Not being a Bert apologist but...

As I said, I'm not apologizing for the guy, but worth pointing out that you could draw the same corollary(and an sec coach back then did) to Louisville when he left the cupboard bare and it ultimately took 6 years to return to prominence in strong's 3rd year after kragthorpe got fired after 3 years.

I like Bret and think he will turn it around.

All he needs is just a little bit of time, maybe just a few more years.

NSFW: (featuring Bert @ 1:17 into the video)

It just takes some time & then everything will be aw-ite

I pray he's right. Nothing would make me happier if bert wins 11 games next year, beats Bama, plays in a big 6 bowl and I get full on Crown. Hell I hope I look like the biggest dipshit on the planet. But at the end of the day you gotta take off the sunshine glasses and call a spade a spade. Bret most likely isn't the man for the job.

Oh I know he was put in a bad spot, or, I should say... he put himself in a bad spot. I think Bert thought he was cutting a fat hog in the arse when he took the Arkansas job and that we were loaded with talent that just hadn't produced for John L. Smith.

Instead he left a steady second tier Big 10 program that was punching above its weight class to do a major rebuild in the most difficult division in college football at a state that does not produce a ton of talent.

Its why we've been patient the last few years even with losses like Toledo.

That having been said the collapses against Missouri and V. Tech are inexcusable. We had the talent to beat V. Tech and we have a lot more talent then Missouri does at this stage of their rebuild. Big leads in both games and a total second half collapse.

Those weren't Toledo like losses where we dominated the game statistically but somehow stumbled to a loss. We just flat out quit on the field in the second half.

Hopefully he gets things turned around next year and I would be thrilled if we have a great season, but the clock is starting to tick.

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For me, its just another season under Bert of what ifs.

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Yeah, I know what you mean. I like Bert and I want him to do well here but the misses are starting to pile up.

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Point being that he's never walked into a bad situation or had to facilitate a complete rebuild of a program.

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That is a good point. We might have been better off going with a lesser pedigreed coach who has done a complete rebuild (like a Skip Holtz type) then someone who has always coached at an established turn key program.

Not saying Skip is a better coach mind you, just that someone like that has been in the rebuild process before.

If our coaching staff wasn't utterly inept with a lead and actually recruited and taught our team how to run the ball, we could have won 10 games or more each of the past two seasons

We also blew a tremendous lead against aTm in '14. We missed a PAT that would have sent the Alabama game into OT, and had an unforced fumble at the one centimeter line in the first quarter that would have won the game anyway. We lost four games by a single score in '14 and finished 7–6.

Obviously this isn't a perfect world and we wouldn't have won all of those games in question anyway. However, after three straight years of having the ability to finish with 10+ wins and falling embarrassingly short each time, I'm afraid we're looking at a trend. A bad season or bad game doesn't worry me. Seeing that BB-led teams have a pattern of behavior that he can't seem to shake makes me think that we have no reason not to suspect a fourth straight year of looking like idiots and losing winnable games. I mean, a good handful of these coulda/woulda games weren't just close, they were in the fricking bag. He can't keep doing this to us year after year.