Likely not our guy, but damn Bill Clark can coach: UAB to face FAU for Conf. USA title

It pisses me off how a lot of people want Norvell or Kiffin, but turn their nose up at Clark. Clark's resume is every bit as good as Norvell's.

Apart from the obvious home run hires, I would take Clark over just about all of them. Someone is going to snag him and be set up for a long time.

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It pisses me off how a lot of people want Norvell or Kiffin, but turn their nose up at Clark.

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I don't think I've seen anyone "turn their nose up" at him, in fact he's been in my - and a lot of other people's - top 3-5 lists since the beginning.

He just died out because he's not being mentioned like the others, I fully believe we approached him and gauged interest. Who knows, he could still be the guy.

The losses to Tennessee and S. Miss were brutal.

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He would not sell tickets or get season ticket holders back.

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That doesn't matter, at least not in the short term. Getting a "big name" simply to re-energize a fan base is a myopic litmus test for hiring a football coach.

Get someone who can coach football, period. Start winning games and butts will be in seats. Musselman wasn't a name that was blowing skirts up a few months ago; fast forward to the present day and fans are excited and coming back to BWA.

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Get someone who can coach football, period. Start winning games and butts will be in seats.

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Mine was Norvell, Clark, Kiffin. Campbell would be above all 3 but I don’t think he’s realistic.

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don't think I've seen anyone "turn their nose up" at him, in fact he's been in my - and a lot of other people's - top 3-5 lists since the beginning.

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I guess I should say I've encountered this train of thought exclusively on HV, and multiple people have echoed the sentiment. At least two mods have said they would be highly disappointed if we hired Bill Clark. I can't ever decide if HV is a great representation of the ignorant masses in Arkansas, or a poor representation.

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Why do you have those two above Kiffin? Honestly curious.

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I know you weren't talking to me, but I think what Bill Clark has done at UAB is somewhat unprecedented at the FBS level. UAB was a historically and monumentally bad and unprofitable football program. So they shut it down. He resurrects the program a few years later from absolutely zero momentum and outperforms at a level no one could have ever predicted. I know a big knock on him is that he's had no real signature win, but at a certain level of long-ingrained underperforming and lack of support needed from the administration to establish a winning culture, the fact that you're able to win at all becomes a significant achievement in and of itself. I'd also like to point out that Lane Kiffin has posted very similar results at FAU, while also not having a signature win. It's two perennial loser football teams who are finally getting their due and beating up the other losers. It seems underwhelming at first, but when you consider the scope of the entire context, it's actually quite impressive.

A widely accepted sentiment on this forum seems to be we need someone who has experience in rebuilding a down and out program. Bill Clark is basically today's Bill Snyder in that regard. I wouldn't mind having me a Bill Snyder right now. I wouldn't mind a Bill Snyder in general, but now Arkansas football needs someone like Clark in the worst way.

I think it's a tad intellectually lethargic to lower Clark's value because he's a name that wouldn't excite people. I don't care about the pomp. I don't care about how many people show up to our meaningless spring game. I don't care if he has an elitist pedigree. Winning is what's exciting. I suspect Clark's first three years would look a lot like Bielema's - which sounds bad, except we're somehow even worse off than we were in 2013. He'd likely win 3–5 games his first year, barely make a bowl his second, and have us at eight wins by year three. From there, I believe he'd do what Bielema was supposed (and nearly did) to do and keep improving to an acceptable degree of stability. People will get excited and start showing their support en masse when they realize our season is no longer effectively over after the second week, or that going to a bowl is no longer something we have to cross our fingers and hold our breath for.

Kiffin has one good win in his whole career. He's 1–15 against teams that were ranked at season's end. He was fired from the NFL. He bailed on Tennessee after one year. He was fired from USC. He did well as a coordinator at Alabama, but burnt his bridges with Saban due to ego clash. He's really redeemed himself at FAU, and I think Arkansas could make great use of his talents. I would honestly be optimistic if we hired him. But I think Clark and Norvell could have more potential, and we could get them both (especially Clark) at a cheaper rate, which should leave more money to go to quality assistants.

On paper, it all makes sense to me. Someone is going to get a great coach in Clark at the end of the year, and if it's not us, I'm just glad it won't be Auburn since Gus pulled a rabbit and saved his job yesterday.