CCM seems to be taking the my way or the highway approach for real…If he’s gonna get it turned around I agree with this approach.
It’s long over due. He should have made that the policy in spring ball and got rid of some of the dead weight.
I don’t see it as long overdue because you have to give kids time to buy in. Some obviously didn’t and proved that over time. Now we are seeing who did and who didn’t.
He is the head man. Has to be his way.
Which lane of the highway? LOL.
[quote=“PJHawg”]
Which lane of the highway? LOL.
[/quote]The off ramp.
You know,
Life is a highway and I’m gonna ride it all night long.
I surely hope he is quite successful but he was no genius this past season. I think it will be two at least and more likely three years until we know just how well he will do. Certainly I would love to see five wins next season. Four is more likely.
I am a do-it-yourself-er, and I know from many years of experience that some projects can go so bad they can’t just be glossed over, or fixed with duct tape and baling wire; sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and start completely over again. Unfortunately, I think that is the sad condition of our football program now; it’s time to blow it up and start over, from the ground up if that is what it takes. The “my way or the highway” approach is going to make some people unhappy and it’s going to take some time, but I think it will be worth it 3 to 5 years down the road. Hope I live long enough to see the results…I’m 71 and running out of runway, but I sure would like to see the Razorback football program regain some semblance of relevancy in my lifetime. JMVHO
This is why you hear people say wait until he gets his people in place before final judgement. In the days past , coaches had more tools to let the natural selection process play out–more scholarships, longer and harder practices, less emphasis on graduation rates, and fear was a big part of that—think about our Coach Wilson Mathews but other public figures of that generation like many of our generals like Patton for one. Those days are over and new approaches are required with rules and expectations that new recruits have about playing time.
Today players are full time into football staring in many cases before high school graduation ends. We have to judge based on actions and the actions have to fit the situation based on what limited facts we know. Morris is doing what I would do if I was in his shoes. He is laying groundwork of how it will be and giving players a change to embrace the opportunity. It seems he is relating well to his coaches, and other staff as well as new recruits. But change is hardest for those who have to adjust the most and some will and some will not.
I think back to the first time he met the team after he was hired. First think he told them was to sit up and pay attention. AD mentioned first time they walked through dressing room and how messy etc it was. Kinda like a parent telling their kids to make their bed and clean their rooms—lot easier to start that way then try it after. they have their independence for number or years.
Finally talent counts for wins but character matters a great deal too.
Bielema stressed certain things. I saw him hold up practice first day to make players pick up water cups and put them in trash. He had orderly way that was required in certain situations. Each coach has his own way. Some areas, no tolerances, others more freedom. Petrino was hard on some things, lax on others. When you pushed his button, there was an explosion. I saw Bielema explode on certain things. I saw both send players off field for continued busts. Morris has his trigger points, too.
Then there was Wilson Matthews. He had the hair trigger of all hair triggers.
Wilson Matthews is my all time favorite Arkansas Assistant Coach. I never met him but have heard several first hand reports of his coaching. He made men out of boys. A Bear Bryant like quality that is loved and respected by those that stayed. Nothing wrong about that kind of approach. In today’s world some of that would probably not be allowed. But I would think the young men who Wilson Matthews led would stand up today and say “job well done coach”.
Unfortunately this has to be CCM’s approach at this time as he continues to get things moving forward the way he wants and hopefully in the left lane! I feel certain it isn’t easy making decisions like this but that is why he is in this position.
I don’t think coaches like pushing kids out the door, at least not at the rate & amount Chad had to.
This 1st year had to be a trial & error of let’s see who’s going to buy in & who will be surprises. Didn’t get a whole lot of either.
Only time will tell if high majority of his recruits are able to stick around & make a splash. He doesn’t have room for to many misses.
I look at aftermaths and decisions made by players about leaving a program, and accept that we only see a very small sample of a player’s life and attitude. My first thought when he sent the CB to the locker room for slapping the kick returner’s helmet that it was the Jimmy Johnson mode where he would pick a marginal (and expendable) player to cut and send a message to the rest of the team, especially those he really could not afford to lose. But, I suspect it was far deeper than that, and the eventual outcome was based on a myriad of interdependent issues, both on and off the field, that we as fans never see. So, while he takes the high ground and says only that this player or that player has elected to leave the program or transfer, I suspect the final outcomes were products of a series of attitudinal as well as performance issues and failed attempts to correct the unacceptable, which CCM and his coaches elect not to openly share. From what I have seen, read, and sensed so far, CCM and the staff give their players every opportunity to do what was required of them, both on and off the field. Some were just casualties of a new system that they were not recruited into. Some responded to change, some didn’t, and I guess for those that just didn’t fit CCM’s system, some could not adapt. Good kids, but square pegs in round holes who are better off looking for a square hole somewhere else. College football is a once in a life time opportunity, but players want to play. I wish them all well. The ones that didn’t adapt, for whatever reason, have largely left or are packing their bags now. CCM may have been a math major, but he obviously understands motivation and group dynamics. He knows that unacceptable performance or personal conduct that goes uncorrected is poison. What happens then is that those kids that are busting their butts to do what is expected see that those who are not trying are getting rewarded just the same as them, and before long, they regress to the mean, performance-wise, and the motivation to give “their best” is gone. I personally liked CBB, because he was entertaining. But I think
that regression to mediocrity is what just happened to him his last two years, and he paid the price for it. This transition and recalibration of minds by CCM won’t be quick, nor will it be painless, and there will be casualties, based on both players’ attitudes and their physical ability to meet new and higher performance expectations. But it had to happen if we are going to compete in this meat grinder that is the SEC West.
I appreciate the fact that it’s his way or the highway, this will simplify things down the road whether he is building his legacy or being fired. I don’t like to see coaches down the road saying I wish I had done this or that, I want to see him fully in charge with no regrets no matter what happens, do it your way all the time and don’t look back. There will be fans second guessing you everyday and I may do it myself at times, but that goes with the territory but if you can’t stay true to yourself you have already started digging a hole. I’m not sure either way if he is or isn’t the man for the job, but I do know he is the man with the job and I wish him the best. WPS