasonable people should understand why doubts arose & reasonable people should be able to understand why MM needs to take his time.

I applaud MM for having the strength & maturity to step back & reconsider---in the face of all that pressure. I'm not sure I could have stood my ground like that, and I am one hard-nosed SOB.  Maybe sports does build character after all.

[CiriusPorker]

NUTT IS STILL HEAD COACH

Get OFF iT!  Show some creativity instead of "NUTT IS STILL THE HEAD COACH" every time someone says anything remotely positive about our program.  If someone talks good about herring..you say "NUTT IS STILL THE COACH"..if someone says something good about Malzahn...again, you go.  And i know you're not shaving until Nutt go..but you also need to find something NEW to say until he goes...

[silvertip]

NUTT IS STILL HEAD COACH

Get OFF iT! Show some creativity instead of "NUTT IS STILL THE HEAD COACH" every time someone says anything remotely positive about our program. If someone talks good about herring..you say "NUTT IS STILL THE COACH"..if someone says something good about Malzahn...again, you go. And i know you're not shaving until Nutt go..but you also need to find something NEW to say until he goes...

Hey, seriously Cirius, IT is showing up in every thread, interrupting the adults' conversation. I suggest if we ignore IT, IT will soon go away. If IT doesn't choke on ITs own puke first.

[Foots]

What a very creative and common sense approach to explaining reality. Nice job.

[DSMOOV12]

It is a solid post, God knows what goes through the mind of any 17 year old, let alone one with the decisions MM has to make.

With that being said, it isn't ND that you have to worry about.

[sowmonella]

Fantastic post. It was the most logical post on the subject of Mitch that I have seen. Keep it up.

[hawgbawb]

Kudos. Nicely articulated and logical.

[Cornhogio]

Nicely done JIHawg.  Far better than I could ever have articulated the situation.  As an aside, if one more person calls in to a talk show and says "Mitch can go where he wants, and good riddance", I'm going to throw up.  Direct your hatred at the person who fouled this up in the first place:  Houston Dale Nutt. 

[othermac]

good post, makes alot of sense, more than alot of the others who have been trying to fill in the blanks,

[Razorback Jedi]

Great post. One can only imagine the turmoil this kid has gone through over the past 3 months.

[karma26]

awesome post. if i had had to make the decisions that this kid is having to make, i would have already gone off the deep end and said, to hell with all of you. i think he has shown amazing character so far and i so hope that he stays right here at home. i honestly think this is where he could shine.  :razorback:

GO HOGS!!

[Kilgor]

Thank you for laying that out there.

[preunions]

Wow- that was a pretty good post

[Hillis4heisman]

Yeah it's about Mitch. He and mom went around to his list of schools last summer, at their own expense. He was given a directive from his coach: Get it out of the way before the season starts. He liked his home state school, had grown up a Hog fan. He liked Notre Dame, was taken by the history, part myth, part magic, Touchdown Jesus, The Gipper.  But Notre Dame had fallen on bad times of late, and no one knew what would happen under the new coach. Mom, a strong woman, liked Texas.

17--17--17--17

After considerable thought, whatever a 17 year old can muster, the lure of playing for the home state team, all the locals pleading and begging and asking, please come and be our hero, outweighed the lure of going off somewhere else. Under pressure to make a decision, he picks Arkansas.  He's ready to be a Hog, something he's always wanted.

17--17--17--17--17

As the season progresses, most at Arkansas thought it would be about like last year-maybe 6 and 5 at best. No one could have predicted, much less a 17 year old, how bad it would get. He went to just about every ballgame (ironically, when he was rumored to be at Notre Dame one weekend, he was at a Hog game.) He tried to cheer the team up after losses. He heard the boos, saw the frustration, saw a program in it's worst light. This wasn't necessarily anybody's fault, teams go in cycles, but he just happen to catch the Hogs at the very bottom, death valley. And there is no talk about the future. A big gande canyon developed among the program supporters. Both sides put out lots of information trying to outdo the other side, most if it damaging to the program, and Mitch was watching. Couldn't help but see what was going on.

17--17--17--17

Meanwhile, Notre Dame was having a storybook season, and combine that with a storybook program, it gets on the national radar in a big way. Weiss gets a great recruiting class, including two top ten quarterbacks, together. They earn a spot in the cooalition bowl, and the future looks rosy.

He couldn't discuss this with his coach-he had his own agenda. But he began to second-guessing himself. Wonder if he made the right decision. He still liked Wittke, his main contact with the Hogs, but he couldn't get Notre Dame out of his mind.

17--17--17--17--17

Sometime during the season he initiates the contact with Weiss. Acting on his doubt. Would Weiss be interested? Weiss opened the door, just slightly, put some conditions on it. He already had two QB's, and a 3rd would present problems, but how can you not look at one of the best in the country? But he wasn't going to waste a lot of time with some kid ten miles from the home state team-unless he could become convinced the the kid was truly looking around.

17--17--17--17--17

The ball was in Mitch's court-his coach, one of his main male role models and mentors, wouldn't take it well. It would be hard to do. Meanwhile, the Hog program was in turmoil. Rumors about coaches leaving. Rumors about Nutt's future. Mitch was an unwilling participant in the turmoil. He unwittingly had been drawn in, was a pawn in the game, and that didn't feel good to an 17 year old; too much pressure, too uncomfortable. He didn't want to have any part of determining any coaches future.

17--17--17--17--17

Mitch simply changed his mind.  It wasn't about anybody lying, or lack of attention.  It wasn't about Wittke.  The obvious was enough-the way the season unfolded for the Hogs and the Irish-who wouldn't have doubts? Who wouldn't second guess himself? He decides to go along with Weiss-after the season was over, he told his coach, who was caught by surprise. He shouldn't have been. Noone should be surprised. You would have to question any kid, or adult for that matter, who wouldn't back up and look at his options. Are you crazy-you've got to rethink this thing.  He called Nutt with the news.

17--17--17--17--17

It's all real simple, easy to understand. There's no conspiracy. The situation doesn't need a conspiracy. It's too logical. Lots of grown men have questioned the kid. The two factions have tried to make hay out of it. The pundits will weigh in and offer Mitch lots of advice. He will be chastized and criticized by people who ought to know better, many self-professed goodly types showing their bad side.

He's just doing what he should have done. As a Hog fan, somewhere inside your heart where logic, reasoning, and sanity reside, that has to be acknowledged.

Lets hope two things, that this great program built on integrity, hard work, overachieving, and dreaming can put down the infighting, the pettiness, and find that again, get back to it's roots. And secondly, after that, lets hope these coaches can embrace it and present it to Mitch.

You left out the part where Mom tells 16-16-16 what to do and how we Arkies arent good enough for her

[Macgyver_Hawg]

Excuse me while I go back in time and fix some things about Razorback Football this season.



But first I need to stop by 1969 and have a little talk with a Mr. James Street.

[Tomhog™]

This seems to be the best explanation as to what happened.  I just hope the damage is repairable enough to lure him back...

[HogHeathen]

Blowing more smoke.

[Coacht]

Good post. I think you can also add that MM having a better than expected outstanding award winning season probably played a part in his reconsideration. His stock is much higher today than before the season. Also I believe if Arkansas was to have their house in order we wouldn't be having these issues. The real issues is we need UA to get their inhouse crap together so we can sell recruits we are the place to come.