This may seem like a strange question, but when a player visits officially, I know his travel is completely paid for. But in a case like this, where he is leaving Fayetteville for an official visit to Gainesville, which school pays for the flight? Arkansas would be paying if it were a return to D.C. and Florida would be paying if it were a flight from D.C., so do they share the cost?
In the overall scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter, but my curiosity has been raised. Thanks.
“Oh yeah, top-notch,” Gerald said. “Way better than I expected. Arkansas is typically not a winning team in the SEC, and you just don’t think of the facilities. “
Not a winning team…for those saying the Razorback brand is not in the tank I direct to the perception this highly rated DE has of Razorback football.
Kids see the immediate. Last year will be how most kids judge Arkansas. If they look back at Arkansas since the SEC they’ll see a program that’s middle of the road. They notice the teams that are consistent at the top.
The immediate past was last in the SEC, but it’s more than that:
The five years prior to that:
Next to last
3rd
Last
Last
Next to last
We have not been a middle of the road program in a long time and not since the kids we’re recruiting now have been paying attention . The brand and the program are damaged badly and were on life support when Morris arrived.
Coach Morris is doing a great job in recruiting all things considered. He deserves support and patience.
Let’s keep this real: opposing schools are selling the hillbilly image of Arkansas to every UA recruit hoping to sway the recruit to their school. And, when you go without a coach there is no one to “push back” against that practice. While I am certain that there are enough holdovers from the past, the new staff takes a while to realize how that works, and how to counteract the message.
I don’t remember a time when recruits thought otherwise, in other words.
The losing hurts the image, as this recruit noted, but the stereotype is at least as harmful if not moreso. He said the facilities surprised him, which suggests that stereotype is alive and well. That’s always been a tool other coaches have used against Arkansas or people in other parts of the country just naturally believe.
Some of you may remember a post of mine a few days ago about promotion of the program to defeat the negative recruiting. This is real and i have been talking about it for a few years now.