If my research is correct, Arkansas is the only SEC team that has a former head coach in each of its coordinator spots.
I think there is some value in that. The coordinators have a lot of executive responsibility - coaching the assistant coaches, running meeting rooms, etc., so you know a former head coach is not going to be overwhelmed by it all. Of course there are great coordinators who have never had head coaching experience - some better than those who have had - but typically if you are able to get a head coaching job, it means you have done well as a coordinator.
They are the head coach of their side of the ball. I do think having head coaches on your staff has great value. I talked to Paul Rhoads about that when he was added last spring. He said as position coach, his job was to keep his guys out of the office of the head coach. If your players are in there, you are probably not doing your job.
Gentlemen
Two reaction questions to Tom Murphy’s report:
Do we really care whether we play 4-3 or 3-4? It struck me that the 3-4 announcement by CBB was just to give the fans the idea that changes would be made.
Six returning starters? Greenlaw and Pulley are the only ones deserving of that title and Greenlaw was hurt most of the season. Agim did not start a lot of the year and there is no other secondary player that deserves that title by the quality of their play. If those are the safeties that play there is no reason to believe the defense will be any better.
Your thoughts?
The people who started this year are listed as returning starters. That has been the way things have been done since the dawn of sports reporting.
Agim was starting at the end of the year. That tells me that he’s in line to start next season. It’s just like Johnny Gibson on the offensive line; he didn’t begin the year as a starter, but he finished it as one, so he’s a starter. It reminds me of my old basketball coach: it’s not who starts, it’s who finishes.
I certainly agree that Agim should start next season. The same for Pulley and Greenlaw. My point had nothing to do with the reporting, but whether we should take any comfort in having six returning starters.
We certainly learned this year that nine returning starters from a bad defense should mean you have another bad defense coming. It is not always the case, but it was this season.
I would have listed the same players as returning starters. They actually rotated three as starters at the two safety positions. That would be Coley, Ramirez and Liddell. Without a doubt, I’d list McTelvin Agim as a returning starter based on the lineup that was played after the bye week. He was a regular from that point going forward. I’d also list Dre Greenlaw a starter, although he missed about half of the season with the broken foot. He’s a starter.
No one is going to list Kevin Richardson as a returning starter, but he’s one of the key players coming back after missing all but the opener because of surgery to repair a torn pectoral tendon.
Are there concerns with this defense? I’d say that’s so. But it doesn’t change the fact that they have six that I’d list as returning starters.
Dwayne Eugene also started some games at weakside linebacker. De’Jon Harris was listed as a co-starter there at the end of the year. But they were not listed as returning starters. Instead, Dre Greenlaw is listed there.
Saying that this defense returns six starters is not an indication of strength. We all know that.
If September comes and those same 3 safeties step on the field for anything other than special teams, I’ll know to expect a bad defense. Those guys are probably great kids, but are just not talented enough to play in the SEC. They were built up in the off season last year, so I know not to believe anything said about them because I’ve watched them play. I hope to see new faces at safety.
Exactly… wouldn’t matter if we were returning 11 or 0 wouldn’t change the fact that the CPR secondary was garbage all year and not looking like we got a knock out platoon coming from some killer recruiting either
Then we got to look at why we it looks so much like we got our backs completely against the wall and just throwing the kitchen sink at this gaping problem by doing a total 180 and saying let’s go 3-4 nickel dime a dollar whatever could not matter less in my opinion until somebody please tell me about our fully loaded arsenal of linebackers in the ranks. Where are those guys please tell me, I guess the same place as our secondary players that can tackle.
How many head coaches does it take to make up a new scheme for bad tackling, bad athletes, bad speed, and basically no toughness? That’s the question. I’m not banking on an unsuccessful big east coach or CBB to change all that any time soon.
My favorite theory was from an insider on here that said he hired a head coach so he could stay home with the new baby a few months and let his assistants run the team. You know maybe that is exactly what we need to solve our toughness on defense problem, CBB on paternity leave for several months :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: