When DVH was hired, Barrett said it would (or maybe could) be JFB’s best hire. It is definitely one of JFB’s best hires in anybody’s book.
When the fans turned on HDN, Barrett said running our coach off would set the football program back 10 years. Hard to argue with that prediction.
Now, Barrett has said our basketball program would soon be similar to the baseball program in that it would be mentioned as a National Championship possibility year in year out.
We’ve been cursed for firing a good man with the best record we’ve ever had, for no reason other than they didn’t like his style, ever since. Maybe Sam, another decent man who loves Arkansas, can lead us out of the woods, if the fans give him a chance.
Barrett was ultimately proven right on the HDN deal but he also had no way to foresee a coach like Petrino falling into Jeff Long’s lap at the same time some of the best talent this state has ever produced happened to be wanting to play for Arkansas and in the SEC.
Once Petrino committed his sins and was ran off, we were set back 10 years. Pittman luckily looks to be rescuing us from the wilderness.
There are volatile stocks to invest in and less volatile stocks. Highers risks means higher rewards. Depending where you are, you may just want a steady return. HDN provided a steady return. He was never going to provide the the big returns. Set back or not, it’s been volatile since he left. Ups and downs. Pittman will provide steady returns for sure. Will that be enough? We will see.
While some fans don’t want to see it, the football program is an investment. It needs to provide a steady stream of income/revenue. The highs are great. The lows hurt. Steady is good, not great, but safe.
For those of you over halfway to retirement or in retirement with your nest egg, you’ll understand. For those of you that have more debt than savings, and think sports are here to serve your happiness, you’ll be confused and angry by my post. But this is a business. It needs steady success, and steady support.
But, yes, Barrett knows what he’s talking about. So that’s exciting for basketball, and I agree with him.
The last three seasons with Petrino were pretty good. Only thing missing was a win over Alabama and an SEC West title. He didn’t do either, but a lot of other stuff that was pretty good as far as what we saw on the field. Off the field, that was a different story and has produced lots of arguments.
I don’t recall Petrino’s teams having many off-the-field issues at all. Matter of fact, I recall the media pumping the high character of the guys he was bringing in - which seemed to coincide with the work ethic and on-field success we saw from his teams. Obviously, we know about the motorcycle incident which gave Jeff Long a chance to make a name for himself but statements like yours strike me as blather that fit an unsubstantiated narrative more than anything else - kind of like the “Petrino couldn’t recruit” bs. (I base that on the number of guys he brought in who went on to have some NFL experience).
Since you made a statement about Petrino’s teams’ “off-the-field issues”, could you give some specific incidents and tell us how it was ever worse under him than any other coach? I bet you can’t.
Jeff Long was the problem with CBP. Had Jeff supervised him properly by vetting his hire of the girl and allowing an office next to CBP for her things may have turned out differently. Apparently it was common knowledge CBP had the girlfriend. Long should have shut that down pronto. My career was managing a sales team of 450 plus with top managers, middle managers and entry level salespeople. EVERY hire was approved by me and my VP. And we interviewed and checked every detail of their qualifications using testing and abilities. Any office moves were also approved. Obviously Long was either asleep at the wheel or afraid of CBP. Either way he was a huge problem in that whole mess.
And then he hired CBB and continued to give him unwarranted extensions and raises.
I seriously doubt CSPs hires need to be vetted. But if you think proper supervision is necessary to make a great head coach then by all means make that argument. I just disagree.
My point is that the AD should be involved in hiring of staff and discussions on assistants. Obviously CBB did a poor job of hiring assistants once Sam and others left. I think Sam will continue to hire great assistants. Like CFB.
I have a friend who is a very respected and successful administrator that was here during the Petrino years. My friend has been at a few of the top athletic programs in the nation. Many of our fans wouldn’t believe how badly Petrino treated people - players, football staff and admin staff. He is an atrocious leader and a was/is a bad person. I’ve heard the second Louisville experience was equally bad.
I loved winning. It was awesome. But, I wasn’t surprised when he was run off the road by the fiancé and got his tail beat. Then, lied about it. It was one of multiple lies.
Long made mistakes as AD. Firing Petrino wasn’t one of them. It was a culmination of things. Petrino has now proven time after time that he does not sustain a successful program.
I wouldn’t ever be disrespectful enough to argue with you, Clay. But, I would never say it unless I hadn’t confirmed it through a person directly involved. I’ll just leave it at that.