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Jeff Long speaks at NWA Touchdown Club
Posted on 9/6/17 at 3:39 pm
Posted on 9/6/17 at 3:39 pm
Some snippets from Long's address today to the NWA Touchdown Club. His words on both WMS and Bielema are interdasting.
LINK
On WMS and attendance
On Bielema
On future facilities projects
I should also note that some in attendance have claimed that his words on Bielema were a little more pointed than the article above suggests. Something along the lines of "Bret fits our culture here, but he knows he needs to win more games."
LINK
On WMS and attendance
quote:
“I've not been engaged in any conversations to buy out of the game in Little Rock,” Long said. “We believe in honoring the contract. We have a contract through '18, and we have a contract to play an SEC game in '18, so…I fully intend to honor that contract.”
There are many factors Long is considering in his decision, including attendance. The crowd at Thursday’s Florida A&M game was the smallest for an Arkansas home game since 1996.
Despite lowering ticket prices, the Razorbacks also didn’t sell out a game against No. 10 Georgia in 2014 and haven’t cracked 50,000 in attendance in any of the other four games at War Memorial Stadium since 2013.
“I hope people aren't going to be upset with me when I say 'disappointed,'” Long said. “We were disappointed there weren't more fans. We thought that moving the game to Thursday night would create an energy (on the) opening night of college football, create a little more juice to the game against an FCS opponent.”
On Bielema
quote:
One game into his fifth season at Arkansas, head coach Bret Bielema has a .500 record, with 26 wins and 26 losses.
Naturally, some fans are upset with that record and think he is on the “hot seat.” That is not how Long sees it, though.
“I’m 100 percent behind Bret Bielema,” Long said. “He’s doing many, many things right. As I said today, sure, we’d like to win a few more games. Nobody wants to win more games than Bret Bielema, so we all want to win games. That’s what we’re here for and that’s what competition is all about.”
During his talk in front of the crowd, Long praised Bielema for the culture he has created around the football program and for improving the team’s academics.
“Bret does an incredible job,” Long said. “He’s a players’ coach. … Players love playing for him. They love competing for him.
On future facilities projects
quote:
He mentioned Bud Walton Arena as the next venue that could receive a facelift.
“I think we have an abundance of seats and maybe there’s a way we can provide some different seating options for fans that will make the game,” Long said. “Fans are interested in the social aspect.
“Are there ways that we can provide a social experience in Bud Walton Arena that will drive more people to attend games and be a part of the atmosphere there?”
I should also note that some in attendance have claimed that his words on Bielema were a little more pointed than the article above suggests. Something along the lines of "Bret fits our culture here, but he knows he needs to win more games."
This post was edited on 9/6/17 at 3:40 pm
Posted on 9/6/17 at 3:58 pm to Feral
quote:
One game into his fifth season at Arkansas, head coach Bret Bielema has a .500 record, with 26 wins and 26 losses.
quote:
As I said today, sure, we’d like to win a few more games.
A few
Posted on 9/6/17 at 6:05 pm to Feral
quote:
I should also note that some in attendance have claimed that his words on Bielema were a little more pointed than the article above suggests. Something along the lines of "Bret fits our culture here, but he knows he needs to win more games."
Vocal inflection can tell a lot that print doesn't get across. "Yeah, he's great" said two different ways can have two different meaning.
Regardless I think Bert and company have the water heating up around them in the sauce pan. He's going to need to cool down the heat this season or he goes into next year as the dreaded win or else coach of the year.
Posted on 9/6/17 at 6:13 pm to Arksulli
quote:
He's going to need to cool down the heat this season or he goes into next year as the dreaded win or else coach of the year.
I attended, this was my take. TCU and aTm are landmark games for Bert's future. I'm good with 1-1, but 0-2 won't be good for the fat guy.
Posted on 9/6/17 at 8:18 pm to ArHog
I don't see him going anywhere this year, unless he has a year like his first one.
Posted on 9/6/17 at 8:28 pm to ArHog
quote:
TCU and aTm are landmark games for Bert's future. I'm good with 1-1, but 0-2 won't be good for the fat guy.
If be okay with 1-1 as long as the W is A&M.
There's absolutely no reason for us to be on a 5 game skid like this. We have owned them historically.
Posted on 9/7/17 at 11:52 am to Feral
quote:
If be okay with 1-1 as long as the W is A&M.
There's absolutely no reason for us to be on a 5 game skid like this. We have owned them historically.
Some of the losses I won't bat an eye at, they have a Heisman trophy winner or our run defense is the worst in the history of modern football. I hate them, but they didn't eat at my soul.
The other losses though... the Skipper Tripper in particularly is infuriating still. Not just because of the trip but because we had that game in the bag and screwed up in several ways down the stretch.
Posted on 9/7/17 at 5:05 pm to Arksulli
quote:
the Skipper Tripper in particularly is infuriating still. Not just because of the trip but because we had that game in the bag and screwed up in several ways down the stretch.
That was the only game that made me physically ill. I felt so bad for the players, for Skipper, and for myself. We had the game won. J-Will just put together a Super Tecmo Bowl type run and we were on the goaline. We could have taken our sweet time to get in the endzone and the game would have been out of reach but the trip brought it all back.
I knew what was on the horizon. Just like I knew that we were going to lose when Mizzou converted the fake punt with the back against their endzone and when Drew fumbled out of the end zone in the Belk Bowl. You can feel the wave of momentum shift. I saw the same shite happening this past weekend in the Aggie vs. UCLA game. shite is spooky.
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