re: Comparing the 2013 SEC coaching hires Bielema, Jones, & Gus.

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I love the "trending" argument from Arkansas fans. It's been 3 years, one started off at the very bottom at 3-9, while the other started off at the top with 12 wins an SEC championship and a NCG appearance. It ain't exactly hard o "trend" with 3 points on a graph when the very first point is at the far extreme of the graph.

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This was my entire point. By their argument, its better for a coach to go winless in his first year on the job rather than winning an SEC Title because it will show a better trajectory later on. It's ludicrous! But why try to understand the mind of a Hog.

If anything, it seems both Gus' and Bert's first seasons were outliers.... Gus' for the good; Bert's for the bad. It seems a more realistic "trajectory" would be compare seasons #2 and #3 to the two seasons prior to their arrival.

Arkansas went from 15-10 in the two seasons prior to Bert's arrival to 15-11 in his two most recent years. For the most part, its been a flat trajectory.

Auburn went from 11-14 in the two seasons prior to Gus' arrival to 15-11 in his two most recent years... an obvious upward trajectory.

As one somewhat rational Hog poster said, Gus obviously is more accomplished. He's right. That is not disputable. However, all of their reasoning for why Bert is the superior coach is to use this "trajectory" argument. But the only way to even make that work is to herald "improving" upon a lowly 3-9 season while simultaneously demonizing a run to the National Championship Game. It's insane!