Or next year is going to be ugly again. All these skilled recruits won’t shine well if our OL is weak again. Maybe a couple of good JUCO OL that can sign and go through spring practice. Both scenarios of JUCO or grad transfers are high risk/reward scenarios but hs got to roll the dice this off season to upgrade the OL to block these SEC fronts.
His offense and play calling will look better next year with some speed at WR but an improved OL will be the engine that drives this thing. CCM MUST recruit his way out of this with OL, and I’m sure he knows it.
He needs 2 deep of JC/Trans OL , about 10. I realize talent was down up front, but effort, man in doesn’t take a lot of talent to at least get in the way briefly.
This shows you just how badly things were going under Coach Bret and Long
I wonder if it was that spat Coach Bret had with Texas HS Coaches
Or was it he lost his key recruiters off his first staff
Or was it he went head to head with the national powers for the best OL talent and lost those recuiting battles
In the end what we see is a depleated talent level
As for mental toughness I knew it was a bad sign when Coach Bret went to one practice aday in the fall - like the pros (what he was doing was protecting a deminished talent pool ) but the adverse effect was young players didn’t develop that internal toughness so critical to that state of development
I hope Chad Morris sticks it out
Maybe he is too deep in Now to leave - I suspect it will take him 2-4 years now to reach .500 in his overall Razorback W/L record
Clay said it reminded him of Jack Crows team in 1990
Maybe it’s worse
I digress
Yes OL must be rebuilt and that’s the one position that’s like good oak and Maple hardwoods - you grow them over time
Time is precious - Coach Morris can’t make any mistakes in recuiting this unit as he plugs and plays to hobble together an SEC average OL
I think it is more mental than physical. Losing a game for instance when you have a 24-0 lead at halftime and get beat is an example. Vince Lombardi and Bear Bryant both took teams with horrible records and turned them around with mental challenges. Not easy to so but can be done.
It seemed like he recruited a lot of Oline guys his first 2-3 years that just vanished. Injuries, didn’t develop, just didn’t pan out, mis-evaluations, all the above. Never back filled any of that…
I just hate it Jeff Long and the other people that could have stopped the fraud from being perpetuated on the program did not put and end to it at the end of 2016.
Definitely need 2 or 3 to come in and help in this recruiting class.
But maybe i’m Drinking koolaide or smoking something but I thought saw better physical skills in 2’nd half. I thought Adcock, Gatlin, Capps, Clenin and Fro played better. The mistakes I saw were mental. Over thinking like typical freshmen.
I didn’t think they got physically dominated like Jackson, Gibson, and Wallace did.
This is a point many miss or forget. He signed decent guys on paper. Many on this board are all about stars. He signed some OL that had really good offer sheets and stats and just did pan out.
Of course, all of that is on him. But, his downfall started with running off a good OL coach and replacing him with a bad hire. Then, the attrition and miss rate destroyed him and the program.
It kinda started when a bell cow tackle (Kirkland) left early and unexpectedly. That happened in a transition year and then things unraveled.
He couldn’t afford to miss on guys like Wallace and Merrick (high 4 star guys) and others he liked a lot (Colton Jackson) and then have several others leave or wash out (Heinrich (back), Rogers (key starter who just quit), Hays (back), Malone (ACL), Ramirez (never seemed healthy) due to various reasons.
Obviously, when you only have 8 with which to practice you’ve not recruited enough. But, a huge part of the problem was injuries, lack of development and other attrition. That happens everywhere but it all snowballed, here.
His early OL recruiting and development was pretty decent (Skipper (Petrino holdover), Kirkland, Ragnow, Tretola and Hjalte has turned into a pro). But, it went south quickly and he could never turn it around and we are dealing with the consequences.
But it wasn’t just OL - talent and/or depth at QB, CB, S, and LB on the roster Chad inherited were a serious problem as well. The roster as compared to 2014 is a mess at multiple positions.
I so AGREE i m so grateful Coach Morris hasn’t thrown any individual player or his predecessor under the bus
He has manned up - but now I hope he will focus on the positives in recruiting he is doing - I didnt think he needs to address one transfer or kid leaving the team unless asked - just focus on where Arkansas is going -
I also agree and hope he gets some JUCO O linemen in here to stop the bleeding - it will be a cobbled together line but maybe they can be an average SEC Oline if they get the best JUCOs
I also can see Jeff Longs great weakness in coaching hire - he only brought in “Named” coaches (That may be an Arkansas problem because we scream if its not a high profile coach) but jsut look at Jeff Longs Hires
Coach BP (named Coach - Failure of character at Arkansas and failure at Louisville)
Coach JL Smith (Named coach who didn’t know if he lived in the state of Alabama or Arkansas)
Coach Bret B (Named Coach and failure in the SEC and huge failure at Recruiting)
Now Jeff long is at Kansaw and just hired the “Mad Hatter” Less Miles (Named Coach - cannot string a cogent sentence - He is eating more than Field Grass) This will end badly for Kansaw U
That all said - I’m so glad that others hired Coach Morris - he is the right man - if he cant fix it - I think we will just have to admit - Arkansas is now more than the butt of jokes - Arkansas is the butt end of SEC football and doesn’t deserve a statewide fan following - let the Alumni have it because its the University team not Arkansas team
My hope - The Razorbacks will remain and always be Arkansas team - but this year - I felt the fans cared more about the Razorback brand than some of the players