P5 divisions Arkansas would have the #1 recruiting class in

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Arkansas has the second to last ranked class in the SEC West and #9 in the SEC overall

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It just means more.

But you aren't

so who cares.

TCU has a nice class coming in and will finish ahead of y’all, that being said yea you would have the 3rd or 4th ranked class every year in the big 12 but you are stuck in the sec west getting clowned yearly by Bama and LSU and soon to be A&M. At least you would only have two gauranteed losses in the big 12 though.

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TCU has a nice class coming in and will finish ahead of y’all,

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No

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TCU has a nice class coming in and will finish ahead of y’all

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#20 Arkansas - 238.77 pts (88.36 avg)
#31 TCU - 206.44 pts (86.34 avg)

Um no

It's historically one of our best classes. Dumbass.

They've lost 7 in a row to A&M. No soon to be about it.

Arkansas is kind of a perfect case study on how to build a program. They aren’t perfectly situated in any area, but are positioned well enough by many.

The SEC West is a dog fight, and Saban kind of makes you forget it’s winnable, but it definitely is. Gus has done it twice during peak Saban, so it’s not impossible. Remember, Beilema lost to Sumlin in OT and to Mullen 51-50, or he would have been 7-1 in conference play in 2015.

Now let’s analyze that for a second. Bielema was in his third season, and had signed 4, 4, and 7 different 4 star recruits in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. This was overwhelmingly in the trenches and TEs. Not a single DB, linebacker or WR was a blue chip. But if a program like A&M is signing double the amount of blue chips as Arkansas, but it's split more evenly among the position groups, this means that Arkansas might have half the blue chips, but it's fortified the talent in certain position groups just as well as a top ten recruiting class. I also think Bielema developed the lines well. Plenty of Arkansas highly recruited offensive lineman started early and developed in to some of the best in the country.

However, it fell apart. Without DBs and linebackers Bielema wasn't going to make it. Should Arkansas recruit a more balanced program? Or should they try and do certain things well to try and "break through"?

Look at Oklahoma State. Their recruiting has fallen off in the recruiting rankings since A&M joined the SEC and their Houston pipeline dried up, but they recruit to a system, and had a 12-1 season in 2011. They had Glenn Spencer for five years and Bill Young for four and ran a 4-3 the entire time. They try and build a stable of QBs to start upper classmen and will let innovative offensive minds do their thing, but recruit to the same stable system on defense.

Look at Gary Patterson's TCU program that finished 13-0 in 2010 and incredibly close to making the CFP in 2014. Gary Patterson focuses on defense in a 4-2-5, and hopes a gimmicky offense can somehow figure it out. While somewhat similar to Oklahoma State in the achieved stability on defense, but it's definitely a defense first mindset. Gary Patterson will definitely use what equity he has as a coach for a defensive player if given the choice.

Both TCU and Oklahoma State seem to be two relatively successful models when there is a talent imbalance that needs to be overcome. It's not perfect, and could always be better, but similar in some ways and different in others. The biggest caveat to this however is that 80% of the Big 12 doesn't recruit in the top 30. It truly is the most talent baren conference.

Now let's look at Washington. Chris Petersen doesn't seem to take shortcuts anywhere and will be a very balanced team. They don't really run a "gimmicky" offense as much as it is incredibly multiple. On defense he's been running a 3-4, but it's also very multiple. Adaptive to the players and skills each season, but within the same philosophy. Stability is derived from adapting, not grooming players to a system.

Now let's look at Mississippi schools. The Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze versions. Two schools with similar recruiting potential as Arkansas, have the same division challenges, and two different coaches with varying degrees of success. Ole Miss got there through recruiting(cheating) their arse off, but running an offensive system that was different than the standard SEC West offense. Mullen got there through solid defense and developing QBs. However Freeze's success wasn't sustainable or repeatable with such an odd collection of elite talenr, and Mullen couldn't capitalize when his teams were peaking because a bunch of super solid players couldn't provide enough mismatches to win big.

So what's Chad Morris's answer? He's recruiting in the top 20ish, but so did Bielema and Petrino now and then. The first question is, what is the current recruiting landscape, and how much better can it get. Chad Morris will make inroads in to Texas high schools, and recruit better than his predecessors on that fact alone. Let's just say instead of averaging 4-7 blue chip recruits, he averages 6-9. And a decent 6-9 where he gets receivers and rush ends.

Now where does this leave them? Enough to build a balanced and multiple team like Washington under Petersen or Mississippi State under Mullen? Possibly. Enough to have a talented team like Freeze's Ole Miss? Probably not. Enough to build a stable on one side of the ball like TCU? Sure. Or more balanced like Gundy with an offensive focus? Definitely.

Now given that potential, which coach's method discussed, Patterson, Gundy, Mullen, Freeze or Petersen would be the most successful at Arkansas and which is Chad the most capable of?

I say he's least suited to attempt the Petersen/Mullen/Patterson way, especially on defense, but he needs to strive for some stability there as he's not a defensive coach. That's square one. Half assing defense might have worked for Petrino, but that was before A&M. Now with Jimbo and Saban, there needs to be something better that that. I think Chavis would be fine if he was young, as Chad could open up his playbook over time as he recruited to the system, but I think Morris should try and get someone from the NFL or a bigger program that's multiple oriented. The Gundy/Patterson way works in the Big 12 when everyone runs the same kind of offense, but in the SEC West, he needs something better and needs to approach it like Petersen.

From that point, I think he really needs try and find a way to make his offense more balanced, more complex, and less air raidy. Sumlin's air raid failed without Manziel and he tried to switch it to God knows what with Spavital and Christensen and then Mazzone. Mullen say some success with his Tebow/Dak offense, but counting on a mismatch running the ball out of the QB spot and it all falls apart without one. He's probably very capable of coaching a spread option, but I don't think it will be what takes him or Arkansas to the next level.

OU and Lincoln Riley run a very productive style air raid spread, and some would think that Baker Mayfield and the Rose Bowl showed that it works just as well as any offense. However, in the second half that OU offense scored 7 points and were shut out in the 4th. Lincoln's Air Raid running game relies heavily on counters, and really spaced screens in the passing game. Without dominant blocking up front this is really hard to rely on. Once OU's blocking wore down in the second half of the Rose Bowl this was pretty apparent.

If I was Chad Morris I would try and run an Air Raid/West Coast hybrid. 11 personnel (1 TE/1 RB) as the base offense, and recruit to a starting role for players around that set. 11 personnel is where the NFL have really used the air raid and spread concepts well and I think Chad Morris could develop a name for himself if he focuses on it. West Coast offenses and most Air Raids use the same post snap reads for WRs, so it definitely fits in a lot of ways. This would also allow him to have a set recruiting platform that doesn't stick him with 19 receivers, and something that can compliment both his coaching abilities as well as current and future recruiting paradigms.

It’s a testament to both how well Chad Morris recruits and how tough it is to climb the ladder in the SEC.

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So what's Chad Morris's answer? He's recruiting in the top 20ish, but so did Bielema and Petrino now and then.

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Bobby Petrino
2009- 20th
2010- 41st
2011- 21st
2012- 27th

Avg.- 27.25

Bert
2014- 29th
2015- 22nd
2016- 23rd
2017- 27th

Avg.- 25.25


The avg. rating for the players in Bobby's best class was 86.54

The avg. rating for the players in Bert's best class was 86.56

The avg. rating for the players in Chad's class was 88.36

All of this in one of our worst seasons ever.