Hopefully, is not just hype speech. I like the stuff about attacking and getting in the backfield and no more just filling the gap. Sounds like it will be more aggressive. And fun.
It can’t be much worse than it was last year, so fingers crossed.
I’m not believing any hype until I see the team play some games and I’m hoping the new defense doesn’t let us down.
I’m with you let’s see some favorable results them feed me a bowl of hype. WPS
/slow clap
I too enjoyed reading that and liked the sound, BUT I told myself after last year I am not buying into any of it until I see it work… Last year we were told the Oline was having trouble becasue the Dline was so good. Turned out the Dline could not stop anybody and the Oline has yet to find anybody they could block. I will believe it when I see them stop TCU and TA&M on D, and block those sames teams on O. Lets see them the push A&M back into the goal instead of not making an inch in 11 plays. Then and only then will I buy into the hype.
It’s only one day into spring practice and the players haven’t even put on full pads yet. It’s premature to say any group is doing good or bad.
What I’ve heard is their attitude, diet and strength training is good. We’re told that every year.
Theoretically the Oline should be better than it was last spring, so it may mean more if the Dline does well against this Oline.
They have not played football yet. But I do think players favor playing an attacking scheme. So nothing that was said should be a surprise. I thought they would like this approach and they do. I do not think the defensive linemen liked the style they played last year. I also think that’s one of the reasons to change. Clearly, they did not play like a motivated bunch of defenders who wanted to go get the ball. If they were locked down in technique, then it’s tougher to play with passion. This is a good start to get the passion back.
I agree w/ Matt 100%. Every year the quotes & stories fm coaches & players seem to be a cut n’ paste from previous years. Hopefully we will never see the previous yrs of being slow overweight wimps again. Maybe we need coaches the players are scared of rather than being their best friend fm Comedy Central. Nolan put the fear of God into his players with pretty good results.
I watched Nolan’s practices. He was tough on them. But when the practices were over, he had players in his home for dinners, cakes, pies and to hang out and watch TV. Players wanted to be around him and he did make them laugh, cracking jokes and entertaining. There is a time to work. There is a time to make sure players enjoy coming to see you. There is a balance. Performance on the field is the thing that matters. Different coaches push buttons different ways.
The offseason workouts – many with assistant coaches running the drills – was tough and difficult. That was not anything that made anyone laugh.
Jim–what is curious to me is a quote by Frank Ragnow in one of the articles today in WholeHogSports (ARKANSAS SPRING FOOTBALL : Spring cleaning: Hogs take step to wipe away 2016 ) about the VT game–notably, “losing that game really opened some eyes to some players who hadn’t really bought into the process.”
I had thought and expressed that somehow in the second half of that game the players had a different mindset as if something at halftime had affected them. This quote comes close to confirming my suspicions. Some portion of the team, be it the offense or defense, wasn’t “all in”.
That makes me wonder also if there is a form of team dissention that hasn’t been reported and might not be revealed until one or more of our tough games–like last year.
It’s apparent there are numerous changes to conditioning, technique, scheme, etc. for the defense and rightfully so. The defense we have seen played the last couple of years is not “defensible” from any angle and more coaches should lose jobs if it continues. You can’t win games knowing your offense has to score 40 plus just to give you a chance. Like everyone else from the outside looking in, I don’t want to hear about all the changes and buy-ins without the results following.
It was not just a defensive failure in the second halfs at Mizzou and against VaTech in the bowl. The offense failed miserably to score in the second half after easily scoring in the first half of both games. It was a total team, including coaching, collapse. Not just the defense which we all agree was a huge embarrassment for most of the season.
The way the offense played in the first 8-10 minutes of the second half of the bowl game was unbelievably bad. Turnovers killed everything and made it so easy for a good Tech offense. Yes, it was offense and the ability to protect and block, then to protect the football on its own goal line, that added to the fire. The defense didn’t put it out.
I will say this, when something is not working, the players can and do lose faith in the plan. That’s why there was a change made at defensive coordinator. That’s why there was a change made at defensive line coach. I think it was also a good mood to put the coordinator in charge of a position and add a coach with the outside linebacker position getting a hands-on coach. Two coaches for the linebackers is a good move. Now, Chad Walker’s background is secondary and he’s most likely going to have the nickel in his group as an outside linebacker, another good move.
You got it going, Clay. Keep up the good work. Never mind, you always have done great work.
Matt, I really liked your “we’re told that every year” comment. I get some great insight on this board. From everyone, but especially from journalists. However, we also get quotes from coaches and players. Sometimes with no commentary or analysis in the article, just with the quotes. Now in general I would expect coaches and players to be upbeat and positive. They should be. And I am not surprised when both make general comments that I have heard a million times. But while I appreciate their comments, I usually take them with a grain of salt. And would appreciate it if you guys gave us even more of your analyses. Not pessimism or cynicism, and certainly not denigrating what a coach or especially a player said, just telling us what you honestly think the real situation is.
The defense was put in a tough situation because of turnovers in the second half of the Virginia Tech game. The Hokies’ starting field position was the Arkansas 5, 8, 30 and 44 for four of their five touchdowns.
The offense certainly had more than their share of failure and the record was a team effort. But when you have a defense so inept it changes the offensive game planning and calls throughout the game. The offense knowing that scoring only 30 points will probably get you beat makes for a lot of pressure before the ball is even kicked off. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) our offense was somewhere around a 7. Our defense was closer to a 4 (probably too generous) and if the defense was a 7, we win at least nine and maybe ten games last year. My take is we seem to have better coaching and players on the offensive side and if the defense catches up, the wins will increase substantially.