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Jeff Long and Bert are making us a stepping stone
Posted on 10/25/16 at 2:18 am
Posted on 10/25/16 at 2:18 am
Arkansas was once a very highly regarded job among the coaching ranks.
We're a small state willing to give a coach every possible thing needed to succeed. All you have to do is hustle a little bit and be smart in how you allocate your resources and there's a pretty good chance to have success at Arkansas.
Sanctimonious excuses are for losers and DII.
There was a lot to the thinking that Long was the first choice for the Playoff Committee head b/c there was zero chance of his school having a shot at making the playoff.
Broyles got assistants to come here because of what they could learn from him and how he'd try his damndest to get them HC jobs when they were ready.
It seems Bert attracts guys that are just wanting to get a resume builder job and jump at the first chance to get out of here.
We're a small state willing to give a coach every possible thing needed to succeed. All you have to do is hustle a little bit and be smart in how you allocate your resources and there's a pretty good chance to have success at Arkansas.
Sanctimonious excuses are for losers and DII.
There was a lot to the thinking that Long was the first choice for the Playoff Committee head b/c there was zero chance of his school having a shot at making the playoff.
Broyles got assistants to come here because of what they could learn from him and how he'd try his damndest to get them HC jobs when they were ready.
It seems Bert attracts guys that are just wanting to get a resume builder job and jump at the first chance to get out of here.
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Posted on 10/25/16 at 6:34 am to CtotheVrzrbck
I'm more worried about the fact that Bert has made it look profoundly difficult to win at Arkansas and that it could shy away promising head coaching candidates if and when he's ultimately let go.
My greatest fear is if/when we're hunting for a head coach again, good candidates are going to be of the mentality that it's too tough to win here. Our head coach having great success in the Big Ten and then setting historic marks for losing here doesn't shine a great light on our program. My opinion was always that if a washed up Danny Ford could win the SEC West and Houston Nutt could win 9 and 10 games on talent alone, a decent coach could win the SEC here. However, Bert has done little to reinforce that.
It also probably kills the notion that coaches are lining up to come coach in the SEC, which I've thought was a myth for a while now. Urban Meyer had a fricking come-apart at arguably the second best job in the SEC, bolted, and wound up at Ohio State where he basically can't lose a game if he tried. Tennessee offered their job to everyone under the sun and had to hire a goober from Cincinnati. Florida, as mentioned above, is probably the second best job in the conference and they hired a non-P5 coach in McElwain. Auburn is a better job than most of us give it credit for, and their last 2 hires were a losing coach at Iowa State and a one year wonder at Arkansas State. Ditto for Ole Miss, who hired a retread in Nutt and another ASU one year wonder. USCe is a much better job than it was a decade ago, and they had to hire Will. fricking. Muschamp. Even Georgia, Smart's ties to the school aside, hired a coordinator.
My greatest fear is if/when we're hunting for a head coach again, good candidates are going to be of the mentality that it's too tough to win here. Our head coach having great success in the Big Ten and then setting historic marks for losing here doesn't shine a great light on our program. My opinion was always that if a washed up Danny Ford could win the SEC West and Houston Nutt could win 9 and 10 games on talent alone, a decent coach could win the SEC here. However, Bert has done little to reinforce that.
It also probably kills the notion that coaches are lining up to come coach in the SEC, which I've thought was a myth for a while now. Urban Meyer had a fricking come-apart at arguably the second best job in the SEC, bolted, and wound up at Ohio State where he basically can't lose a game if he tried. Tennessee offered their job to everyone under the sun and had to hire a goober from Cincinnati. Florida, as mentioned above, is probably the second best job in the conference and they hired a non-P5 coach in McElwain. Auburn is a better job than most of us give it credit for, and their last 2 hires were a losing coach at Iowa State and a one year wonder at Arkansas State. Ditto for Ole Miss, who hired a retread in Nutt and another ASU one year wonder. USCe is a much better job than it was a decade ago, and they had to hire Will. fricking. Muschamp. Even Georgia, Smart's ties to the school aside, hired a coordinator.
This post was edited on 10/25/16 at 6:39 am
Posted on 10/25/16 at 7:26 am to CtotheVrzrbck
So Jeff Long has made this a stepping stone job by going out and hiring a guy that had just been to 3 straight BCS bowl games?
Posted on 10/25/16 at 7:55 am to TheCheshireHog
quote:
So Jeff Long has made this a stepping stone job by going out and hiring a guy that had just been to 3 straight BCS bowl games?
+1
Posted on 10/25/16 at 8:09 am to TheCheshireHog
quote:
just been to 3 straight BCS bowl games?
What a joke, he lucked into 2 of those
Posted on 10/25/16 at 8:22 am to Pigfeet
10 and 11 other coaches could have lucked in to them those years as well.
Posted on 10/25/16 at 8:30 am to CtotheVrzrbck
Most jobs are stepping stones. Deal with it.
Seriously, it's ridiculous to get worked up over assistant coaches leaving for other jobs. That's the reality of working life in 2016. It's not unique to football. People who change jobs do better in terms of compensation and opportunities.
Seriously, it's ridiculous to get worked up over assistant coaches leaving for other jobs. That's the reality of working life in 2016. It's not unique to football. People who change jobs do better in terms of compensation and opportunities.
This post was edited on 10/25/16 at 8:32 am
Posted on 10/25/16 at 8:42 am to Feral
quote:
I'm more worried about the fact that Bert has made it look profoundly difficult to win at Arkansas and that it could shy away promising head coaching candidates if and when he's ultimately let go.
I don't think so because Petrino won 22 games in two years at Arkansas just not too long ago. If anything, it just shows that a new coach may need to be a little more creative on the offensive side of the ball to win big here like Petrino did.
quote:
My greatest fear is if/when we're hunting for a head coach again, good candidates are going to be of the mentality that it's too tough to win here. Our head coach having great success in the Big Ten and then setting historic marks for losing here doesn't shine a great light on our program. My opinion was always that if a washed up Danny Ford could win the SEC West and Houston Nutt could win 9 and 10 games on talent alone, a decent coach could win the SEC here. However, Bert has done little to reinforce that.
Most coaches are smart. My biggest fear when we hired Bert was the Kragthorpe factor. What do I mean? Well, much like the situation Louisville was in when Petrino left them for the Falcons, our program was in the same boat. Players dismissed, arrested, kicked off the team, etc. Kragthorpe is and was a good coach, but he was the band aid that held the program together until Strong came along and put the program back in the mix of the top programs in the nation.
When hired, that was my worst fear for Bert. He would be the band aid because the situation of Louisville then and Arkansas now are so similar.
I still go back to any coach worth his weight will see what Petrino was able to do at Arkansas, in the SEC, without a good defense. Petrino had success at Arkansas when the West was just as strong as it is now. Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas at one point during his tenure were all ranked 1-3 in the BCS standings. It doesn't get much tougher than that. aTm was still on the schedule, so not much has changed in that aspect.
quote:
Tennessee offered their job to everyone under the sun and had to hire a goober from Cincinnati.
They also owed like 3 coaches money during their last search. Their program has fallen quite a bit since 1998. Tennessee reminds me a lot of Nebraska. They can't get a name coach either, but Arkansas has pulled it off twice in that same time frame by getting Petrino from the Falcons and pulling Bert out of a successful Big Ten program.
quote:
Even Georgia, Smart's ties to the school aside, hired a coordinator.
I think that was their choice no matter what. They were going to hire Smart no matter who else wanted the job. He was their guy from day 1. Likely the only reason they fired Richt was because Smart had already told them yes.
Posted on 10/25/16 at 1:24 pm to TheCheshireHog
then and now are very different things and the situation another 4 years from now will be even further into the hole.
Posted on 10/25/16 at 4:53 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
I see you're still melting
Posted on 10/25/16 at 5:09 pm to ArHog
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