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Arkansas is at recruiting disadvantage, says Barry Switzer
Posted on 9/17/15 at 11:19 am
Posted on 9/17/15 at 11:19 am
also says
“Frank offered me the job and I turned it down because I had a better job at Oklahoma,” Switzer said.
He has no regrets or second thoughts about not coaching at Arkansas.
“Hell no. I don’t have any regrets about turning that job down. I had all of those great teams in the 80s. I knew I had the best program.
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“Frank offered me the job and I turned it down because I had a better job at Oklahoma,” Switzer said.
He has no regrets or second thoughts about not coaching at Arkansas.
“Hell no. I don’t have any regrets about turning that job down. I had all of those great teams in the 80s. I knew I had the best program.
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Posted on 9/17/15 at 1:31 pm to Pigfeet
And yet we smoked them in the Orange Bowl.
But yes Oklahoma was definitely a great gig back then and would have been the choice of many coaches I'm sure. Couldn't blame him.
But yes Oklahoma was definitely a great gig back then and would have been the choice of many coaches I'm sure. Couldn't blame him.
Posted on 9/17/15 at 1:35 pm to Pigfeet
PF;DR
Posted on 9/17/15 at 2:29 pm to Russvegas Dan
quote:
PF;DR
Posted on 9/17/15 at 4:13 pm to Pigfeet
He was on Drivetime a few years ago and mentioned that Frank offered him the job when he retired but that he turned it down partially because '75 was his best recruiting class and included Billy Sims.
Of course that's probably BS because when Broyles retired, Switzer was a year removed from his 2nd straight NC. He wasn't going anywhere.
Of course that's probably BS because when Broyles retired, Switzer was a year removed from his 2nd straight NC. He wasn't going anywhere.
Posted on 9/17/15 at 10:53 pm to Feral
Eagles fly high
Posted on 9/18/15 at 6:57 am to Pigfeet
Compared to our most of our SEC bethren, we are at a little disadvantage. In state recruits with actual SEC level talent are low in number. We have to work really hard out of state to compensate. But, we already all knew that.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 7:16 am to WonderWartHawg
WWH,, not arguing, in fact agreeing,, but, iyo, why is that? I travel the south and look at areas, re: population makeup, size of towns, and I will also stop and look at fields and facilities. Between Fville, Sdale, LR., W Memphis area, and Seark, it seems that would at least equal Nola, BR, Laf, Monroe and Shreve? It seems, from just what I can tell, that Arky may not put as much "importance" and "spotlight" on High School Football, maybe. WYT?
This post was edited on 9/18/15 at 9:55 am
Posted on 9/18/15 at 7:21 am to Pigfeet
The population difference isn't that great. Bottom line, money talks and bullshite walks. Hardly anyone was cheating as hard as Barry at OU. It's really easy to recruit when you're making it rain.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 9:01 am to BurtReynoldsMustache
It’s true that we are on the fringe of SEC country, but we should still be able to recruit Texas due to proximity.
Oregon isn’t known as a football state but they go into California and out-recruit USC all the time due to proximity.
They’ve also be able to recruit nationally due to winning. No one had even heard of Oregon 20 years ago.
Oregon isn’t known as a football state but they go into California and out-recruit USC all the time due to proximity.
They’ve also be able to recruit nationally due to winning. No one had even heard of Oregon 20 years ago.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 9:42 am to BurtReynoldsMustache
quote:
It's really easy to recruit when you're making it rain.
Yeah, Barry's biggest recruiting advantages at OU in his time were hookers, blow, cars and cash.
We were the only SWC team during that era that wasn't caught buying players, so there's the disadvantage.
This post was edited on 9/18/15 at 9:43 am
Posted on 9/18/15 at 9:46 am to PygmalionEffect
quote:
Eagles fly high
Ahhhhhhhh a Crossett reference.... I see what you did there!
Posted on 9/18/15 at 9:55 am to Ole Geauxt
quote:
WWH,, not arguing, in fact agreeing,, but, iyo, why is that? I travel the south and look at areas, re: population makeup, size of towns, and I will also stop and look at fields and facilities. Between Fville, Sdale, LR., W Memphis area, and Seark, it seems that would at least equal Nola, BR, Laf, Momroe and Shreve? It seems, from just what I can tell, that Arky may not put as much "importance" and "spotlight" on High School Football, maybe. WYT?
West Memphis seems to steer more players to Ole Miss and Memphis (at least they did when my dad taught there) and for whatever reason LR seems to have gone bone dry in the last few years in talent.
In part its because NW Arkansas has passed them by in developing football talent (including Fort Smith in that equation) but you just don't hear as much about big time recruits in football coming out of the Little Rock area.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 9:58 am to boogiewoogie1978
quote:
It’s true that we are on the fringe of SEC country, but we should still be able to recruit Texas due to proximity.
Oregon isn’t known as a football state but they go into California and out-recruit USC all the time due to proximity.
They’ve also be able to recruit nationally due to winning. No one had even heard of Oregon 20 years ago.
Those are 3 very good points.
Barry knew the importance of recruiting Texas and so did Frank Broyles. I know that Barry wasn't considered to be a benchmark for high integrity back in those days but he was a helluva recruiter and Frank knew it. That's probably one of the main reasons Frank offered him the job.
This post was edited on 9/18/15 at 10:04 am
Posted on 9/18/15 at 10:47 am to Arksulli
quote:
West Memphis seems to steer more players to Ole Miss and Memphis (at least they did when my dad taught there) and for whatever reason LR seems to have gone bone dry in the last few years in talent.
In part its because NW Arkansas has passed them by in developing football talent (including Fort Smith in that equation) but you just don't hear as much about big time recruits in football coming out of the Little Rock area.
Eastern AR is LOADED with talent.
The problem is that most of the talent doesn't even play ball.
If there were more resources invested in the eastern and southern half of the state it would be producing quality recruits.
Poor schools and a lack of culture relating to football in that part of the state is what is holding kids back.
If there were more and better mentors in those areas, including LR, then I think we'd double what we are producing now.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 10:47 am to Arksulli
(no message)
This post was edited on 9/18/15 at 10:48 am
Posted on 9/18/15 at 11:47 am to boogiewoogie1978
quote:
Eastern AR is LOADED with talent.
I got to agree with you. Having lived there for a good long time there is an abundance of talent, but they either don't get into football or they don't get developed. The Eastern part of the state just isn't doing as well economically as the Western part right now and football can be an expensive sport to develop.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 12:38 pm to Ole Geauxt
quote:
WWH,, not arguing, in fact agreeing,, but, iyo, why is that? I travel the south and look at areas, re: population makeup, size of towns, and I will also stop and look at fields and facilities. Between Fville, Sdale, LR., W Memphis area, and Seark, it seems that would at least equal Nola, BR, Laf, Monroe and Shreve? It seems, from just what I can tell, that Arky may not put as much "importance" and "spotlight" on High School Football, maybe. WYT?
I'd say there's actually quite a bit of difference between Louisiana and Arkansas.
Louisiana's population 4.65 Million is while Arkansas' is 2.96 Million. That's about 1.7 Million people. (This next number is wildly made up) Let's say that 1 in 100,000 people per year could be a D1 Football player. That means there'd be about 17 more D1 Football players available per year.
But it goes deeper than that. Louisiana has a population that's 32% black. Arkansas is 15.4% black.
Are all D1 Football players black? Absolutely not. The best ones are the best ones whether they're black, white, or purple. However, there is a higher percentage of top D1 football recruits that are black than the typical percentage of African Americans as a percentage of total population in the US.. The population difference is ~1.5 Million African Americans in Louisiana versus 444,000 African Americans in Arkansas.
And then you continue to the rest of Arkansas' problems. We have too many school districts, leaving too many small programs. Too few resources at all these different school districts to put a true emphasis on football. And they're probably already spending more on football than education to begin with at a lot of these schools.
It's a long history with a lot of problems.
Posted on 9/18/15 at 1:48 pm to boogiewoogie1978
quote:
Eastern AR is LOADED with talent.
The problem is that most of the talent doesn't even play ball.
If there were more resources invested in the eastern and southern half of the state it would be producing quality recruits.
Poor schools and a lack of culture relating to football in that part of the state is what is holding kids back.
If there were more and better mentors in those areas, including LR, then I think we'd double what we are producing now.
Absolutely.
Add in alternate sports, injuries, violent perception with parents, gangs and a lack of spotlighting the sport in modern times.
Quick Fact, Arkansas almost had the same minority population of other southern states until Detroit exploded in the 1940's. A whole lot of good hardworking families moved up north. It's common to find a family member or cousin from Arkansas living in MI. It was a smart move to leave the south for greener pastures especially during those times.
However, at the end of the day.. Arkansas (Only school) should easily be able to field a great team with lots of in-state talent mixed with Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Missouri. The problems are real but they can be fixed or altered. Having small towns in eastern Arkansas produce triple the talent level of Little Rock is laughable, but it's real. Everyone recruited Little Rock in the 70's hardly anyone does now.. Sad.
There is a large population shift happening within the state. It's exactly why Northwest Arkansas is now producing talent unlike ever before. New infrastructure, coaching salaries, spotlighting the sport and good educational systems. Much of what is lacking in Eastern and South Arkansas were a whole lot of very good talent resides.
This post was edited on 9/18/15 at 1:50 pm
Posted on 9/18/15 at 2:24 pm to SunHog
I've read somewhere that Arkansas' black population is in decline in general. As the Delta empties out, the black folks are more likely to head to Memphis, Jackson or Texas than they are to go to Arkansas cities. NWA is just a different world to most of them.
Lots of the white folk head to LR and NWA. Sometimes it feels like a majority of the good ole boy banking community in NWA is from eastern Arkansas.
The fastest growing demographic in Arkansas continues to be hispanics, both in NWA and in Little Rock metro.
Lots of the white folk head to LR and NWA. Sometimes it feels like a majority of the good ole boy banking community in NWA is from eastern Arkansas.
The fastest growing demographic in Arkansas continues to be hispanics, both in NWA and in Little Rock metro.
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