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Louisville and Arkansas after Petrino - interesting parallels
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:17 pm
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:17 pm
Two times Petrino has left (admittedly, under different circumstances) a seemingly loaded team that was predicted to do great things even though he was gone. And in both cases, that team has been revealed to have major flaws. It's too early to tell if Arky will struggle throughout the entire season as UL did in '07, but there are some eerie similarities. UL's offense in '07 ended up ranked in the top ten, but the defense was absolutely horrible and easily cost the team 3-4 games that season. (Steve Kragthorpe was not allowed to bring in his own DC when he got the gig. The AD forced him to retain the DC from Petrino's staff.) Additionally, it quickly became apparent that the overall depth of the team was thin.
Fast forward to this year. The Razorback D is horrible, under the direction of a DC retained from Petrino's staff (as are, I believe, all the other assistants as well). The D gave up over 500 yards to ULM, the O-line wasn't very good, and, as far as I can tell, the depth is thin in key spots. Now, if Petrino had been on the sideline Saturday night, Arky might well as won, but that would have only been covering up the flaws for another week. Against a stronger team, the defensive woes and lack of depth would have been revealed for all to see.
Anyone else see a pattern here? Petrino has always won with a brilliant offense, but at both UL and at Arkansas, he failed to build a complete program--almost totally neglecting the defensive side of the ball--and didn't recruit well enough to create the kind of depth all across the board that one needs to sustain a high level year after year. These problems revealed themselves only after he left each school, and the wrath of the respective fan bases fell squarely on his successors. But in my opinion, if he had stayed at UL or Arkansas for a couple more years, his neglect of key aspects of his program would have caused both teams to hit a ceiling. In other words, UL '06 and Arkansas '11 might be as good as he was ever going to get.
Fast forward to this year. The Razorback D is horrible, under the direction of a DC retained from Petrino's staff (as are, I believe, all the other assistants as well). The D gave up over 500 yards to ULM, the O-line wasn't very good, and, as far as I can tell, the depth is thin in key spots. Now, if Petrino had been on the sideline Saturday night, Arky might well as won, but that would have only been covering up the flaws for another week. Against a stronger team, the defensive woes and lack of depth would have been revealed for all to see.
Anyone else see a pattern here? Petrino has always won with a brilliant offense, but at both UL and at Arkansas, he failed to build a complete program--almost totally neglecting the defensive side of the ball--and didn't recruit well enough to create the kind of depth all across the board that one needs to sustain a high level year after year. These problems revealed themselves only after he left each school, and the wrath of the respective fan bases fell squarely on his successors. But in my opinion, if he had stayed at UL or Arkansas for a couple more years, his neglect of key aspects of his program would have caused both teams to hit a ceiling. In other words, UL '06 and Arkansas '11 might be as good as he was ever going to get.
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Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:18 pm to TigerCard
Yeah but if Wilson can play...they could still beat Bama!!
This post was edited on 9/10/12 at 2:19 pm
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:21 pm to HandGrenade
Definitely noticed that.
We can't make the same mistake they did of hiring an offensive guy after Petrino.
We have to bring in a guy who can fix our amazingly awful defense.
We can't make the same mistake they did of hiring an offensive guy after Petrino.
We have to bring in a guy who can fix our amazingly awful defense.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:29 pm to BlumpkinHog
All this tells me Petrino has no buisness being a head coach. He is a OC and should stick to that.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:37 pm to TigerFanNKaty
quote:
All this tells me Petrino has no buisness being a head coach. He is a OC and should stick to that.
This. And stop trying to pork the girls in the admin office. "Hey Jessica, wanna take a free ride on my hog?"
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:45 pm to BlumpkinHog
I see the parallels but draw a somewhat different conclusion from them. I think he would have kept us among the elite and in the title hunt for years to come. At Louisville and at Arkansas, especially in the state that the Arkansas program was in when CBP inherited it, you had to win with good players before you could win with great players. He wasn't a master recruiter, but his teams got better each year as he started playing with more and more of his own players. Winning makes recruiting a lot easier. He just wasn't at either program long enough to get the full benefit of the recruiting boost that came along with his winning ways. I attribute the big drop-off at both places after he left largely to CBP just being that good.
This post was edited on 9/10/12 at 2:47 pm
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:50 pm to LRHogFan
quote:
I think he would have kept us among the elite
dude, he never had us in the elite. good grief.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:53 pm to BTHog
quote:
dude, he never had us in the elite. good grief.
Yeah but he got y'all close.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:56 pm to BTHog
I don't think it's a stretch to say that last year's team was among the elite: 11 wins, finished #5 in the country, with our only 2 losses coming to the 2 teams who played in the BCSNCG.
If we weren't among the elite, then you're limiting the definition of elite to no more than 4 teams in the country, maybe fewer.
If we weren't among the elite, then you're limiting the definition of elite to no more than 4 teams in the country, maybe fewer.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 2:59 pm to TigerCard
Petrino inherited a team in the shitter after a decade of Nutt, in a not so good recruiting area, and built them up to back to back 10+ wins seasons in one of the toughest divisions of all time in just a 4 year span.
/thread
/thread
This post was edited on 9/10/12 at 3:01 pm
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:00 pm to LRHogFan
elite teams dont get their arse kicked by two teams in their conference
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:01 pm to LRHogFan
quote:
Yeah but he got y'all close.
Yep, very close. but college football aint hand grenades, close doesn't count.
quote:
If we weren't among the elite, then you're limiting the definition of elite to no more than 4 teams in the country, maybe fewer.
That is in fact the definition of elite. VERY few members.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:04 pm to TigerCard
If only Arkansas had been given something to alert them that Petrino couldn't be trusted before they hired him.... 
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:06 pm to LSURussian
quote:
If only Arkansas had been given something to alert them that Petrino couldn't be trusted before they hired him....
Eh, who gives a shite about that? Coaches are hired guns come in win, leave when you lose. Sometimes you take a chance.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:11 pm to BTHog
quote:
who gives a shite about that?
Seeing the condition Petrino left Arky in upon his departure (and the embarrassment to the university surrounding his departure), I'd have say YOU should give a shite.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:12 pm to LRHogFan
LRHogFan....you're right about needing to win with good players before you can get great players, and it could be true that he would have built solid, sustainable programs had he stayed more than 4-5 years. But the evidence suggests that he just wasn't that interested in the defensive side if the ball.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:13 pm to LSURussian
quote:
Seeing the condition Petrino left Arky in upon his departure (and the embarrassment to the university surrounding his departure
the condition of our team on the field has nothing to do with Petrino being a douchebag.
Actually, the UA itself came out of the situation smelling like a rose. long did the right thing.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:16 pm to BTHog
quote:Oh, okay. I thought the team looked different Saturday night from years past when Petrino was there.
the condition of our team on the field has nothing to do with Petrino being a douchebag.
My bad.
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:16 pm to TigerCard
Posted on 9/10/12 at 3:18 pm to TigerCard
This post was edited on 2/6/13 at 4:02 pm
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