Comments on: Hogs’ Long Needs To Worry About A Coach, Not Recruits

By: Arkansas | MrSEC

Arkansas | MrSEC — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:06:08 +0000

[...] rapid-fire solution. Readers of this site know that this writer is of the opinion that Arkansas should tab an interim coach for 2012 and spend the next eight months looking for the absolute perfect fit for it’s head coaching [...]

By: ghenghy

ghenghy — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:07:12 +0000

With all due respect to Arky fans, they arent going to nab a rock star in December, McGee hasnt shown any interest (yet), and I personally believe a UA job is out of Gus’s comfort zone for now. I think he’s be at State for several years. Bottom line is that the Arkansas job is just not that attractive. Aside from money and facilities, the difficulty of recruiting there is clearly demonstrated by Petrino’s classes that averaged #30 (Rivals) in the last 4 years, and were #10 in the SEC for 2012 not including Mizzou and A&M. Petrino did a great job at talent eval, but still its an uphill battle demonstrated by losses to Bama and LSU last season yielding 80 points in the process. Its a tough job, and now its plagued by scandal the mommas and daddys arent going to forget anytime soon. The rock star aint happening.

On the subject of Tennessee, Dooley did an amazing job of salvaging that first class in only 2 weeks. He has 3 solid classes under him now, but most all Fulmer and Kiffin’s guys are gone. The Vols are still young but finally have some depth to compete even though there will only be 3 seniors on the field this fall. Even with all the staff turnover Dooley has proven again he’s a magician when it comes to off-field diversity, the staff has undergone a major upgrade, during the worst of times. This will be the year to find out if Dooley gets to lose his training wheels and should win 9 games or he should be shown the door. Recruiting does matter in the SEC.

By: Hogitall

Hogitall — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:39:21 +0000

Hi John, thanks for the response. BPs actions are a surprise to me. I might expect him to do something that would be for his personal gain, but what he did cost him his job and 18M over the next 7 years. This isn’t something I expected from Bobby Patrino. It doesn’t fit his known character flaw.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:09:42 +0000

@John at MrSEC You are correct with those character issues. I just remember it being more of the “he won’t stay in once place long, always looking for the next big thing”. I am not sure why the Falcons ordeal was as big as everyone made it out to be. Yes, he left during the season. I think he knew the NFL wasn’t for him, especially not being able to have Vick playing. If he wanted the AR job, he knew he had to leave then to be able to finish up with recruiting before it ended in February. You say that AR and Long snuck into Atlanta. Maybe it was Petrino’s agent who contacted Long first. I don’t know what actually happened. Do you know for a fact everything that transpired? And the way he left, maybe he was told by Blank to leave immediately and he didn’t have time to tell the players in person. I know if you work at a bank and you leave to go to a competing bank, you are usually told to leave right then. Get your stuff together and leave. They don’t want you haning around. There are different circumstances for different situations.
As far as Long hiring him with the potential character issues, he basically took a chance and got burned. It’s kind of like the recruiting game. Some coaches take risks on players even though there are red flags/character issues about them. Sometimes they get burned, sometimes it works out.
Thanks for listening. I enjoy reading your sight and keep up the great work.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:51:12 +0000

Hogitall…

Loyalty to a program was an issue. But so was the character of a man who would go behind his boss’ back at Louisville, try to stab the back of his previous boss at Auburn, and then stab the back of his boss with the Falcons.

A sex scandal could not have been predicted. Character issues were.

Thanks for reading,
John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:49:08 +0000

Jason…

The warnings were regarding Petrino’s character. His plane-gate meeting behind his Louisville boss’ back in an attempt to land the Auburn job — in a backstab of his old Auburn boss — gave him a pretty big black eye. Then we left the Falcons everyone warned that a) he’s not an honest guy and b) he’d leave UA.

Arkansas chose to ignore the character concerns and some fans even sent so far as to say Arthur Blank and the Falcons had done PETRINO wrong.

Character was the issue with Petrino. And it turned out to be a bigger issue than expected the way all’s played out.

Thanks for reading,john

By: Fayettechill14

Fayettechill14 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:36:04 +0000

@Hogitall Exactly. We didn’t hire a guy who’s been through messy divorces, affairs, text scandals, or cheating the NCAA.

By: Hogitall

Hogitall — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:25:55 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot of sports articles and listening to national sports show, and there is a recurring theme that Arkansas should not be surprise, and that we basically got what we deserved. The situation that happened here was not something that Hog fans should have been expecting. All the warnings we were given had to do with BP running out on us like he did Louisville and Atlanta. He wasn’t dismissed from these organizations for violating policy, he left them for what he thought was greener pastures. Loyalty to a program was the issue with him.

What happened here had nothing to do with him interviewing behind our backs or running off to another program. UofA addressed that possible issue by adding an 18M buy-out clause in his contact. BP wasn’t going anywhere soon, and I believe he was generally happy at the UofA. If he hadn’t violated hiring policies, and lied to his superiors, he’d still be our coach today.

John, I agree with your opinion that the UofA should not rush this process. From what I’ve read the team wants to work with the staff that remains, and that continuity is very important for a successfully 2012 season. Arkansas has the upgrade facilities, rabid fan base, and salary that will draw a good candidate to replace BP. We just need to show patience and let the process run its course. The 2013 recruiting season is going to be below our expectations regardless of having a new HC or an interim HC.

By: hoglin

hoglin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:16:30 +0000

Good word, John. Thanks for sharing your take on this.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:49:18 +0000

Well said, John. Initially I was all in for McGee to come back so that the program wouldn’t “skip a beat.” Now that emotions have died down, I definitely see the benefit in waiting until December. Maybe by then Malzahn or McGee have proved themselves, but we’re also more likely to woo a higher caliber coach with years of proven success. As always, thanks for being the voice of reason!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:33:42 +0000

If I remember correctly, all the warnings were about him being a job hopper and not being able to stay put in one place too long. I’m not sure anyone could have predicted what has happened to the Univ of AR. I think most people thought we would get burned by Petrino for leaving for another/better job. All that being said, I do feel we are in much better shape than were were 4-5 years ago. We have to build upon what we have going and I have no doubt in my mind that Jeff Long will make a great hire.

By: Lupin

Lupin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:09:06 +0000

Arkansas has a good redshirt program going so one year of mediocre recruiting won’t really hurt.

The Razorbacks also have a fine staff currently, both coaching wise and recruiting wise, so we also have the luxury of looking into the NFL ranks for and ex-head coach or a coordinator with head coaching experience.