I get it. I live in TN and if you think Coach BB is on the hot seat then Coach Butch is on fire. We also deal with the Vandy parade of coaches. I know we all want to win especially after yesterday’s lack of coaching and player effort. Here is why I have a caution, I know that each of the posters know this so I know this is not an original thought: Every coaching change has a built in bias to winning and this is the built in excuse why coaches should be judged after year 5. 1. New staff of coaches with a new system 2. On board players don’t fit the new system 3. Have to recruit “their” players to fit 4. And so it goes. The next guy is always going to look more attractive when you lose.
So, just what are the expectations in terms of W and L for a Hog coach in the SEC West? (put aside yesterday for a minute). We are not going to win a NC. We are not going to win the SEC West very often, only time we did was because of probation. So if the expectations are too high we will be changing coaches every 5 years dreaming that dream. All that said we really suck this year!
I think a successful Arkansaa coach should win 50-55% of his conference games over a five year period.
Bielema is 11-26 and likely to be 11-28 or 12 -29.
Unacceptable and embarassing
Everything you said is absolutely true. Those who simply cite the won-loss record apparenty can’t see anything beyond their “the next guy will be better” mentality. The problem is that the next guy almost always inherits things that don’t fit. He almost always starts with a bad recruiting class. CBB started with two bad ones.
Unfortunately, I’ve now concluded the downside of changing is still better than the downside of staying the course. I gave all my reasons for this in another thread, but mostly I’m concerned that if we keep this very good man, there will be so much antipathy toward him that he can’t succeed. Recruits will know he’s not likely to be the coach beyond 2018 with anything less than 8 wins. I’m not sure fans who are now against him will get on board with an 8-4 season. Of course, there’s no guarantee we’ll be 8-4. We might be 6-6 or worse. We can survive that with a new coach still operating on good will. CBB can’t. If the new coach goes 8-4 or better, the state will love him. So the same W-L record would have completely different consequences.
I think it’s absurd to blame CBB for his first two seaons here, but the last two are his responsibility. Last year wasn’t that bad. The last two games, however, left every fan in a terrible funk. This year has been abysmal. Except for the miracle one against Ole Miss, none of our wins have been against opponents who are SEC caliber. We weren’t especially impressive in any of them. We were awful yesterday against a really bad team. Lopside losses to Alabama & Auburn this year are understandable, but still not good. A lopsided loss to USC was very bad. We were competitive against an okay TAMU team, but we still lost.
The only way I’ll change my mind is if we win 2 of the last 3. (Maybe if we win one & look good in the others—but only maybe.) I don’t see us winning 2 of the last 3.
A new coach might be able to salvage the recruiting class. Maybe he’ll do well enough to satisfy fans in his year 5. I hope so.
I expect a new coach to take us to a bowl at least once by the end of the second year. Broyles, Holtz, Hatfield, Nutt, and Petrino all did.
I’ve talked to two former college head coaches. They see Arkansas’ problems in getting new head coach as two-fold. First, there are other SEC schools seeking (how many yet to be determined). Second, Arkansas does not have, nor has it had a “recruiting history” for quite some time. There are few high schools out there that put out a lot of talent that we have a preferred relationship. They feel that will take about 6-8 years of coaching consistency. Just sharing what I have heard.
If that is all it takes, why don’t you support CBB? He did it and won.
JacksonReid, we get it. You hate everything up there now and we know a change is going to take place. Why must you beat this dead horse so many times each day. Get a life.